Day 37 - Queenston, ON to Rochester, NY

What a great way to wrap up our stay in Niagara on the Lake.  A beautiful sunrise welcomed us as we packed the car.

Jitters were in abundance when Gwen and I dropped the guys off at the parking area to the bridge over the Niagara River - last stop before leaving Canada and returning to U.S.A.  We passed through customs and after four right turns, were on our way into New York.  Still not sure how we made four right turns and still ended up going east.
The landscape was different as we passed through each township and village.  The guys were on a recreation / bike path, we were on local and state highways that wound in and arround small towns.  In one town, I loved the sign!

All is good, we arrived in Rochester - in our hotel and ready to begin our final week of cycling.
Patty in New York

Notes from Tom:  As Patty said, we were a little iffy about riding our bikes across the bridge into NY, but it turned out to be really simple and it was good to get back to the US.

We hadn't realized that we were in Tracy's territory, but we saw a sign that made us wonder about that..

When we got onto the Erie Canal Canalway Trail, we had to pass by a lock, and were surprised by the elevation difference at the lock, and the fact that we never passed another one in the 40 miles we rode along the canal.  Overall we rode 88 miles today.

I think I've wished for flat roads in the past, but this one was so flat that I got tired of riding the same speed in the same gear for so long.

We've seen a lot of draw bridges on this whole trip, but we finally were in the right place to see one raise and lower.

Notes from Jerry:  Our stay in Niagara on the Lake was excellent but I think we were all looking forward to getting back in the USA.  As Tom and Patty said we did a very good job of navigating the bridge and getting onto the Erie Canal Tow Path which is now a very nice bike path that starts in the town of Lockport (which has the lock that Tom has a photo of above),  and goes for many miles past Rochester and Syracuse. 

Despite a thunder shower that had us huddling under a bridge, the ride was surprisingly smooth for riding on crushed rock.  We probably averaged above 16 mph but it was pretty noisy, and believe it or not despite the beauty and cooling of the water, it got a little boring, except for the fact that the slightest turn on the slippery surface in an unbalanced position  meant you were probably going down.  It was nice not having to worry about traffic!

Short Note From Gwen:  The guys saw an interesting microbrewery from the road and, of course, we had to drive back there after showers (and thunder showers) for dinner and their I.P.A. (India Pale Ale) draft beer fix for the day.  We all enjoyed a great pub dinner fare with carbo-loading by the guys.

Day 35 & 36 - Rest Days in Niagara on the Lake

It's amazing how a two day rest can seem like a week vacation.  As noted, we really enjoyed seeing the falls - up close and personal, enjoying the wine country and just relaxing.  I can't remember the last time we had breakfast at 9:00am.  We did find out that in this area, Niagara Falls is the name of the city - The Falls - is the name of the falls.  No matter that the rest of the civilized world calls them "Niagara Falls".
Wine tasting is fun.  Yep, sure liked the ice wine - actually, I prefer the 'late harvest' wines.  Monday evening will find us enjoying dinner at the Strewn Winery.  We enjoyed their tasting room hosts, and of course the wines.
Patty along the wine route :)

American Falls

Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls

Canadian Falls Up Close and Personal

Tom and Gwen in our fashionable ponchos

The group, sponsored by USC with visors

Notes from Jerry:  Ahhh.. rest days!  Time to sleep in, except you still wake up at 6 am or earlier, but most of us can go back to sleep.  We got going early on Sunday morning to beat any crowds to the "Maid of the Mist" boats that go right up to the Falls themselves. 

We really enjoyed a cloudless day and one of the first boats out with no lines or waiting to board.  The viewing was breath-taking and pretty hilarious with everyone wearing their blue ponchos.  Spectacular!  Lots of great photo opportunities both on the boats and above at the rim of the river.  The Canadian side is where you want to be because one can view both the American and Canadian Falls themselves from across the river which is pretty narrow where the Falls are located.

To top the day off we drove up to Niagara on the Lake, which is the next town up where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario.  We discovered that Niagara on the Lake is actually not just a small town, but the name that they use for a whole wine growing region that covers many miles.  Think of Napa or Sonoma.  The little historic town itself is really well restored and a great venue for daytrippers, weekend stays  or longer as it has lots of inns, B and B's, restaurants, neat shops, plays/theaters and is surrounded by lots of wineries.

After walking the little town and having lunch it was off to the local wineries to try the, "Ice Wine" which is what this region is famous for.  I had never heard of ice wine, being a California boy, so I will let the rest of the gang tell you about it.

Monday is another R and R day so it is time for rotating the tires on the bike (new on front - front to back), haircuts and catching up on blogs, then off to more sightseeing and wine tasting!

Short Note From Gwen: From my perspective, I think the three travelers have been eating gourmet meals throughout the trip.  Seriously, we have hand-picked some great dinner restaurants since I met up with the gang.  Last night we had great steaks while seated outside in a nice patio.  The night before in Niagara Falls, we each had home-made pasta dishes which were the best I have ever eaten.  Both places were recommendations from the hotel/motel staff.  Patty, Tom and Jerry keep relating their past experiences -- some great, some not so much!  Today, we will do some more wine tasting and sightseeing.  I can't believe the number and quality of the local wineries in Niagara on the Lake.  The small historic town is so quaint and picturesque.

Notes from Tom:  Ah, rest days is right.  This is the first rest day since Marquette, Michigan, which was July 19th, and it's the first time we took two days off in a row.  We'll need to be re-trained in the morning.  I won't dwell too much on the rest day activities--the others have pretty much covered that.  One thing I will add is that at the winery where we're having dinner we probably tasted 10-15 different wines between the four of us--some were supposed to cost $4 each.  While tasting we told the hostess about our bike trip, and when we left she charged us $4 total, saying she enjoyed hearing about us and wanted us to enjoy our trip.

When the three of us try to tell Gwen about some of the experiences we've had, it takes all of us to remember what hotel we stayed in which town, and which restaurant was where--we've been a lot of places along the way.

As I said in yesterday's blog, we have ridden 2800 miles so far, but even more surprising to us is that we have less than 700 miles left, and a week from tomorrow, Tuessday, August 7th, we'll be in Portland, Maine and the adventure will be over.  The first thing Jerry and I will need to give up is eating everything we can get as often as we want.  Even eating like we have, we've lost weight.  I'm not sure how much weight we've lost, but all of my clothes are a lot looser than they were 5-1/2 weeks ago.

Day 34 - 7/28 - Dunnville to Niagara Falls

This day of traveling was more like hopping - from one spot to another.  After a sketchy start (a meeting mix up) we were all back on the road.  A variety of scenery - views of Lake Erie, canals, small quaint bridges, city streets and highways.  Thank goodness for GPS in the car, along with the multiple maps we carry along.  Once at our motel, Gwen and I went for a walk along the Niagara River enjoying peeks of the river (below the falls).  A quick walk to the Whirlpool viewing area where the river makes a turn causing an enormous eddy. 

Very impressive views and great pathway all along the Niagara River.  Being so close to the US across the river, my cell phone actually thought I was located in the US and went off international roaming.  Armed with the name of a restaurant, we headed toward the main tourist area of Niagara Falls.  Although I thought I had made a wrong turn and had arrived in Las Vegas, the restaurant and people watching were great.
Patty along the falls

Notes from Tom:  We started out riding in the rain, but it didn't last all day.  We rode 78 miles today, and our trip total going into the two rest days is 2804 miles.  Jerry had his second flat tire of the trip (I've had one that was road caused and one immediately after that that was self caused) but Jerry's was in a nice place along Lake Erie, where we could see the US across the lake. 

Today was more of a navigational challenge than a riding challenge.  The Adventure Cycling maps showed a bike path that went for about 20 miles, which we eventually found after Jerry saw some riders about a half mile to our right.  It was a great path and it took us all the way into Fort Erie, ON, across the Niagara River from Buffalo, and got us close to Niagara Falls. 

We could see the mist from the Falls for a long time before we actually got there, and as we got closer, we were a little surprised how many people were there.  It was impossible to ride a bike unless we rode on the streets, which we eventually did.  We were able to ride all the way to where we will cross the border back into the US on Tuesday.

Right across the street from the beautiful Falls, we were all shocked at how commercial, tacky, and trashy the Clifton Hill area of the town of Niagara Falls has become.  There is the biggest collection of tacky tourist attractions you have ever imagined.  After seeing the pristine beauty of the natural wonders in Glacier Park, it was quite disappointing to see the commercialization of this natural wonder.

Notes from Jerry:  We did our usual put the rain gear on, rain gear off only my rain pants were packed, so Tom suited up and I just put a rain jacket on, which due to the jinx worked well for me.  Once he had his full scuba gear on, within 5 minutes it stopped raining so I lucked out - he rode the rest of the day with his booties on over his shoes, of course he forgot to remind me that I had on my helmet cover on unecessarily so we were even.

The long bike trail into Fort Erie was really cool - literally, because it was very forrested and the sun came out and it got hot!  Riding a bike into the Niagara area was really an experience because the bike trail is right next to the river and you can see the plume from the falls miles away and then see rapids and an old barge that was hung up on rocks above the falls.  The bike trail really gave one a great view of the old power plant intake gates etc.  As Tom said within a half mile of Horseshoe Falls, the bike trail was more like an obstacle course - here it was Saturday afternoon at 3 pm !! People!! from everywhere, luckily there was lots of grass to ride on, only it was raining from the plume!  I might have well been trying to ride my bike down main street of Disneyland in the rain!  Chaos, but fabulous fun and one of the most spectacular natural wonders around.

Like Tom said I can't believe the Ontario Niagara Parks Organization could not hold in check the crass commercialism - much worse than the cheesist waterparks you would ever see in Orlando.  I wonder if the US side is the same.  Reminded me of sailor towns from Navy days.

Quick Note From Gwen:  What spectacular sites!  The Niagara River Whirlpool that Patty mentioned is a beautiful natural site along with the river and rapids.  The Falls coming over the escarpment from the USA and viewed from the Canadian side where we first saw it is amazing.

Day 33 - 7/27 - Port Stanley to Dunnville, Ontario

On the road again.  It really does not seem like we are in a different country - the scenery is so similar to the mid-west.  Homes are very neat, small family farms.  Traveling along little traveled country roads along the shore of Lake Erie.  We are including a photo of Port Bruce - a small fishing village along the coast - for my favorite brother, Bruce (who lives in Hawaii). 

Apparently, there is a Canadian hero with the same name.  Enjoying a very different drive along this route.  Hotel for this night is right on the banks of the Grand River - reminds me of 'Moon River'.
Patty traveling along

Notes from Tom:  In the last two days we've ridden 156 and 157, and my top speed was 57--really you say?  Oh ya, it's Canada and everthing's in kilometers, so that's really only 96 and 96.5 miles.  Still, the first day was rainy so we really aren't slacking.

Since we entered Ontario yesterday, the terrain and landscape has changed, but it's been fairly consistent.  We seem to be on a kind of plateau because the riding is really flat, and the only time we have any hills at all is if we cross a river or go down to the acual shore of Lake Erie.  This is our fourth great lake, with only Ontario left to see, and we should accomplish that either Sunday or Monday.

The well publicized drought in the mid-western part of the US is not apparent in southwestern Ontario.  The dominant crops here are soy beans, corn, and wheat which has already been harvested.  We've seen corn at 9-10 feet tall, compared to the 5-8 feet we saw in Michigan.  We saw a crop that we haven't seen before, and Jerry deduced that it was tobacco--fitting for a country where smoking is still much more common.  Today we also saw lots of aparagus, some potatoes, something that we think was zucchini, and one field that looked like cabbage.

At one of our afternoon stops, we met the girls at the beer store in the small town of Selkirk.  First of all, the name of the store really is The Beer Store.  Jerry bought a six-pack of Mad Tom IPA which we sampled at the hotel in Dunnville. 

Outside of the beer store we were approached by a middle-aged guy who asked us about our Portland to Portland license plate.  We told him where we had started and how far we'd ridden, but we think he'd already been to the beer store a few times and he had a hard time understanding.  Anyway, when he finally decided we'd ridden a really long way, he looked at us and said "...and you guys ain't no spring chickens,  either."

The drivers here seem much more tolerant of us on our bikes than those in southern Michigan, and the roads have generally been good, but with some sections that have been really bumpy.

Notes from Jerry:  Whether we are in Canada or the USA one thing that seems to be a common pastime is that most everyone is out mowing their lawns on sitdown mowers, probably John Deere wanabes! Whether they are young, old, male or female they all seem to be having fun driving their whiz bang lawnmower/ tractors all over the place - maybe because at the speeds they mow they make a quite a cooling breeze! 

As Tom and Patty have said, the farms are all nice and green and orderly and the roads have all been pretty good.  Port Stanley was a real find, the people were all great and the little town had a lot of character with a small marina on one side with village and on the other side of an inlet was our hotel which was on the beach and part of a popular restaurant.  The town reminded me of some of the little beach towns south of Santa Cruz.  Fun place to visit - a real surprise.

The coastal areas next to Lake Erie have a significant wind farm development and today we got closer than ever to many of the wind turbines.  Luckily the wind was low (for riding) and as a result many of the turbines were not moving.

Gwen and Patty thought of tricking us into doing the last 7 miles into Dunnville so that they wouldn't have to drive us back out to our stopping point the next day, but we wimped out and did what we said we would do which was only ride one more hour after finding the Beer Store that Tom mentioned. 

Short Note From Gwen: Patty and I had a nice back country drive from Port Stanely to Dunnville.  We stayed more or less on the same route as the bike riders.  We again met the guys on the route for a "cooler" lunch out of the back of their "new" 2013 BMW X3 ... it now has over 7,000 miles on it and it is 5 1/2 weeks old! Our picnic stop included a description of the wind farms found in the area with a view of wind turbines like the one pictured above.

Day 32 - Marine City, MI to Port Stanley, ONT

What better way to wake up than the soothing sounds of --- THUNDER!  Yep, lightning, thunder and rain - lots of rain.  I turned over and said, "Guess we should wait till things die down before rushing out".  I actually thought that would work.  Nope, up at 5:15, in the shower, bags in the car and off we went to breakfast by the ferry.

The ferry.  This is a class business here.  From one side of the St. Claire River to the Canadian side - $6.00, drive the car on and go - literally.  We barely got the car on the ferry when Gwen said, "I think we are moving" and sure enough, we were on the way, we had barely stopped in our spot.  The only car on the ferry.

The rain came and went - mostly stayed around.  Arrived at our hotel in Port Stanley about 3:00.  Very 'porty' town with yacht harbor, fishing and a large beach.
Patty in Canada.

Notes from Jerry:  Too bad we weren't able to stay around the St. Clair Inn as they were setting up for the unlimited hydroplane races for this weekend, and their location was fabulous - right on the river.  Missed it by a few days. 

As Tom and and I started off on our ride today I actually told him that the bike seat felt better than some of the chairs I had been sitting after our ride and at dinner last night.  Sad state of affairs when your butt is calloused enough that the rock hard seat actually feels "normal".

The ride today would have been spectacular except for the rain that fell intermittently for 70 of the 96 miles.  The scenery was different - the farms were neat and tidy and most had wind rows.  We also saw for the first time the gigantic wind turbines that we had seen on the road back in North Dakota - the ones with the 70 to 100 meters long blades!  They are spectacular when turning slowly in a field of dark green crops and they are somewhat close to the road.

Gwen got to watch what goes into riding in the rain, as far as riding gear.  It is pretty hilarious, all the junk we wear and then all the stuff we have to take off because we get too hot etc. etc.  She says we look pretty dorky.  Tom has this helmet cover that makes him look like a cleaning lady with a rag on his hair.  I'm quite sure sure I look even worse.

Port Stanley is a great little port town with lots of neat shops and restaurants and our hotel/motel is really neat and right near the beach. 

Short Note from Gwen: Kudos to Patty for her organizational skills.  She booked our hotels for the next few nights which include a couple of "rest" (no biking) days for sightseeing in the Niagara Falls area.  Patty has been on the road with these guys so long she anticipates their every need.  She had sandwiches ready just as the wet and tired guys pulled into the middle of nowhere.  Picnicing on the side of the road in the pouring rain is just another day on the road for all.

Note from Tom:  Long day--spent lots of time putting rain gear on and taking it off.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Day 31 - 7/25 - Caro + 24 to Marine City

Thanks again to Karen for driving across Michigan to bring Gwen to join our traveling group. 
What a fun day it was today.  With Gwen riding along, we had additional navigation skills on board - so we never got lost.  As advance crew for several routes, we were able to provide alternate routing information to the guys - road closures and no riding on the interstate - info not included in our routing maps. 
Great hotel in Saint Claire - right on the river - Canada on the other side.  Looking forward to our journey in Canada starting tomorrow.

Patty with a buddy in the car


Notes from Tom:   Today was our last day in Michigan.  First thing tomorrow we cross into Ontario.  We've been in Michigan for quite a while when you consider the time we spent on the U.P.  Today we only had to ride 75 miles, but we had some crappy roads and some less-than-accommodating drivers.  It seems like we had more unfriendly drivers the last few days than we've had anywhere else, and earlier in Michigan we had a close encounter of the scary kind with a large truck--the closest we've had since we left the logging trucks of the west.

On the wildlife update, I saw a mink today, albeit a little squished, on the road.  A couple of days ago we started seeing a lot of possums which we hadn't seen before.

We're staying on the St. Clair river tonight in an old riverside hotel--very quaint and fun.  Today we actually rode part of the day on a bike path on the Adventure Cycling route, and enjoyed getting off of the crappy roads with the unfriendly drivers.  I thought our GPS had malfunctioned when I saw the East China water tower.

Notes from Jerry: What a great start to a day - continental breakfast at our motel followed by a few miles of riding (24 miles) to have a real breakfast at a Bob's Big Boy, which is no longer called Bob's, just Big Boy. 

