Layover and Riding Day 44 – Oh Canada!

This won’t be posted for a day or so, because this evening (Saturday) here in Echo Bay, Ontario, Canada, we have no internet coverage. Yesterday we had a very nice layover day in St. Ignace, my hometown. I was reminded of what a beautiful place St. Ignace is, so blessed by its natural environment. It’s no wonder that Father Marquette loved it and wanted to be buried there back in the 1600s.

We visited Tim Harrington, an old friend of mine from childhood, whom I hadn’t seen since the early 60s. I also spoke on the phone with Greg Cheeseman, another former classmate, who just had his second hip replacement and then fractured his femur, so is in a wheelchair for at least several more weeks. One again I was reminded of how blessed we are to be able to do this trip.

Today was another good day of cycling. We rode 52 miles up to Sault Ste. Marie (“the Soo”), Michigan, and then took the International Bridge over to Canada. The bike route up to the Soo is on the Mackinac Trail, which is the former US 2, still maintained as a local highway but replaced as a major route by I-75. Traffic was very light, especially for the first hour or two. We had a significant and increasing crosswind, but it was often mitigated by the thick forest on both sides of the road.

The International Bridge was a thrilling ride. It’s considered a freeway, but it’s only one lane in each direction, and bicycles are allowed. We rode in the traffic lanes along with all of the other vehicles, so there was no opportunity to take pictures as we soared in two successive truss-supported arches over the Soo Locks and the St. Mary’s River.

Then we all (except Kathy) had a laugh as Kathy committed an immigration faux pas. She and Cindy passed us on the way over the bridge, and then while they were waiting in line for the immigration station, Kathy hopped out and ran back to take our picture as Rich and I approached on our bikes. Bad idea. First, Cindy and the motor home got to immigration before Kathy got back. Second, she shouldn’t have exited the vehicle in the first place – it makes it look like it she was trying to sneak into the country. So Rich and I were joking about seeing her in handcuffs, and then at our subsequent picnic lunch we speculated about how the trip would continue if Kathy had gotten deported. I guess she would have had to meet us in Vermont.

Tonight we are parked behind a rather funky B&B just across the marsh (pictured) from George Lake, which is part of the flowage of the St. Mary’s River as it makes its way from Lake Superior into Lake Huron. The B&B is a ramshackle building that seems a throwback to an earlier age. The hosts, Marjorie and her sister, Vicky are very friendly and gracious. One of the building’s quirks is the bathroom, which has two side-by-side toilets, one of pink porcelain and the other of blue. It brings to mind all sorts of interesting images.

Now that we’re in Canada we need to come up with a better description of this trip. We’ve been calling it cross-country, but Marjorie and Vickie wondered if we were going from Vancouver to Halifax. “Transcontinental” is more accurate, but sounds a bit pretentious. Perhaps “coast-to-coast” will work.

Riding Day 43 - Home Town

Today marked a number of milestones, so it’s hard to know where to start. First, we arrived in St. Ignace, where I lived the first 16 years of my life. It’s a city of a little less than 3,000 people, attractively situated around the edge of Moran Bay on Lake Huron. I’ve already had an opportunity to see a bit of the town and revisit some old haunts. This afternoon I even rode my bike up “convent hill,” which was somewhat of a rite of passage for young boys in town. Tomorrow is a layover day, and tonight and tomorrow we’re camped at the Straits State Park, directly across the road from the Straits of Mackinac, with a great view of the Mackinac Straits Bridge (a magnificent structure, not done justice by my photo).

This is the first time I've been in St. Ignace since 1988, and only the second time since my family moved away in 1962. Both times I've visited, I've been struck by the beauty of the setting of this town. I was not enamored of St. Ignace when we moved away, but now I see the beauty that I took for granted back then. It is truly a special place.

Second, we passed the 3,000 mile mark today – only about 1,000 miles to go! If all continues to go according to schedule, we’ll be finishing in Portland two weeks from tomorrow.

Third, we had a newspaper interview today. Yesterday the St. Ignace News (weekly) published a brief article on our trip. Today they photographed and interviewed us, and promise a full article next Wednesday. Check it out at http://www.stignacenews.com/.

Today was a long day, about 90 miles campground to campground, including the visit to the newspaper office. The ride included a number of normally spectacular miles right on the shore of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, it was raining much of the day, and otherwise heavily overcast, so it wasn’t a beautiful as we had hoped for – and we didn’t stop for a swim, which I had envisioned.

We passed many well-remembered places along the way, and saw many mailboxes and businesses with familiar names. For a major treat, I had a pasty (a Cornish meat pie) for lunch today, purchased at a roadside café. Tomorrow I plan to look up some old friends and look around town some more. Also to get some smoked fish at a local stand. It was standby in the old days, and now that the Great Lakes fisheries have been restored, it's made a comeback.

It is a privilege to be here.

Riding Day 42 – Why Is it Unique?

On the phone with someone today I said that the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan is unique, and I was asked what makes it so. This is a land that is very sparsely populated. It’s about 350 miles long, yet the entire population is just over 300,000. Today we are in Manistique, a town of about 3,500 on Highway US 2. Tomorrow we ride to St. Ignace, population about 2,700. St. Ignace is the next sizable town to the east. You’ll see a few other dots on the map, but they are little more than crossroads with a building or two. The U.P. is heavily forested, and hunting and fishing are major activities.

Perhaps more than anything, the U.P. is defined by the Great Lakes, which make it a peninsula. Windswept and cold Lake Superior is on the north, Lake Michigan on the south, and Lake Huron on the southeast. The Straits of Mackinac join Lakes Michigan and Huron, and join the Upper and Lower Peninsulas via the Mackinac Bridge. A vantage point that takes in one or more of the Lakes can be truly stunning.

Today’s 70 mile ride to Manistique was largely uneventful. We had a few views of Lake Michigan, but much better views will come tomorrow. A light but significant headwind for much of the day made it wonderful to have two riders together, so that we could take turns breaking the wind.

If you read the previous entry, you know that residents and/or natives of the U.P. are called Yoopers. Here is the Yooper perspective on creation:

In da beginning dere was nuttin. Den on da first day, God created da U.P. On da second day he created da partridge, da deer, da bear, da fish, and da ducks. On da third day he said, “Let der be Yoopers to roam da Upper Peninsula.” On da fourt’ day God created da udder world down below. On da fift’ day he said, “Let dere be trolls to live in da udder world down below.” On da sixt’ day he created da bridge so da trolls would have a way to get to heaven. On da sevent’ day God saw it was good, so he went huntin’.

Riding Day 41 – Say Ya to da U.P., eh?

(Written on 7/13, but not possible to post because of lack of internet access.)

For those of you who need an explanation, the U.P. is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. That is where we now are, outside of the city of Escanaba. I am a native of the U.P., having been born in Sault Ste. Marie (“the Soo”) and brought up in St. Ignace until I was 16. Being from the U.P. makes me officially a “Yooper,” although I don’t believe that term was used when I lived here. There are a number of other famous Yoopers, most currently Tom Izzo and Steve Mariucci, both of whom come from Iron Mountain, through which we passed this morning. All of this history makes me feel very much at home here, and listening to the wonderful upper Midwest accent mixed with Canadian has me wondering if I ever sounded like that, and when I got over it.

Other U.P. terminology: If you are a Yooper, you don’t refer to the Lower Peninsula as the L.P. or any other such term. You call it “down below,” as in “I have to go down below tomorrow.” The people who live down below, since they live below the Mackinac Bridge, are called trolls.

I’m sure more U.P. lore will be following in the next few days. In the meantime, we had a fine 75 mile ride today, and we’re staying in an RV park behind a casino west of Escanaba. And not only have we arrived in Michigan, we also entered the Eastern Time Zone, so things are really starting to feel eastern, even though Michigan is solidly a part of the Midwest.

The best news is that Kathy rejoined us today! She drove a rental car all the way here from Paw Paw, and arrived at the Escanaba airport mid-afternoon. It is great to have her back in our little road community. No surprise, she immediately jumped right back in to support team activities. And there is some indication that it may be her turn to drive for the next eight days.

Riding Day 40 – Onward Through Wisconsin

We’re at Lost Lake Campground tonight in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. This forest is mostly hardwoods – birch, maple, and the first oaks I’ve noticed recently – along with a scattering of evergreens. Also some really cool fungi, per the attached picture. I do love the peacefulness of these NF campgrounds, but the lack of hookups is an inconvenience, especially when we want to use and/or recharge our various electronic gizmos. What would Jim Bridger et al have thought about the ways in which we “camp” nowadays?

The ride today was not overly long – 71 miles – but after 89 miles yesterday our bodies were not full of energy, plus we had a bit of a headwind much of the time, so we were happy to be finished by about 1:30. One of the highlights of the day was flushing a pair of squawking sandhill cranes from the undergrowth at the edge of the forest, almost right next to us. Being so close, we could easily appreciate how huge they are.

We passed through several small towns – Minocqua, Woodruff, St. Germain, and Eagle River, around which there was significant traffic, but once we got into the heart of the National Forest, the cars and trucks diminished greatly. We were left with our thoughts, our bikes, the road, and the often dark forest.

Tomorrow Kathy returns to the expedition! She has been in Paw Paw, Michigan, for a week, helping her dad move into assisted living. By all reports it is a very nice place with excellent staff, but it is still a major and often wrenching transition in so many ways. I’m so proud of her and the help she has given her family. She plans to drive a rental car all the way from Paw Paw to Escanaba, about 460 miles, because to fly there would take longer and cost far more. We wish her safe travels, and we look forward to welcoming her back.

Riding Day 39 - In the Afterglow

Rich and I rode 89 miles today to Patricia Lake, just outside of Minocqua, WI, still basking in recollections of the prior day and a half at Teal Lake. The ride was easy, as 89 mile days go, although we did have a moderate thundershower during lunch -- Cindy was well-placed with the RV to shelter us -- and a downpour during dinner, which included a lightning strike in or very close to the campground.

It's now late, after a couple of hours on MapMyRide.com, planning the next few days. See you tomorrow, if we have web access!

Riding Day 38 and Layover - Tranquility Found

The 86 mile ride from near Superior, Wisconsin, To Teal Lake (20 miles east of Hayward) was like a pilgrimage for me. In 1930 my grandfather built a summer cottage on the lake, and it was a favorite vacation place for my family when I was a young child. I have had the privilege of visiting occasionally in the many years since then. The property has over 800 feet of lakefront, and the cottage sits on a slope above the shore, among the birches and scattered pine trees, so we are relatively isolated even though there are more homes on the lake than there used to be. Blessedly, my brother, Bob, had come up from Chicago a few days earlier to enjoy the lake and to greet us, so the cottage was open for business. Immediately upon arrival we went for a swim, and little pleases me more than swimming in natural water. Then we went out for dinner, joined by my Aunt Fern-Aileen, who was visiting from Massachusetts. After dinner we went took kayaks and the canoe out onto the calm lake. I cruised faily close to a family of loons, and Bob and I stayed out to watch the sunset.

This morning Bob and I kayaked across the bay to visit my cousin, Jim, who has built a house on the lake. Later Bob and Rich and Cindy and I took an outboard tour. We have been seeing loons, eagles, and herons. Bob and I have been talking about the things that have changed since the 1950s, and how much is still the same. Now in the late afternoon we are listening to distant thunder and the otherworldly calls of loons. Today we will be on the road again, but today we are in paradise.

I must also mention Jeremy Rhea, a friend of my cousin, who joined us for the last half of yesterday's ride. It was a pleasure riding with him and getting to know him, and also having him cook for us last night at the Tally Ho restaurant, where he is the chef. If you are visiting Hayward for the Birkebeiner cross-country race, or the Fat Tire mountain bike race, or the World Lumberjack Championships, or just to enjoy one of the many lakes in the vicinity, stop in and see him at the Tally Ho or at the Spider Lake Lodge, where he cooks breakfast.