Scouting Trip to Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, East Lansing and White Lake Michigan

This past weekend, Abby and I rented a car, jumped in it after her final exam and after my work shift on Friday evening, drove to Milwaukee and met with folks there about where the village will stay and what we will do to promote resilience in Milwaukee. We met with James Godsil of Sweet Water, got a tour of that amazing place and talked about setting up camp at Reservoir Park.

On Saturday morning, we drove through Chicago and then up to Trillium Haven Farm and met with Anja, our host for two nights in the Grand Rapids area. The Farm is beautiful, with lots of opportunities for us to help out. Anja let us know that we would be setting up camp in a conservative part of Michigan and that our variety show could be attended by people who will be very impacted by our vision of bicycles, gardening and do-it-yourself fun. They have a great place for us to camp with grills for cooking out, a giant fire pit for a bonfire and a stage for performance, and they'll be inviting their 1000 CSA members to take part. We also met with members of the Bloom Collective and plan to do a discussion group/performance in the city in addition to our more rural stay at the farm.

On Saturday night, we met with our hosts in East Lansing and they told us about the block party they are planning to coincide with our arrival in that fair city. We will be staying in some abandoned lots there and engaging with the urban setting. On Sunday, we met with Terry Kelly of Tall Trees Community Farm and talked about the Solstice celebration he and his cohorts are planning that we will take part in. It looks like our work project there will be to help build a cob composting toilet! Tall Trees is far less developed than Trillium, so will provide a good contrast and an opportunity to have an impact on the lay of the land. It is a quiet, wooded area that will be relaxing before going into the city of Detroit. Pontiac Recreation Area is a short four miles away with swimming and trails. We have the option of staying three nights at Tall Trees before biking into Detroit, our final destination, for the social forum.