The quiet route that we followed yesterday afternoon to take advantage of the tailwind is evidently a major north/ south commuter route early in the morning.  We should have known because we saw 3 park and ride lots within a 5 mile stretch yesterday, which we thought was hilarious - out in the country.  But at 6:30 this morning as the cars and trucks were whizzing by we were freaked out!  As Tom said, the closer we got to civilization ( not sure if people were commuting south to Detroit or west to Saginaw or southwest to Flint) the less friendly were the drivers.  Luckily we turned east and got into a neat area of ritzy houses and gentleman farms and golf courses and hardly any traffic - very enjoyable.

Marine City where we cross the St Clair River tomorrow to enter Canada is a very small quaint little town, with a little lighthouse, and 1 mile of cute little shops. 

That is where we ended up today with ice cream and root beer floats and great views of the beautiful blue water of the river with everthing from jet skis to giant freighters to watch.

We forgot that our phone plans don't work for Canada - duh.  Time to check into our plans and modify!!

Short Note from Gwen:  What's left to say? No ice cream sundae or root beer float for the navigators! Patty and I didn't have much free time -- no book-reading time, but lots of map-reading and dashboard navigation.  Nice view across the river to Canada...ferry trip in the morning to cross the St. Claire River to cross the border.  Jerry's right, we updated our cell phone plans to accommodate international service.  Bye for now from the short-timer.

Day 30 - Standish to Caro

Tuesday, July 24.  Hard to believe we have been been on the road 30 days.  Fourteen days from today - our adventure will come to an end.  Such fun stories.
Today seemed pretty straight forward.  Except for that portion of the map that we couldn't really tell how we were going to navigate around the northern edge of Bay City - straight south on M-13, a few jogs here and there, cross over a river - shoot, where are those guys?  My phone locked up, my GPS is taking me on the wrong road - harumpf :)  Never mind - just go.  Okay, found the guys, then stair step on 25 to 138 to24 to 81 - pretty simple :(    As we were circling around an intersection in a small town - Tom (yep, Tom) stopped and asked directions.  Brenda got us on the right road, in the right direction - and, oh by the way, she says, I have a restaurant in Caro - stop by for lunch. 
Well, what a find - the State Street Diner!  Great food, cheery and family friendly.  Thanks Brenda for the lunch - it was fabulous!

Patty going in circles
P.S. - on sign patrol - I just couldn't pass this one up!

Notes from Tom:  Yesterday was tough--riding about 12-14 mph into a 15-20 mph wind.  What's so hard about riding in the wind is the noise.  If you want to get the feeling we had all day yesterday, get somebody to drive a car at 30-35 mph and stick your head out the window or sun roof.  Then do that for about 5 hours.  That's what our day was like yesterday.  Add to that the fact that there was really nothing to see--a lot of residences, cottages, cabins, and small resorts--for 30 or 40 miles.

Today we had good weather, cooler temperatures and mostly good roads, and a tail wind.  So if riding into the wind is noisy, then riding down wind is really quiet.  You hear the tires on road, and cars coming behind you--today after breakfast I heard Jerry belch, and I thought he was right behind me.  Turns out he was about 30 yards behind, but with the tail wind I could hear him.   With the good conditions and roads, we actually rode 25 miles past our hotel, so instead of having to ride 96 miles tomorrow, we only have to ride 71--that's a big difference.  This is when having Patty around gives us the flexibility to take advantage of good conditions, and it's the reason we're just about two full days ahead of schedule.

Notes from Jerry:  Today worked out well except  for a minor glitch at the start which delayed us getting on the road.  When I repaired the flat yesterday the valve stem basically broke off, yet held air and even took air after meeting up with Patty.  No such luck this am, as the tire would not hold air added to it, so it was time for another tube change. 

We made good time and were able to take advantage of a tailwind by deviating our route more to the south than to the east. We ended up riding 87 miles instead of 60, which will help us considerably tomorrow.

The highlight of the day was meeting Gwen and her friend Karen at the end of our ride at the motel we had booked.  Karen drove Gwen all the way across the state.  Thank you Karen!  It has been a month since I have seen Gwen and we are eager to share our adventure!

Onward to Canada either tomorrow or for sure the day after.

This is a picture of "Mater" that was sitting outside of a junk yard on the outskirts of Caro, MI.  Tom and I stopped for the day in a little park across the street.

Day 29 - 7/23 - Alpena to Standish

A long day.  The landscape has changed - oh, and the weather.  Traveling from Alpena to Standish along US Hwy 23 is a time to look at mail boxes, family flags, wind socks and such.  Each neighbor attempting to outdo the next with a creative way to show off their house address.  So many ideas.
Our mid morning snack spot was wonderful.  At the end of a lane, a small space with benches and sea rope, over looking Lake Huron.  The sun was silvery behind the clouds creating a soothing atmosphere. 

