These are postcard collages that went to my Kickstarter project backers at the forty dollar level. They also got a two-page letter and some zany crap I found while traveling.
Collage correspondence, part 5: First points west
After leaving Iowa and heading west, I wrote notes to project backers on a few custom postcards that I had made during the last leg of my trip. Here they are:
Collage correspondence, part 4: Minnesota
From my last campsite in the Upper Peninsula it was only a short drive into Duluth, Minnesota, where I stayed with my friends Aga and Chris for a few days. My timing was perfect — torrential rains soaked northern Minnesota while I was in town, and cleared up as soon as I went camping again. After spending some time along the north shore of Lake Superior, I headed to Lake Itasca, home of the Mississippi River headwaters, then down to Minneapolis to visit friends. I spent a couple more days in Minnesota after that, visiting my grandfather’s grave and camping on my way back to Iowa.
Collage correspondence, part 3: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
There wasn’t much in the way of crowds after I crossed the Mackinac Bridge into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Tahquamenon Falls State Park was lightly trafficked and well worth the visit, as was Painted Rocks National Lakeshore and Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Here are postcard collages from the area:
Collage correspondence, part 2: Michigan’s Lower Peninsula
After driving across the southern part of Wiconsin, with stops at Governor Dodge State Park, Devil’s Lake State Pak, and Kettle Moraine State Forest, I took a carferry across lake Michigan. It was a coal-powered steamship, the last such operating vessel on the Great Lakes, and it trailed brown clouds of rust belt pride all the way from Manitowoc to Ludington.
Michigan’s Lower Peninsula was a beautiful place — Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness and Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore were among my favorite places I visited that month. Here are some of the custom postcards I made in the Lower Peninsula: