Maine to North Dakota
(Originally Maine to Washington)
Michigan & Wisc.
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Being
alsways busy doesn't count,
A Silver LiningIt's what you're Busy At, That's -- PARAMOUNT G.H. Sr. '72 Michigan
Updates by Gary - See below as noted for Gary Sr's entries My ride out of Ohio and into Michigan ended up being one of those grin and bear it kind of days, the road was in very bad shape (a 2 lane, well used highway, apparently a major truck route to avoid the interstate) and a strong head wind met me the entire day. It didn't help that I was rather worn out from the wind from the day before on the ride out of Elmore, Ohio, the fact is that after 5 days with Dave, Jody and Alex I was a little soft... But there is a silver lining in every cloud! As I pedaled North battered by the wind I decided to stop at the first camp ground I came across, that turned out to be Green Lake Rustic campground, the camp is a beautiful plot of land tucked 1 1/2 miles back into the woods via a sandy road (I had to walk the bike but didn't mind since the shade and surroundings were so nice!) Many sites front the small but charming Lake Green, I shared the campground with only a handful of others so I was able to quickly secure a very desirable spot.  The Entrance to Green Lake (Rustic means; pit toliets, no shower and water from a hand pump) There is something to be said for doing a hard days work, such days usually bring with them a reward of some sort, after such a strenuous pedal my reward was this wonderful spot to relax and think about how great life really is, I really do have it made, quite literally in the shade!
A Silver Lining part II As I rode out of Green Lake Rustic Campground everything was again right with the world, I was cruising easily at 14mph and before long I was humming along at 19-20mph! That nasty Northerly headwind from yesterday had shifted to the South as forecast and I was in cyclist heaven! I ripped through the first 53 miles of the day in 3 hours and 41 minutes of pedaling time. Midway through the day I stopped for lunch and met another touring cyclist, Bob was on a week long tour around his home in central Michigan, he told me he often takes these week long, light touring jaunts from park to park. We had a great day of riding!  Gary & new friend Bob after a fleet day of tail wind riding (Gary Sr. had just arrived to take this picture!) A Tour of Michigan's State & National Parks Upon Dad’s arrival I jettisoned my heavy panniers and was amazed at the ease with which I could ride at 18-20mph, our plan was to cross Michigan and Northern Wisconsin stopping at a series of state parks along the way. I quickly came to the conclusion that Michigan has an exceptional park system, the parks are well kept, the facilities are clean and modern and camp sites are large and well laid out. In the more congested areas of central Michigan and along the northern shore of Lake Michigan itself the parks were a little crowded and sometimes noisy but as we continued west the crowds thinned out. The more memorable parks we visited, in the order as visited were: North Higgins Lake State Park, Brevoort Lake National Campground, Van Riper State Park, Baraga State Park, and Lake Gogebic.
Are they camper’s mom? One evening as Dad and I sat working on our laptops at the picnic table of our Van Riper State Park camp site (dad brought my laptop along with him in the van, but I don’t carry it on the bike) a little girl, of about 5 years old I suspect, had the following conversation with her mom as she passed by: Little Girl: Mom, are they campers? Mom: No honey, they are working Little Girl: What are they working for? Mom: To earn money If Mom only knew! How would she ever explain the reason behind my trip to her young daughter? A couple of folks did stop by after seeing my bike and gear and inquired about my trip but I doubt that this gal had the slightest clue regarding the purpose of my trip. Curiously, after hearing the mother's reply I distinctly remember thinking “why does everyone think life is about money?” I felt like telling her "I'm not working! I'm playing, having fun and Living Life!" I hadn't thought much about money over the past 6 weeks... And come to think of it, I've been consistently less idle these past 6 weeks than I've generally been in my entire life and I'm not a lazy person! Outwardly I may appear to some to be idly passing away the time but this cycling stuff and fending for oneself as the situations present themself is hard work, I found out that it takes a lot of resourcefulness and forethought to travel this way. A funny thing happened on the way to the shower this afternoon: Baraga State park is a beautiful park situated on the southern most point of Keweenaw Bay (Keweenaw is Ojibwa and means "place of the crossing." ) Like the other State Parks in Michigan it was well kept and the showers were warm and clean as usual, a definite plus after a hard day of pedaling in the heat.
