A frigid blast of wind from the north hit us as we stepped outside this morning. It was 45°, but the wind chill felt like minus 2°. We biked for a couple of miles along our Rail Trail hoping to warm up, but had to stop to put on more clothes. Took about an hour for the feeling in our fingers to return and we settled into the beautiful ride.

Thankfully, we were traveling east, so the strong north wind was just off our shoulder until an occasional gust hit us head on. Lots of barns, one with our initials. We enjoyed our trailfilled with beautiful flowers for 31 miles until we reached Midland, a delightful college townthat took us seven miles to weave through then back on straight, flat roads; though Jerry did want to stop and watch some curling.  Christmas tree farms abound in this areaNot saying it was freezing, but we still had ice in our frozen water bottles at 1:00.

We reached the outskirts of our destination, Bay City, by noon and began our quest for lunch. We followed the course weaving in and out along the Saginaw River finally stopping at 1:30 for lunch, the first place we found.

We have no idea what possessed us to even consider going further having already completed 58 miles. Maybe it was the disenchantment with the city from our ride in, cool weather keeping us comfortable or the fact that our course past Bay City turned south, putting the wind at our back. Whatever the reason, by 2:00 we were back on course. It was truly a beautiful day and great ride; have we mentioned how much we like the wind at our back?

What a surprise our final destination was.  Frankenmuth, the church and town founded in 1846, is called Michigan’s Little Bravaria, filled with all the charm (and flowers) we remember from our northern Europe ride. Albeit, hokey  and extremely touristy,it was a wonderful surprise. We arrived in town by 4:14, but chatted with Bill and Pearl from Ontario for so long we didn’t get checked in until 5:00. We were back out of the door by six.

Ironically or coincidentally there was a Brew Pub right next door and next to them a Wine and Chocolate tasting….so all was worth it.  We ate and drank down the pretty street and found dinner with waiters in full dress.Dinner was a smorgasbord of German food. We each ordered a plate, but the side dishes just kept coming, much like a buffet, except it was all served tableside.  A good thing we did 83 miles today.

We were prepared for the cold this morning, wrapped up as if we were going skiing; leaving an hour later was an advantage, too.  The other end of Frankenmuth was just as charming and we were sorry to pedal away from this hidden gem. The wind was still blowing out of the north, so just off our left shoulder.It was another gorgeous morning, with clear blue skiesand a couple of things we had yet to see.We had about six miles on a rail trail, protecting us from the wind; with no “under construction” sign, we did not expect our trail to be blocked.We managed to walk our bikes around the truck and linesman putting up electrical poles.    By mile 20, we were back out on the open road in rolling hills.An occasional turn in the road had us battling the wind, but that did not change the spectacular scenery. Definitely more difficult than yesterday’s ride, with no wind assist.  Plenty of  fields, livestock and barns surrounded by white fluffy clouds that had moved across the blue sky.  The small towns we pedaled through were dotted with neat yards, Victorian homes and the occasional church.We stopped for the evening in Yale, looking for our diploma; they promised it would be mailed.

Winds this morning were under 10 mph and out of the west, so 48° did not feel like sub-0 temps, but close. It was a nice ride this morning, but nothing really remarkable to see, not even a barn.  Just a nice day to take a ride on a flat road.  We had several sections on busy roads, then sections on neighborhood trails. In St. Claire we got our first glance of the St Claire River and cannot believe the color.But with a huge power plant and houses packed along the riverside, it is difficult to get a good photograph.  Our first potential stop for the day was Marine City at 48 miles.  Arriving just after noon, we decided to have lunch and talk about the rest of the day. Naturally, we decided to go further.  We waited for the ferry to take us across the river/borderinto Canada. Here we rode along the river with plenty of opportunities to take pictures;just could not get enough of the Caribbean blue waters.A special photograph for Bobby T.-the only person who will not appreciate this swan. Six miles from our final destination, we turned away from the river and saw our first Canadian barn….…no different then across the border.  Our last few miles were finally blessed with a tail wind.  Our short day ended up being 61 miles, we must stop doing this to ourselves.

