Once again overcast and almost 60° when we departed at seven.  The overcast muted the colors of the pretty flowers on our rolling country road; tough grades but short with several stretches of flat.  We could hear the wind rustling through the trees and felt it on our backs when there was a break in the trees.  The Northwoods part of Wisconsin is beautiful and filled with pines of all kinds; once again the smell of Christmas filling the air.  In between the long stretches of woods, we would see the occasional log cabin, churchor neatly kept home.There was also an abundance of apple trees in yards and growing wild, unfortunately they were not quite ripe yet.  You may have heard us mention how cold it has been, we were not kidding, the leaves are changing. We were concerned we’d make it to Maine before the leaves changed, but looks like we will miss the New England leaf show.  Of course we saw our required fields and barns, but Rudolf?and a Golf Course in the middle of nowhere?! and well maintained, at that.  Around ten, the sun started to burn away the clouds just as we met the wide open fields; we flew on the flat roads with the wind to our back.  Once again the flowers sparkled in the sun and the green of the fields increased in intensity.An hour later after getting our first glimpse of the Wolf River we entered the Menominee Indian Reservation.  For almost two hours we rode the rolling roads through beautiful thick forests; we had to climb each hill without winds assistance on tired legs.  In the thick woods, we did not realize the clouds were gathering again.  It was only on our occasional glimpse of the river we could see the sky.  Just after noon and 60 miles, we took a break for lunch deep in  the woods.  A couple more shots of the river and the Keshena Falls. After one o’clock, we finally broke out of the forest and turned towards town; instantly regretting the wish for civilization on this busy road (ignore the fact this pic was taken with no cars).  But the road was flat, which was exactly what we needed.  Arrived in town a half an hour later, but stopped for a chocolate milkshake, so didn’t check in for a half an hour later after 73 miles.

Fifty two degrees felt very cold this morning, even with the sun shinning. We experienced a couple mild rolling hills within the first few miles then the roads flattened out and began to wind past barns of all shapes and sizes,more than we had seen in the last two days combined. The faded red on the barns gave a rich patina to the old wood. The fields were much smaller or broken up with the snaking road (check out the bird in the bottom left corner), but filled with corn, soybean, potatoes, green onions and cabbage.Where there are farms there are horsesand the occasional lama (we think).The houses were getting larger and more frequent, but each had perfectly manicured lawns and where there are families there are churches.We were really enjoying the flat roads of today’s ride and the beautiful fields, clear sky and numerous barns. Though we had a mild head wind, it was more a nuisance than a hinderance.

As we approached Freedom, our lunch stop, we began to see the destruction from the F1 tornado (one of three) that had struck the area early (1:30 a.m.) Wednesday morning.  Remember that ugly sky we saw Tuesday night?  We just caught a brief news snippet on the storm during breakfast, but were now seeing the results firsthand. Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured.  It was a sobering ride through town, weaving around the downed limbs, but the town was bouncing back quickly and it was a gorgeous day.A request; if anyone has any idea what these huge birdcage looking things are, please let us know.  We have a ferry to catch to Michigan tomorrow, so resting tonight.

Nothing says, WAKE UP LEGS, quite like hills and a headwind.

When we started at 6:30 we had a beautiful sky. The scattered clouds we thought had just not burned off from the morning, but they won over the sun within the hour, but not before we caught our shadows in the early morning sun.  Still saw remnants of the storm as we biked through town, but the sound of generators had been silenced.

We battled the rolling hills in the headwind for about an hour and a half, then turned to enjoy it to our backs.  Oddly enough, the hills seemed to flatten when we turned.  This one’s for Scott/Pam and Dave/Lynn; the closest we will ever get to Nascar.

One last day of beautiful Wisconsin farmhouses; think we got a shot of everyone we passed but will only share a few.  Red is obviously the favorite color, but this white one holds it own.Thinking of doing our next tour one these. Still more fully packed apple trees and huge Weeping Willows.

