Indian Trails Blog

Traveling by bus has long been a great way to treat mother earth better and your fellow man. Whether or not you believe in global warming and climate change, the scientific facts speak for themselves: the more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the greater the repercussions. Based on facts like the following from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Retirement is on your horizon and you know you want to find a “second act” that is fun, fulfilling, and generates income, but where to begin?

Ahhh, retirement. You made it. Now it’s just you and maybe your spouse, and a whole lot of time. Before you retired, it sounded like such a relief. You wake up when you want, do what you want all day, maybe take a middle-of-the-day nap. But after several weeks of all this relaxing and indulging, you have to admit to yourself — you are BORED.

Imagine your group on mini-vacation to an art extravaganza featuring more than 1,300 artists from nearly every U.S. state and 47 other countries, with art exhibitions at more than 175 places in one city: Grand Rapids, Michigan. And there’s no entry fee.

Indian Trails has been hiring drivers almost since we began operation in 1910. As a result, we have more than 100 years of experience when it comes to driving motorcoaches, from short-distance shuttles to national trips and tours. We also have one of the best records in the country for safety, our fleet is absolutely top notch, and our paid driver training program is second to none.

Summer trips in the Great Lakes region can be incredible, but the fun doesn’t stop at Labor Day. If your group is looking for fun on and after the holiday, why not begin at the 61^st Annual Mackinac Bridge Walk? After that there’s plenty more to do and see in the area!

The history of scheduled service bus travel probably goes back centuries, depending upon one’s interpretation of the word “bus.” Essentially any vehicle that could transport groups over the land might be considered a bus, but the first “modern” interpretation would probably be the “charabanc.”

Imagine what it was like in the upper peninsula in 1668, the year Sault Ste. Marie was founded by French Jesuit missionary Jacques Marquette on the south bank of the St. Marys River. The river was turbulent with rapids and was originally named Baawitigong or “place of the rapids” by the indigenous Ojibwa. The only connection between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, the river dropped 21 feet in a tumultuous waterfall that made uninterrupted travel by water impossible. It was wilderness then and served as a meeting place for the Ojibwa tribe who came together during whitefish season. In 1668, it became the first “city” in the entire Great Lakes region and “the place where Michigan was born.”