As Dad and I settled into camp, having everything set up for the evening, a very nice older couple arrived and set up camp next to us. We introduced ourselves to each other and discovered that Dick and Lorraine have been camping for years, I remembered thinking how cool it was that a couple who appeared to be comfortably into their seventies would still enjoy pitching a tent sleeping under the stars. It was a hot day (96F) and very humid, after 30 minutes or so of chit chat Dick excused himself and headed off to take a shower, Dad and I sat chatting and nibbling on snacks and about an hour after Dick had left for his shower Lorraine paid us a rather excited visit, it turns out that Dick had been trying to free himself from the shower for the last 45 or 50 minutes. Remember folks, it was in the upper 90’s and very humid! Dad and I arrived at the shower house to find the Park Ranger trying futilely to open the stuck door, it turns out that new doors had recently been installed and the Park ranger was hesitant to do anything that might damage his newly installed doors. We passed a Leatherman, a small knife and a screwdriver to Dick under the generous door gap but it was no help, Dick was still trapped in his dimly lit and claustrophobic 4’ x 8’ prison cell. To keep himself cool he had been running a cold shower for what was now well over an HOUR. After what seemd like another half hour of discussions Dad and I finally convinced the Ranger that we had to get Dick out soon without regard for his new door, we suggested removing the door trim and within 5 minutes we were able to jimmy the lock and extract Dick from the damp cell. All told he had spent 90 minutes or more in this cubby hole, the amazing thing was that as Dick exited from captivity he was smiling ear to ear, he took it in stride with a laugh and said a simple “Oh Well.” I have no doubt that Dick’s laid back personality has a lot to do with his good health and his apparent youth, make no mistake, Dick and Lorraine are a young seventies-ish couple. I hope they spend many more years snuggled up in their little dome tent while roaming the Michigan North woods! God bless them both! Rockin and Rollin the night away! After we extracted Dick from his cell I noticed that the sky began to darken a bit to the west and the wind was picking up considerably so I checked the weather forecast and sure enough, we were under a severe thunderstorm alert, and Mother Nature was not going disappoint us! Thinking it prudent I added a few extra tie downs and tent stakes to the tent, it turned out to be a wise move! I drifted off to sleep around 9:00pm to the gentle rumble of distant thunder, it was very pleasant indeed! Bang, Bam Boom! “Man that strike was close!” I was jarred awake by a cacophony of Mother Natures Cannonade in D minor! I rocked and rolled all night to what my Grandmother used to call “the Angels bowling,” they were hitting a lot of strikes and spares tonight and some of them were pretty darn close! While dad was snug in his RV I was enjoying a light show that even Pink Floyd would be envious of, I wondered how Dick and Lorraine were faring, I didn’t sleep much and expect they didn’t either. In the morning when I awoke Dick and Lorraine had alreay gone, I asked dad what he thought of the storm last night, “What storm?” was his reply… The thin cocoon of metal surrounding him had obviously provided the sense of security he needed to sleep unhindered through the night. (The fact that Dad can sleep through an atomic bomb blast at ground zero helps too!) Fine dining at Gogebic State Park Dad and I spent our last night in Michigan at Gogebic State Park, yet another fine example of how to run a park! As usual Dad whipped up a feast on our trusty Coleman Stove and we dined in style. He can do amazing things with the most simplest ingredients. Our usual arrangement is that Dad cooks and I clean up and this works very well for us both, I'm a decent cook myself but dad enjoys the art of cooking a bit more and truth be told he's much handier than I under such spartan conditions. Dad and I didn't know it at the time but this would be our last night of camping together during the trip. We awoke to a light drizzle, had a tasty hot breakfast (So far during the trip I usually eat just a granola bar for breakfast) and we broke camp. I was off to cross yet another state border, Wisconsin here I come! (I made the Wisconsin state line as planned but we turned around and stayed in a hotel on the Michigan side of the border to update the site, see below for more...)  Dad whipping up a wonderful dinner at Gogebic SP
Wisconsin - a short run across the land of Cheese! I've always loved Wisconsin, as a kid we used to make the yearly summer drive up to Hazelhurst Wisconsin for our two week "cabin on the water" getaway. I would spend hours rowing around the lake (and I now have Popeye sized forearms to show for it!) fishing and lazing in the sun. It took only two days to ride across the 100 miles of Rt 2 in northern Wisconsin, I flew over the first day's 65 miles in a light drizzle, the second day's ride into Superior was short, sweet and easy. (Please read below as Dad gives a full account of our efforts to update the site while staying in hotels in Wisconsin.) It was nice crossing Wisconsin as quickly as I did but it flew by so fast that I was a little sad that I didn’t get to explore a bit… But alas, I have friends waiting in Superior. I’ll be spending the Forth of July with my dear friend Tony, his wife Heather and their awesome little dog Pedro! Postscript: I was going to write more about my time in Superior but sadly and to my great disappointment, my buddy Tony and his wife ended their marriage about six months after I left Superior. I had high hopes for them, they are both such great people. But as I’m a survivor of divorce myself I understand that sometimes things just don’t work out, I wish them both the very best. Minnesota here I come! Gary Sr. Updates below
Update --
7/3/05 -- 11:13
AM -- Gary left Ironwood, MI and the comforts of the
Comfort
