Michigan Trails (Farmington Hills, Flint, Saginaw)

[A_Lurker]

So the week after next I'm going to be in Farmington Hills for training.  I'll have an afternoon free in the Farmington Hills, well actually Northville area.  The next day I plan to do some shopping (Birch Run) and haven't decided if I'm going to stay in Flint or Saginaw.  The next morning I'll be headed back through Port Huron to the Canadian side.

As I'll be sitting most of the one morning, and then meeting someone for dinner that night I thought I'd look for somewhere reasonably close to Northville to walk around.  The next day I wouldn't mind starting the day with a walk on the way to Birch Run, and depending where I stay I'll like somewhere in either Flint or Saginaw (a couple of stores I'd like to visit there the next morning).  Trying to not simply sit for the three days away.  Saginaw I'm thinking the Saginaw Rail Trail.  The other areas I don't have a clue.

Oh, and although I'm someone who used to walk 5-10km at once I suspect I'm looking for something that I can park and walk as far as possible before turning around and coming back.

Any thoughts or even suggestions for websites to hunt for trials would be appreciated. I found the Saginaw one on traillink.com.

[USAF-Larry · Accepted solution]

Michigan is full of trails, @A_Lurker, so you shouldn't have any problem finding walking trails.  A couple I am familiar with are in Bay City & Flint. There is one on the south side of Saginaw, but it takes you further south about 10 miles out of town.

If you stay in Saginaw, just up the road a short distance is Bay City, and there you will find the Bay County Riverwalk & Rail Trail.  It is a beautiful 17 mile trail, but you can walk as much or as little as you want.  And, you can view the Toilet Seat art work in Bay City (a local joke!).  Here is more info on that trail:

Bay County Riverwalk/Railtrail System

But, if you stay in Flint, you can take the Flint River Trail - also a 17 mile trail from downtown Flint up the river to the beach on the reservoir.

Flint River Trail

And then, of course, you can get lots of walking in at Birch Run Outlet Mall....as long as you stay out of the stores....      But, don't go to Tony's for lunch, unless you want a pound of bacon with your meal...

[A_Lurker]

Well, since I hadn't booked a hotel yet I decided on Bay City instead.  I'm not that much of a shopper, but there are a few things I want to pick up when I'm in the US.  If nothing else I can avoid the shipping charges from things I already purchase.  It's also a little 'away break' for myself, from my daily responsibilities.  It will probably the only me time I get until January of next year, so I'm looking forward to it.

I'm trying to also pick activities so that I don't simply sleep in at the hotel, do some shopping, and then sleep in at the next hotel. 

ETA: I'm actually pretty good with food when I travel.  I'll have less control over my meal on the night I'm meeting a friend for dinner, however, last time she picked something that had lower calorie choices.

[USAF-Larry]

Enjoy your stay, @A_Lurker!  I lived in Bay City for almost a year while working on a contract to install a supercomputer there, and got really familiar with the area. There are several nice riverfront cafes downtown that you will enjoy if you get a chance to stop in for lunch.

[WendyB]

Enjoy @A_Lurker Im sure you will have a great time!

[A_Lurker]

I'm very much looking forward to it.  Even just being on my own for a few days will be nice.

[WendyB]

Please keep us posted. Im sure you will do awesome! Cant wait to hear about your travels

[A_Lurker]

Okay, slight update while I'm killing some time waiting for my friend to come get me so we can go out to dinner....

It will be interesting to see how the weight ends up on Sunday.  I went out to lunch with the boss and the customer yesterday before I left.  We did the Chinese buffet in town.  It's not much of a buffet, but I stuck to mainly veggies, some roast pork, and a chicken stir-fry.  I specifically stayed away from the spring rolls and egg rolls.  On a different day I might have had one, but I wasn't sure what I would be doing for dinner.

