Day 43 Rest Day in Ludington, MI

A rest day!  A one-day weekend!  A day off the bike!

Today was a relaxing day.  Pam, Ken, Barb, Jose, Tony, and I walked to downtown Ludington (less than a mile from the motel) and had a great breakfast.  On the way there and the way back, I took pictures of a great old building, a cool statue by the library, and some neat old houses.

Then, it was time for laundry.  I think that every rider went to the same laundromat at some point during the day.  Nick (from Australia), Kelly, and Barb are happily folding clean clothes.

After that, Pam, Barb, and I had lunch at the Jamesport Brewing Company.  (Thanks, Jessica McCurdy for the recommendation!)  I had perch, which is apparently the fish to eat around here.

Visiting shops in town, dinner, meeting, cleaning my bike, and visiting with other riders who are staying at the same motel (Lee, Jim, Tony, Pam, Ken, and Barb) took up most of the rest of the day.

I'm excited about tomorrow's ride, as well as the rest of the week, when we go international!

Day 42 Plymouth, WI to Ludington, MI

Today was the shortest longest day of the Cycle America Coast to Coast ride!  It was short, because we rode only 39 miles from Plymouth to Manitowoc, WI (MAN-i-tuh-walk).  It was long, because in the afternoon, we took a 4-hour ferry ride from Manitowoc to Ludington, MI.

The ride this morning was pretty easy.  We rode on bike paths for awhile, and then on quiet country roads to Manitowoc.  I saw cranes and goats along the way.  I also saw a family of wild turkeys, but they ran away before I could get a photo.

Early on in the ride, I could smell that we were getting close to water.  After riding a little over 20 miles, I got my first glimpses of Lake Michigan.  It looks like the ocean!

A friend of Cycle America, Kathy Wojta, opened her Manitowoc home to us and provided a feast for our lunch.  There was so much food, and it was so good!  She also let us take food with us for the ferry ride.

After we left Kathy's house, we rode about a mile to the ferry dock.  We were all going to take the S.S. Badger across Lake Michigan to Ludington, MI.

The Badger is a coal-fired car ferry that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is also considered a continuation of Highway 10.  There is a lot of history with the Badger, and you can read more at www.ssbadger.com.

You can see the smoke from the coal fires as we left Manitowoc.

Lake Michigan is huge!  For much of the ferry ride, it was like we were in the middle of the ocean.  You couldn't see land in any direction.  Soon, in the distance, we could finally see land.  Michigan!

The ferry is approaching the dock at Ludington.

This is my first time in the state of Michigan!

By the time we got to Ludington it was almost 7:00 PM.  Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone, so we lost an hour.

A bunch of us went to the Ludington Pub, and had a great time.  Jose, George, Kaye, Hilary, Pam, Ken, Barb, Tony, Barbara, and I went, and then Tony from MI came with his wife.  The food was good, the company was great, and they had an excellent band playing.  `

Ludington has a really cute downtown area, and we rode by some really nice big old houses as we pedaled to the motel.  I hope to be able to walk and see more tomorrow -- another much-needed rest day.

Day 41 Beaver Dam, WI to Plymouth, WI

This morning, when we left Beaver Dam, the clouds were very dark, and there was supposed to be a greater than 50% chance of rain both in Beaver Dam and in Plymouth, our destination.

Rain at home usually means drizzles all day long.  Rain in the Midwest can mean heavy, heavy downpours and thunderstorms.  I wanted to be prepared, so I brought both a jacket and a poncho, as well as my toe covers.  Luckily, I didn't need any of them!  The weather today was almost perfect for riding.  It was cloudy, I felt only a few drops, and the temperatures were probably in the high 60s.

We rode along very quiet back roads most of the day.  There were few cars, so along with the weather and the beautiful scenery, it was a great day.

After looking at the pictures I took, I think the theme for today is birds, mostly.  Early on in the ride, I passed by a yard full of chickens, and when I stopped, they all came running to me!

Later, I passed a field of Canada geese and sand hill cranes.  Later, I saw some in flight, but from a distance.

As in the past few days, most of the day we rode by farms.  At one point, we went up a steep hill, and there were rock quarries at the top.  Then, it was back to farmland and wind farms.  In the pictures, you can see how gray the skies are.

This little goat was sitting in its driveway, and when I stopped, he stood up and looked at me.

A little over half way through the ride today, we turned onto Scenic Drive.  Never trust a road called Scenic Drive.  It was really hilly!  The hills were short, but very steep.  One of the hills looked like it went straight up.  Fortunately, as I got closer, it leveled out a bit.  Here's Barb reaching the top of one of the hills.

Here are more scenes along Scenic Drive.  I love the stripes in the field in the first picture.

In that same area, I saw this house.  I don't know who lives there, but they also had a "Hillary for Prison" sign in the yard, so I'm guessing those figurines aren't out there because they admire black people.  Just a guess.  It was the one creepy moment in an otherwise great day.

The most beautiful part of the day was when we rode through the Kettle Moraine area.  Long Lake was right before our lunch stop.

After lunch, we rode for miles on the Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive.  It was scenic!

I love the barns in this area with the stone foundations.

Finally, we arrived in Plymouth, which is a very cute town.

Of course we had to stop for a post-ride treat.  We went to the Exchange Bank Coffeehouse, which is, not surprisingly, housed in an old bank.  When we walked in, a gentleman asked us all about our ride, then paid for our treats!  It turns out that he's the Downtown Business Manager for Plymouth, and his name is Randy Schwoerer.  It was a very nice end to a great ride.  We posed for pictures, and he said he's going to put us in the newspaper!

The school we're staying at is a really nice school.

It's right next to Mill Pond, which is part of the Mullet River.  It's so pretty!

Tomorrow will be the end of our sixth week, and it's "advertised" as our shortest long day!