Lunch in East Tawas at the Harbor Park, green grass, shade and a wonderful picnic table.
It was an adventure finding shade for water and rest stops after lunch.  With temps in the mid to high 90's and humidity in the 40-50% range - oh yes, and a gale wind blowing - made it difficult at best.
On the street sign watch, I came across a sign with the same name as our son - Christopher.  Chris and wife Cortney are celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary today!

Patty in the heat

Notes from Jerry:  Today was a rough one.  In an attempt to carve out an extra day of sight seeing in the Niagara Falls area after my wife, Gwen joins us tomorrow, we scheduled another long one.  The wind and temperature was reasonable at first but continued to get worse as the day wore on.  It seemed no matter if we headed South or West following the east coast of Michigan on Lake Huron, we had a head wind.  I ran over a rock at mile 88 and got a flat so that added extra time out on the road.  By the time we ended up it was 96 degrees and blowing right in our face.  Not nice. 

Can't wait to meet up with Gwen and our friends Karen and Jim who picked up Gwen in Grand Haven and have hosted her while we have made our way down the lower penisula.  They will drive across the state tomorrow for a rendezvous at dinner.

Notes from Tom:  Today moved the day from Wolf Point to Glendive in Montana out of the faves cellar.  The wind didn't blow in our faces for all of the 100 miles we rode, but it did for the last 70.  As Jerry said, when we finished it was brutal with a 96 degree wind in our faces.

Today we said goodbye to Lake Huron, and we'll not see another Great Lake until Thursday when we cross into Ontario and we get to the north shore of Lake Erie.

Since we've been in Michigan, we've totally run out of good beer options--we're down to the big national brands and it's so bad that we had milk shakes for drinks at dinner.  What have we come to?

Day 28 - Mackinaw City to Alpena

A traveling day.  The cycling went well.  I stopped and visited a lighthouse along the route as it wound along the shore of Lake Huron. 

Enjoyed dinner at a restaurant in old towne Alpena - who knew?  I guess the guys enjoyed dinner as well.

Patty on the road

Notes from Tom:  We rode 97.5 miles today, much of it along the shore of Lake Huron, our third Great Lake.  Before we get to Portland, we'll have seen all five.  For the first time Jerry and I saw turkeys, other than the two riding bikes on this trip (Patty saw some quite a while back).  This was one of the best roads we've ridden--good shoulder, smooth pavement, little wind, and few hills.  If boring can be good, this was the day.

Notes from Jerry:  We stopped to see an old lighthouse outside of Rogers City that was very interesting and even more interesting to me was the fish cleaning station attached to the back of the public restrooms in the Rogers City Marina/ Public Park.  Inside there must have been 6 fisherman busy cleaning their catch.  The fish were very large, 3 feet long on average and were Coho Salmon, Sockeye Salmon,  King Salmon, Walleye, Steelhead, Brown Trout , you name it.  Unbelievable fish and bigger than what we catch in the Pacific Ocean!

Riding into Alpena was not so fun because we were tired and the city was very atypical compared to what we have experienced so far - endless development, before we got close to the real downtown.  We must have gone through 10 miles of "town" before we really came to the city and of course our motel was on the far side of downtown.  Ugh.

Day 27 - Gould City to Mackinaw City

Gould City - in the middle of nowhere - we had a great breakfast at a restaurant that was very out of place - clean, good food.  Then off to Mackinaw City - across the Mackinaw Bridge.  What a drive, what a view.  Checked in, dropped off bags and boarded the 1:30 ferry to Mackinac Island.  What a treat.  A fun 8 mile bicycle ride around the island - no motorized vehicles allowed on the island.  A warm, sunny day - dinner on a patio watching the world go by.
Patty on the ferry

Notes from Tom:  Yoopers are nothing if not honest.

We got our first look at Lake Michigan as we approached the Mackinaw Bridge, but it came with a stiff cross/head wind.

We also came on another bicycle tour group--this one was sort of like Ride the Rockies--they started and ended in St. Ignace on their 5 day loop around the U.P.  Right after we left them we encountered the worst road yet--we had 4 miles or roto-milled pavement, with no way around it--just keep riding and hope that all of your fillings stay in and that nothing important falls off of your bike. 

Bicycles are not allowed on the Mackinaw Bridge, so we put the bikes on the car and drove to Lower Michigan.  We only rode something like 63.5 miles total, so it seemed like a half rest day.

