I grew up in Oakland County, in Rochester Hills, before it became a giant strip mall. I thought all of Michigan was like that area--rolling hills, an occasional creek, lakes and ponds all over the place, a city here or there. We vacationed up in Leelanau every summer, which is much the same--only the hills are bigger.
Mid-Michigan is totally different...hardly any hills at all. Total bread-basket. Ten minutes north of Lansing and you hit farmland as far as the eye can see. Not many lakes in this area, and those which we have are often man-made. We do have some great rivers around here, though, including the beautiful (and occasionally mighty) Grand. I've gotten used to being around rivers and farmland, as opposed to lakes and hills, in the nearly twenty years since we moved to Lansing. Again, I was thinking, this is all Michigan is--hills to the north and south, farms in the middle. Nothing prepared me for the alien landscape that is the Upper Peninsula, which I visited for the very first time this past summer.
That's a whole thread in itself!
I’ve been to Wisconsin and Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, ..well, lots of states with the same types of topogragraphy.
Though I find it all very beautiful and diverse (and often surprising) the climate of the Midwest is not good for me, so I only visit. And admire the people who like the snow well enough to stay!
And I know what you mean about a “whole thread.” The West is like that.
So flat I'll never forget the day I thought something was wrong with my bicycle -- it was suddenly a whole lot harder to pedal. After inspection, I realized it must have been because I was riding uphill.
When the family moved to the SF Bay Area I hated it -- I couldn't see what weather was coming until it was practically on top of us.
I've never made it across the bridge; hope to next year.