Our extra miles yesterday resulted in a short day today and we actually stuck to that.  Not leaving until 10:30, allowed the morning to warm to a balmy 18°; so nice to wear short sleeves again. Oh Canada remember uses celsius not fahrenheit, so by U.S. measurements it was 64°.  The warmer weather today, came in on the south east breeze, though mild it was directly in our face.

Not much to see today but long stretches of flat landcorn and tomatoe fields.  Felt obligated to take a picture of a barn, as there was nothing else to see.  Canada does have slightly different ways to convey road conditionsand the first green barn on this trip.My highlight of the day was this darling little thing; she almost made it onto my bike.

Stopped for a light lunch on our way to our motel.  Not sure we even need dinner after that steak sandwich and only doing 30 miles, but when has that ever stopped us.

It’s a small town, the yards and along the street are filled with flowersbut not much else to report.

Almost 60° this morning as we pushed off just before eight o’clock. The forecast was for the NE winds to pick-up and switch to offer a little assistance for our ride, unfortunately an hour into our ride, it only picked up heading directly toward us, fortunately only 10 mph.The wind generators were a constant reminder of the wind direction.  Though we rode parallel to the shores of Lake Erie, only once or twice could we see it in the distance.  We saw more century old homes in between the barns on our very straight road.  The manicured lawns were the perfect canvas for the long shadows cast by the morning sun.We were surprised to see these large grand homes in the middle of farm fieldsand understood when some had been abandoned.

The road was not as busy as yesterday; everyone was courteous,farmers working even on a Saturday.Our straight road threw in some rolling hills, just to keep the day interesting and challenging (not what we needed).

Late morning, we stopped in a little country gas station for water and they were just taking the fresh peach cream pie out of the oven…..But the best part of the stop was the hug I got from this little kitty.We continued our roll up and down, the wind still working on us, but not without pretty and interesting livestock to keep our attention.  The earlier nondescript sky was beginning to paint beautiful pictures for us.Arrived at the edge of town by 12:30, but took us about an hour to pedal through town to the other edge where our hotel was.  Not exactly the St. Thomas of the Caribbean, but we were happy to be here after 60 miles.

Ludington, Michigan to St. Thomas, Ontario

It was a warm, sunny, lazy sunday morning as we pedaled past a few homes and into the countryside;still mesmerized by the huge pines that bordered the corn fields.  An hour into the ride we got our first glimpse of Lake Erie;the horizon was obscured by the early morning fog, that had lifted but left behind a hazy sky.

Once again we had relatively flat terrainthrough farmland and small townswith some interesting driveway adornments.

These signs always elicit an UH OH from us as we know it cannot be good.  Such was the case when entering Port Bruce, our first steep drop and climb in days. The the road was filled with empty boat trailers taking advantage of the beautiful Sunday morning.  The fly down was great, but the climb was steep, thankfully, we only had a few such towns/drops/climbs. As we paralleled the Lake, we were surprised that farm fields lined the waterfront and homes that had waterfront land were hunched by the roadside (note the changing leaves). But no matter what direction you looked, the landscape had wind turbines.Our next town was Port Burwell, complete with a lighthouse, lunch and a submarine.

Saw more motorcycles today than we had in over a month, but then this is only the second day over 80° we have seen in over a month, too.  Also saw tobacco and asparagus fieldsfor the first time.  More new experiences included biking through Copenhagen, Vienna and then to Norfolk.

It was a beautiful day, but the breeze had picked up, and though it was less than ten mph, it was in our face making it a very long day.

There is about a 200 foot drop from the shoreline to the water on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, so this seemed strange to see,as did this.Our last climb was into town, this one we were happy to do as it meant we could stop for the day.  At 4:00 and 58 miles, we were ready.  Our darling port side town had a restaurant at the bottom of the hill (of course), but the view was worth it.