Day 45 Farwell, MI to Frankenmuth, MI

The morning was perfect!  We rode about 35 miles on the Pere Marquette Trail again.  The path was smooth, and there were no cars (again).  It was great!

I saw a family of turkeys.

Every so often, there were posts on the side of the trail that said "SAG 77" or "SAG 41."  I'm guessing those were the distances to Saginaw when that was a railroad.  

I love the wildflowers.  

After we got off the trail, we were in Midland, MI.  I kept seeing signs for "Dow High School," or "The so-and-so Dow Museum," or "Dow Stadium."  I was wondering . . . who is this Dow person and are they related to Dow Chemical?  The answer: yes.  Midland was full of Dow Chemical plants.  

We rode for a long time on busy city streets, suburban streets, streets with no shoulder, good shoulder, and so on.  It wasn't as much fun in the afternoon.  

In Bay City, we crossed over the Saginaw River.  I remembered that Bay City, MI was the home of Madonna.  That's one piece of trivia that is taking up brain cells that I could be using for other, more important things.    

After we got out of the urban areas, we were back in farmland.  This part of the state is as flat as a pancake.  Tony said it's just like that in The Netherlands.

I took this photo (and the one above) while riding.  (Very carefully, I might add!). Barb was behind me.  

Eventually, we reached Frankenmuth.  Frankenmuth is a Bavarian-themed town sort of like Leavenworth, WA, but even more so!  We had dinner at the Bavarian Inn (pictured below), and all the wait staff are dressed in German costumes.  The poor men had to wear lederhosen.  

George is posing with his Bavarian friend.  

We're all camping outside tonight at Jellystone Park in Frankenmuth.  Jellystone is sort of like KOA, but with Yogi Bear.