It was a short--16 minute--ferry ride to the Island, and we enjoyed a lunch and dinner there.  It was pretty touristy, but unique because no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island.

Notes from Jerry:    What Tom didn't tell you was about our jinx.  Right before the 4 miles of bone jarring roto milled road we had been riding for about 15-20 miles on a brand new road, not yet fully striped etc.  We cranked with record speeds and of course we commented on our good fortune - only to run into the worst road surface known to man.  So now we just don't comment on roads - good or bad so as not to jinx anything.  We did solve the guu mystery on our legs, because we had it again and deduced it had to be from tar on the brand new road!

Mackinaw Island and the ferry ride over and back was really fun, especially watching Tom and Patty try to ride a stretch beach cruiser tandem!

Day 26 - Marquette to Gould City - Nowhere

Well, when someone says “It’s in the middle of nowhere”, I now know where they are talking about. Leaving Marquette, along Hwy 28, the drive along Lake Superior was wonderful, the views spectacular, water further than the horizon.

The highway turns south east for a while through dense forests – and no towns. We turned off Hwy 28 – straight south toward Lake Michigan – connecting with our favorite US Hwy 2 – then east again. Before you get to Lake Michigan, in the “middle of nowhere” that is where our motel is. Hoping that Tom and Jerry had a sense of humor, I checked in. No, didn’t even bother to ask if they have Wifi – there was an old fashion antenna on the roof for TV, no cell service, no phones! It was $32.00 

Patty in the middle of nowhere

Notes from Jerry:  Tom and I had a rip roaring start after a terrific day of rest. We got up early to drive in toward Marquette and hit a bakery that we had scoped out that was open at 6am! Loaded down with chocolate croissant, cookies and espresso, we headed up the highway to Bob’s Big Boy which we also knew was the only breakfast place open this early. This was a real find – build your own breakfasts with either3, 4, 5 or 6 items. We both had eggs, bacon, oatmeal, French toast or in the case of Tom, pancakes!! Yee hah. We had already indulged in half of our chocolate croissants before we got there but decided to save the other half for the ride.

The ride went very well due to the great breakfast, despite an extra 5 miles ridden in error. I think we rode 102 miles total. Fantastic weather, spectacular beach views of Lake Superior from Marquette all the way to Munishing, after which the lake shore starts moving northeast and our road continues due east. This road never varied for as far as the eye could see, flat and straight. Pretty boring until we turned south to head down to Lake Michigan, then we got breezes in our face and hills – ugh. We played tag with a Canadian National train which passed us and then we passed it going 20 mph. Amazing what entertains you when you spend hours on the road. We saw 3 herons right next to us off the road and what we think was a fox loped by us at a rest stop.

Once again we had some excellent cooler snacks/ lunches courtesy of Saint Patty at some scenic rest stops on the Lake.
Notes from Tom:  You’ve heard of Christmas in July, right? We had that today as we rode along the shore of Lake Superior.

We had seen Lake Superior all or part of the day for the last 6 days, starting in Sunday in Duluth and ending today in Munishing, but not without one more Lake Superior light house.

As we left Munishing, we hit a 6% grade that lasted for about a mile or so—that was the steepest and longest hill we’ve hit in a while. After we climbed that hill was when we got onto the 25 miles of dead straight and dead level road that Jerry mentioned.

One thing I’ve noticed in the U.P. of Michigan is the number of boats, ATV’s, and snowmobiles that are around. They are on trailers, in peoples’ yards, and for sale in every podunk town we ride through. I wouldn’t be surprised if 75% of the Yoopers own a boat, and ATV, or snowmobile—probably all three.

We’ve noticed two other interesting things as we ride the highways. First is that almost every rural route mailbox has a protective wooden barrier on the side from which traffic approaches. These are to keep the snow plows for either knocking down the mail box, or knocking it off of its post with a blast of snow from the plow. The second thing is that there are snowmobile crossings on the highways. These are a white coating or extra layer on top of the asphalt. Their purpose is to keep the snowmobile steering skis and drive belts from having to ride on the rough asphalt of the highways.

Tomorrow we hope to get back to a little more of the amenities we’ve been accustomed to—cell service, cable TV, and internet access. We will survive until then.

