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.
Love Ludington!! Enjoy your day of rest there!
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