Had to dig deep in our bags for cold weather gear this morning.  It was 39° when we woke, so we waited for it to warm up to 43° before we started riding at 7:30.  Our one mile climb in directly sunlight warmed us to the point of shedding our jackets.  A delightfully windless morning, perfect day to ride.  Our first hour or two we passed numerous farms

and pretty ponds then we were surrounded by trees, it was so quite you could hear the crickets.Last night, we discussed the option of not following the course entirely, but we were enjoying our surroundings so much, we missed our course turn, so ended up on the short cut anyway.

We saw several deer, still struggling to take a picture of them, before they see us.We were promised elk by several warning signs, but they never materialized.  At one point a black bear cub wandered up to the road, but my frantic dive for the camera scared it away before we could get a shot off.  Our rolling hills were a much more manageable grade and frequency, allowing us to enjoy the silver birch and ponds.We reached our destination by 1:00, so had lunch before checking in.  We were feeling pretty good from our 50 mile ride and started looking at going a bit further.  A plan in place, we took a quick ride around Glidden to see the record Black Bear (665 pounds, 7’10” overall)and the wall of heros! These are likinesses of the people from Glidden who have served, dating back to WWI.  We were back on the road by 2:00, passing our first farmhouse of the day.Though the sky had looked threatening all day, the clouds were finally breaking up;our ride into town was equally as beautiful.All across the north, homes have displayed the American flag, but this house is truly heartwarming.Now we will rest, 68 miles done.

Forecast today is for thunderstorms beginning at 6:00 a.m. with rain continuing until noon.  So we were blessed when we departed at 7:15 to wet roads, but no rain (or thunderstorms).  Even with the cool 50° temps, low ceiling and threat of rain, it was a beautiful morning.Once again we rode a tree lined road with ponds, lakes and rivers on either side;still mesmerized by the birch and beautiful fern floor of the forest.With no farmhouses or sun to light the day, we noticed the pretty flowers along the road, the simple barns and a very interesting pine. It started to rain about 9:00, just as Musky Jack’s appeared.  We dashed inside for coffee to take the chill off, but skipped the coffee and went straight for the Cream of Asparagus and Potato Soup. As we dove into the bathtub size bowl of soup, the sky opened up and it poured.  Forty-five minutes later, the rain eased enough for us to venture out again.

Another 25 miles and we stopped for lunch, not because we were hungry, but we needed to warm up. However the AC was so cold, that warming up didn’t happen.  We debated staying in Woodruf, but we still wanted to bike………this is where you call us crazy.  After an hour we ventured out again, between the raindrops. Oddly enough, it was a wonderful ride.  Thankfully the road was mostly flat and we had no wind in our face, so despite the rain, it was a wonderful ride.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures of funny signs, pretty resorts, picturesque lakes and other good stuff.

Our hotel showed up just in time as our legs were beginning to tire.  Perfect time to stop…..69 miles!  Jerry finally gets to try the local beer, accompanied by Pork Chops with a Jack Daniel’s glaze…now that is a great ending to the day!

Heavier than fog, yet lighter than mist, but definitely 10 warmer than yesterday…..another beautiful day to ride.Of course, sleeping in and not leaving until 8:30 had nothing to do with the disposition!!   We rode past the nostalgic part of Eagle River on our way out of town this morning. We mentioned interesting signage from yesterday’s wet ride; today we can show you the types of things we saw. interpretation for this one….?!? and when was the last time you saw S & H GreenStamps?

We rode through the township of Three Lakes, though we certainly counted more than three, but all beautiful.We passed everything from cabin rentals, private homes  to nice lodges and condos.The winding and hilly roads that surround all the lakes had protected us from the winds we had heard running through the tree tops,but once out in the open fields, we felt the full effect. Not happy about wind in the face and more hills than we had had in days, but it was a shorter ride today, so no room for complaining.

We arrived in town shortly after noon, again seeing a great display of the American flag,too early for check-in, we stopped for lunch.  We had planned on trying to get a massage with our extra time this afternoon, but the hot tub at our hotel had jets so strong they would propel you across the tub, so no massage necessary.

We had to pedal a mile into town for dinner, but it was worth it. Still haven’t found any Wisconsin made cheese, but “settled” for locally made ice cream….to die for!  As we pedaled back to the hotel, the sky was getting ugly, no worries tonight, we were undercover!

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.