Inn at 9:22 AMThursday 6/30/05 (our first motel stay of the trip) and said adieu to Michigan as he crossed into Wisconsin near Hurley for his pedal west toward the Superior/Duluth area. We checked in to the motel for the express purpose of updating the web site and were assured prior to checking in that their wireless internet was working. To our dismay it was not -- so no updating was possible. The motel did try and a repairman arrived within a half hour of our arrival but his efforts were of no avail. They did discount our nights stay by fifty percent. All-in-all the staff at the Comfort Inn were a pleasureable group that did make a real effort Gary pedaled approximately 67 miles west of Ironwood on Thursday and we reached our next chosen stop at Iron River, WI. We decided to check in to the Lumbermen's Inn in Iron River, the only motel we saw in town, even though they did not have internet access. Two Coffee Shops in town did provide access and I was able to make the first updates to the site since 6/22/05 at 8:20 AM on 7/1/05. Gary pedaled out of the Lumbermen's Inn parking lot at 10:33 AM Friday morning and headed for Duluth. The fairly late departure was due to my sipping a cup of Dark Roast coffee while updating the web site at one of the two coffee shops in town providing internet access. I was successful in adding Gary's final notes on his trip through PA/OH and New York to the site as well as a small addition to the Gary Sr. Page. We arrived at Culver's restaurant in Duluth about 1:20 PM and ordered chili dogs and fries to go, which we enjoyed at a pavillion in a local park a couple of blocks off Rt 53 in Duluth. At approximately 2:30 PM Gary pedaled up to his friends Tony and Heather and their teeney dog Pedro's place in Duluth. At 4:30 PM I left Gary in the good hands of his friends and headed south toward home. It was a long 8 1/2 hour drive via Eau Claire, Madison and Rockford and I arrived safely in my driveway at 1:05 AM Saturday morning. I had put 2097.4 miles on the camper since leaving home on 6/23/05. The 6/28/05 entry below details most of the campsites we stayed at in Michigan. At some point Gary willl provide his notes and thoughts on his trip through Michigan and Wisconsin and we will post a few additional pictures of our time together as well. Update -- 6/28/05 -- 7:28 PM -- Met Gary at about 3:00 PM CDT/4:00 PM EDT at Owosso, MI about 20 miles north east of Lansing, MI on Thursday l6/23/05 and accompanied him and leap frogged him as he pedaled through Michigan. Tonight Wednesday 6/29/05 is the first night we have stayed in a motel (the Comfort Inn in Ironwood, Michigan) so that we might utilize their wireless internet service to update the web page and provide some news of the trip. Only to find their wireless internet was not working. We will be able to utilize a cable link near their office and Gary is currently at the keyboard compiling the updates and hopefully will be able to get them on the web site this evening. [Postscript 7/2/05: The Office Staff changed shifts at midnite at the motel and would not allow us to connect by wire. See 7/1/05 update]. We have had a week of camping and enjoying the Great Outdoors. Camping at Lake Higgins State Park, Van Riper State Park, Baraga State Park, and Lake Gogebic State Park in Michigan. We crossed the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge (under high wind alert conditions) and took a ferry to Mackinac Island where no autos are allowed. The greatest means of transportation being by bicycle or horse drawn carts and wagons. Gary was in his element with all the bikes on the Island but did not take his bike to the Island. I missed mentioning our stay at Brevoort Lake State Campground off of Rt 2 - 15 miles northwest of the Mackinac Bridge near the Upper Shore of Lake Michigan (Comment added 7/06/05.) We will have more comments and pictures on Michigan in a couple of days. Update -- 6/22/05 -- 8:20 PM -- Gary is camped out between Chelsea and Stockbridge, MI this evening. He pedaled 40 miles today fighting the wind. He is in a Primitive Campground for the night. Sometimes those are the best kind. His bathtub was a small lake. About 6:00 PM Gary and I discussed plans for a meet east and maybe north of Lansing, MI tomorroow afternoon. I will contact him on his cell phone to get his location or his new friend Geir from Henrietta, New York is our relay/go between person we will call to figure out where the other guy is. I am looking forward to seeing him and it will be good to accompany him for a week or so on his venture. We Will Find A Way to keep the site updated while we are both on the road, and I hope to be supplying some fresh pictures to the web site. And, he some fresh stories hopefully. Said he met a Great Gal yesterday and spent the day sightseeing with her and made a new friend. God Bless and Happy Trails. I will be leaving about 7:00 AM in the morning (Thursday) for our meet. Next Word Will Be From The Road. 
 The camper is ready to roll. Michigan here I come. Maybe I can find a Paint Shop there. Update -- 6/22/05 --9:25 AM -- Gary entered Michigan yesterday morning and spent the evening near Adrian, Michigan. I am to leave in the morning (Thursday) and will meet up with him somewhere east of Lansing, MI. Gary sent a parcel on ahead to Saginaw, MI so I may be the designated pickup man for that. At some point Gary will head to Central Michigan for his northward jaunt to Mackinac. I am anxious to see the lad and at this point I assume he is getting tanned and seasoned from his trip. A couple of pictures taken earlier: 
 "Joey" -- (Gary calls all of his small furry friends Joey) Scenic view taken May 28, 2005 at 11:11 AM Joey shared the campsite at Grand Isle State Park, Going back over the web site updates this had to be Lower Hero Island, Lake Champlain, New York. taken in New Hamshire. I'm sure Joey shared part of supper and breakfast as well. Picture was taken May 30, 2005 at 3:20 PM per the camera photo data. Let us
consider the
way in which we spend our lives.
Henry
David Thoreau
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