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?!