Day 25 - Thu, 7/19 - Rest Day in Marquette

Yippee - a rest day.  Slept in till 7:00 :)   After chores were complete, we enjoyed some sight seeing around town.  Let me briefly describe what it is like to sight see - with two engineers - when you come upon a unique engineering structure.  Screech - drive the car across the bike path - halt - jump out and discuss all conceivable options on how the train gets out onto the structure, how the ore is on and off loaded from the train, where it is stored, how the ship is loaded - and on it goes.  What a bonus, it was right next to a coal fired power plant - so there was much discussion about just how the coal got there and from where.
So - Gwen, just thought I would give you insight to our informative and enlightening days off.
Patty on the train of thought


Notes from Tom:  Rest days are a welcome break for butts and legs, but we certainly stay busy.  Doing laundry, eating (several times), sending extra stuff home, planning the details for next segment of the trip and some sightseeing. Today we spent a couple of hours at Starbucks using their wireless for the planning, and we sent another couple of boxes home to make room for Jerry's wife Gwen who will be joining us Tuesday in Bay City, MI.

Two more days with the "Yoopers" then we cross at Mackinaw into lower Michigan.

Notes from Jerry:    After chores, while Patty and Tom followed up on our route planning with phone calls to motels, I borrowed the car and drove back up the hill to Ishbeming to do a little research to see if the hotel that my Grandma Pauline was raised as a child still existed.

My Mom told me that it was called, "Commercial Hotel or House" which my Dad confirmed.  I was told at  a neat mining museum outside of town that no Commercial Hotel exists now but to go into town and find an antique store which is owned by the president of the historical society of Ishbeming.  I did this and he said he was a relative newcomer to town, but suggested I browse through a couple of books put together by the historical society and if I found something,he might be able to help me track it down.  Eureka, I opened one of the books and found a few pages on a man whose Dad founded the Commercial Hotel on Main St. and Division St.!  The antique store man told me that on those corners were the city hall, a vacant (parking) lot and then a restaurant and an outdoor store, either of which could have been an old residence hotel or rooming house for the miners of the day.  I took some pictures, and enjoyed taking in the small town atmosphere of what is now a quirky little mining town that was pretty impressive in its day according to what I saw in the historical books which I purchased.

Tom and I solved many mysteries regarding the iron ore docks on our scenic drive west of town (which drove Patty nuts of course), due to the fact that there was one dock still in operation and celebrating it's centennial this year, and it was in operation as we came by!

Day 24 - Bruce Crossing, MI to Marquette

Hi all - here we are in Marquette, MI.  What a great little town - on the lake, beautiful views, beaches, parks, bike paths - very charming - can't figure out why it doesn't look like LA.  Oh yeah - it is winter with buckets of snow, cold blowing north wind and dark from 4:30pm to 7:00am...
On the way from Bruce Crossing, we stopped for a mid-day snack at a small general store in the town of Bergland.  I hung out in the cafe (inside the store), reading and waiting for the guys.  Just before Jerry and Tom arrived, a young cyclist arrived - riding east to west.  Wes, originally from Poland, was packing his own gear, camping, and was riding from New Jersey to Seattle.  We enjoyed a snack and cup of coffee while sharing information about the ride - both east and west.

Arrived in Marquette - sun was shinning - got the bags in the rooms and enjoyed some pool time.  Great little motel right accross from the shore of Lake Superior.

Patty by the pool by the lake

Notes from Tom:  Another day that wasn't my fave.  The road was good, it was clear and sunny, with temps in the low 70's.  There were a few hills and climbs, but nothing too terrible.  The part I could have missed was the wind in our faces for the last 25 miles.  The total distance was 97 miles, and at least it was downhill the last 10 miles into Marquette.

We went through a Moose Crossing area, and didn't see any Bullwinkles, but we did see Rocky Racoon.  He toddled across the road in front of us.

Marquette is on Lake Superior, and is a college town--Northern Michigan University with about 8,000 students.  The town is fairly touristy, with a nice waterfront, some nice beaches, and a lighthouse.  We had dinner at the historic Vierling Brewery.  The food and the double IPA were both excellent.

We took some pictures of the Marquette Light, but couldn't get very close.  We also got much closer than we have been to one of the ore loading docks, and got some pictures of it.  Use the picnic table as a reference for the size of these things.

Notes from Jerry:  As Tom said we did some climbing today but it was mainly the wind towards the end that made it a difficult ride.  Luckily the roads were excellent except for going through the outskirts of Ishbeming and Negaunee.  Ishbeming is where I plan to come back to  tomorrow on our day off since that is where my Grandmother on my Dad's side was born and raised.  What felt like brisk temperatures meant it was in the 60's to start with but only got up to about 71 when we finished, but with the wind chill factor you didn't want to slow down just to keep warm.  Just like the day before it kept getting warmer after we stopped riding in the pm and became a gorgeous evening.

No goo on our legs!! What gives?  We have no idea.