[phkahler]

>> I've been told that the suburbs immediately outside Detroit city limits are rich as Croesus.

Yup. Oakland County was once the 4th richest county in the US. Michigan leads the nation in families with second homes. Everyone around here has a second home (cottage, cabin, etc) on a lake from 1-3 hour drive away. OK, not everyone. Part of it is that there are so many lakes that they're relatively cheap. I even knew a guy who bought an entire lake - property was like 100 acres and lake was within that. This cost him less than a two bedroom place in SF.

[valarauca1]

Northern Michigan (extreme north) is dirt cheap. Yes your looking at a 8+ hour drive to get there, but excellent winter sports, and out doors stuff.

[karpodiem]

What? What are you start/end points?

Northern suburbs (Royal Oak) to Traverse City is 4.5 hours.