Almost 5 hours later (some construction, long border crossing, then just traffic) I got to the hotel.  I went out and tried to find the park/trail area I was going to look at today.  I found something of a park and walked around a bit.  Because of my late start and slower than usual drive I didn't do much as it was getting darker and I was hungry.  Hit an Arby's drive thru on the way back to the hotel - brisket sandwich and a chop house salad with roast turkey with a light dressing (usually don't eat these but wasn't sure where my calories were).  Even with some guessing on food I decided I was a bit low so added a bag of nuts at the end of the day.  I was still low on steps so I paced the hallway a little and walked around the parking lot. 

Food:  good (except for salt probably), Calories burned:  4194

(all in all, a good day)

Today I had to go to a training session.  I keep hitting the snooze bar so I skipped any breakfast.  I could have grabbed a protein bar (but didn't).  Parked at the back of the lot and walked in, same 3 hours later.  I'll admit my food choices today haven't been the greatest.

Lunch (Subway):  497 calories

I was planning my lunch in the line and then saw... Tikka Masala chips!  Okay, I'll admit that I'm more of a salt junky than a sugar person.    So where I started considering many things I ended up with a 6" ham sub (no cheese, mustard) and a bag of chips.  So yes, 210 calories of this was the chips. 

Took them to the local park/trail (found the right spot on the way back yesterday).  Had lunch with a small amount of water then shortly afterwards went for a walk.  At this point I was about 7000 steps, half of them from my walk.  Sadly the walk just highlighted that I need to work on my endurance.  So, it's the treadmill for me this winter.  I was smart enough to put a set of bandaids on my heels - I never get blisters on the treadmill but have sometimes when out walking outside.  Read a little before I left (beautiful day).

Then, did another 3000 steps shopping - Home Depot, Meijer's and Costco.  I really did just go into Home Depot to pick up something I could have bought at home (there just isn't one where I live) since I was passing.  Meijer's was for alcohol (more about that later) and Costco really was just to look around.  I go to Costco once a month, mainly for stuff for my mother, but again, was passing it on the way back to the hotel, so why not.  $100 later... oh well.

Came back to the hotel and the room wasn't made up so decided to go back to the park.  Walked a little more, but definitely my enthusiasm has waned.  Read a little more, then came back to the hotel to have a shower.  Dinner later with an ex-coworker.

Snacks:

1 - 2 peaches and some water at the park - 122 cals

2 - 3 light Mike's Hard Lemonade and a bag of baked chips - 427 cals

Don't get me wrong, I try not to divide things into good and bad foods.  Just a few more empty calories than I'm used to.  This is just over 1000 calories and if I did nothing more for the rest of the day I'm into a 4000 calorie plus day.  I actually want to see if I can talk my friend into a Brazillian Steak House tonight that I've passed a couple of times.  She's someone who works out like a mad woman, but likes her food, so unless it's packed I suspect that we're going there.

Oh, a few pictures...

The reasons my allergies are acting up...

Vermin of the sky... I saw evidence of them before I actually saw them.

I'm assuming this was left here on purpose...

This one I just took a picture so I can decide what it was.  Couldn't get closer (on the river bank), but assuming some type of wild orchid / lady slipper type wildflower/weed.

[A_Lurker]

And probably 2000 calories later dinner is over.

Duck tenders, buffalo balls, whitefish pate, spicy venison sausage, rabbit ravioli

(this was a starter platter, and although I didn't order, I did eat a little less than half)

3 pomegranate martinis (yikes)

roast venision, quail, wild boar sausage... there was rice and corn on the plate, but at this point I gave in and just ate the meat.  The rice was tasty, but even with the alcohol fogging my brain I realised I could likely mitigate some of the calorie damage at this point.

However, to be fair, it was probably the most fun I've had this year.  Well needed. 

Now, some sleep.  I figure the early morning walk is out.... we'll see.

[WendyB]

Sounds like a good day! Love the PICS!

Traveling is so hard but you made good choice's. Sodium in eating out is always a problem