On our approach to Manitowoc, we saw the CedarCrest Ice Cream cow but didn’t stop as we had a date with a Badger, even though it was just before 11:00 and our boat didn’t leave until 2:00. Got our first glimpse of Lake Michigan as we rounded the corner to the dock.  With tickets purchased and a guaranteed seat on the boat, we biked into town for an early lunch.

A bit of trivia:  The S.S. Badger is the last coal steam powered ship in the United States.  It was named in honor of the University of Wisconsin; inaugural voyage was March 21, 1953.

It is a four hour trip across Lake Michigan from Wisconsin, but by the clock it took us five hours with the time change.  Finally able to disembark around 7:15 p.m. and traverse our last eight miles.  On our approach to the dock in Michigan, we’d noticed a substantial coastline and were hoping that was not within our last few miles.  We were not that lucky, but energized by the seven hour rest and being almost there (even though the sun was low in the sky), we covered the distance “relatively” quickly.  Our last mile was downhill to stay with a friend/neighbor from The Brac.  Kent had prepared a fabulous dinner of steak, fresh sweet corn and a to die for salad.  It was a wonderful relaxing evening, as typified by the sky.To top off the evening, Kent drove us to town for ice creamCapital of Ice Cream in Michigan…..is there anyplace better to be?!

Day off today and with no internet and eight miles from town, that is exactly what we did and exactly what we needed. Plus the calm effect of sand and sea (ok lake, but you can’t see the other side, so same effect).  We do have a couple of the pictures of the darling townand Victorian homes from our ride in last night.We did take a nice stroll past a tiki bar and then to the marina, watching the salmon head boats returning from a successful day of fishing.

Oh, and we did find a masseuse that came to us.  A great day of relaxing…..we will see you tomorrow.

Hayward, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan

367 Miles

2 States, Time Zone Change

By the time we left at 7:45 this morning, the salmon fishermen were already at their task. Though the 55° felt quite cold, there were less clouds than yesterday, so we hoped the sun would warm us.  For over a half an hour we biked the country roads with the pungent smell of oil drilling, finally confirming our scent.  The sun didn’t seem to want to break through, but the exertion from the rolling hills was keeping us warm.  Our country roads had us going in every direction today; east, west, north and south; adding distance to the much shorter straight shot.  But the scenery,lots of deer,and lack of traffic made it worth it.

M.E, this one’s for you, still looking for the tree with the full bottles.

At 40 miles we stopped for a delicious lunch and to determine how far to go, 50 or 70 miles.  Still early in the day and with no internet at the 50 miles stop, we opted for the longer of the two.  We continued to wind through villages and townships, our course becoming quite a bit hiller.  It was taking so long, the trees were changing as we biked.  We’ve seen a lot of dogs on leashes, but a cow?

The clouds were really building and we hoped our legs would hold out before the storm let loose.  By the time we dragged ourselves into the township of Le Roy, we felt much like this sign. Seventy four miles (63 as the crow flies) was quite enough for today.

A warmer (60°) humid morning. Right from the start we hit the hills and didn’t get a break for 16 miles.  As always, the country roads provided beautiful scenery, including a barn or two (dozen).Within the hour, the sky had cleared, but the air remained cool.

The fields in Michigan seem much scrappier, not as neat or expansive as we have seen in other states; probably due to the very sandy soil we are seeing.

A turn off our country road to our first flat road since our start and it was blocked by a ROAD CLOSED/DETOUR sign. The sign indicated we had four miles before the road was blocked, but no telling how far the detour would take us; we decided to take our chances.  The construction site was not the worst we’d been through and the workers waved us through; it was a good choice.  We enjoyed another six miles of flat road before returning to the rolling hills,fields and farms.An hour after the sky cleared, the clouds started rolling in, againbut didn’t mute the roadside flowers, pretty forests or continuing leaf changing.We passed several lakes loaded with vacation homes.Finally got a deer to pose.About five miles from our destination, we stopped for a light lunch,turkey and mashed potatoes on top of Texas toast and smothered in gravy.  Good thing we had an easy ride into town on a Rails/Trails path.A nice even 50 miles (40, if we’d taken the highway) completed today.