Day 4- day 7

Blog 2

   You'll notice I'm on my casual writing behavior. Until someone starts grading blogs, it's gonna stay that way, too. Deal with it (:

   After our stay at the urban campground (during which we ate approximately 3,200 calories), we began the ride to a county campground, which we had estimated to be 80 miles away. The first 30 miles or so was rural farm country, with lots of John Deere tractors and Dodge Trucks. 

  After that, the land became hillier, and the fields started to thin out. The landscape was very scenic, but the hills also slowed down our riding. It seemed as if there was always more uphill than downhill, and our speed sagged lower and lower. 

   One thing we notice as we rode along was how nice most people's lawns where. It seemed that every few miles, we would ride past a house with one or more people out front working some lawn care implement. Even trailers and modular homes had green, neatly mowed lawns. 

   We arrived at the campground almost exactly 80 miles later, right on our estimate.  It was a good thing too, as I don't think Pop could have gone much further. I really can't complain though, the longest he had ridden in the past was the 45 miles we had gone the day before. Oh, and just before the campground entrance, we saw a mother deer feeding her fawn not 40 feet from the road. 

Once again, we didn't have a reservation, but this time we weren't quite so lucky as we had been the previous night. The only person on staff was a friendly intern. When we asked if we could just set up our tent somewhere, he said he'd have to call and ask his boss. After an uncomfortably long time on the phone, he came back and told us that due to "policy", we couldn't set up our tent. He had even offered to load up our bikes and drive us to the next closest campground, but the boss said he couldn't do that either. Fortunately, he did present one other option.  "I pretty much know everyone who's in the campground right now," he said "I could ask around and see if someone would be willing to drive you." Within 10 minutes, he was back with a pair of guys who drove us the 10 miles to the next campground. After thanking them, we set up camp, ate a bunch of food, and fell asleep. Or at least tried to fall asleep; there was a bunch of college kids a couple campsites over who became increasingly more inebriated as the night went on. 

  We moved a bit slower the next morning; it was 10am before we rolled out. Or plan was to ride 60 miles and stay at a county park indicated on our state map. 

   We still had a really strong tailwind, and our altitude now seemed to be dropping instead of rising, so cruising at 18 or 20 felt almost effortless. Pop guessed the reason for the downhill was that we had probably crossed the divide between the Lake Michigan watershed and the Mississippi river watershed. 

  When we found the park on the map, it turned out to be more of a municipal park, complete with tennis courts. Once again, our plans where foiled.  

   Actually, I was pretty okay with plans not working out. One of my motives for this trip was let go of reality an bit, challenge the way things are done, and just overall zone out & relax. It seems that often times, people get so caught up in their plans that they get all worked up when their plans don't work out, even if it really doesn't pose that much of a difficulty. It's like they could really care less that what they where planning didn't work out, they're just upset that the plan failed. My goal is to just go with it, figure it out as I go along, and make the best of things no matter what happens. 

   But anyway, we needed a place to stay. We knew that there was a campground about 15 miles further, but Pop was wearing out, and we had no guarantee that there would be any space if we could make it there. So, we decided to head for another park shown on the state map, only 7 miles ahead. Once again, it was a park in a little town, but by this time Pop didn't care. We decided we'd just kind of hang around till it got dark, eat our dinner and stuff, and then unroll our sleeping bags under a picnic shelter. 

   The night went by without indecent, and we where ready for another day of riding. The weather forecast predicted rain later in the afternoon, so we decided to have a shorter day and ride 60 miles to brunette island state park outside of the little town of Cornell, WI. The land once again became hilly, but this time they were big, gently rolling hills.  We still had a tailwind though, we we weren't really slowed down. 

   The fact that there had been buggy parking at the gas station next to our park the night before was the first indication that we where entering Amish country, and we soon saw other evidence of the Amish population. It seemed that all the farmers where out plowing their fields, and we saw no less than 3 plows of the horse drawn variety. However, it appeared that not all amish adhered to the horse only policy. Some of the farmers we saw where driving tractors, but with metal wheels instead of pneumatic tires. We weren't quite sure what to think the first time we saw a modern tractor with complicated looking metal wheels, but figured there must be some kind of loophole or compromise that let them use tractors, just without the tires. 

   Because we had left early, at 8:00, we made it to Cornell by 2:30, and easily found the nearby campground. Pleasantly, the staff was quite friendly, and even mentioned that we could stay in one of the picnic shelters if the rain was really bad. We opted to just set up on a regular campsite and hope it didn't rain too hard. 

   After we had camp set up, I backtracked to investigate a prominent landmark. Just past the park road, there was a huge skeleton metal tower jutting into the air at a 45 degree angle.  I hadn't the slightest clue what it was, but a nearby sign informed me that it was a "pulpwood stacker." There was a conveyer down the center of the tower, and during the logging days of the past it would haul bits of chopped wood high into the air and deposit them into a gigantic pile. 

   

   Because it looked like the weather might be a bit damp, we decided to take the day off and relax under the picnic shelters. It seemed like a pretty good idea too, as it rained off and on all morning. This gave me a chance to read the paperback I'd picked up at a library along the way.  Shockingly, this is the first legit "paperback" I've ever read. It has actually managed to almost perfectly fill the stereotype I've developed. Not terribly well written, somebody gets murdered, some civilian lady decides she's going to solve the mystery, blah blah. At least it'll keep me busy for a while. 

  I found a public library with web, so this is going up right now.  Maybe I can add some pics later. 

The stacker

This hill was way bigger than it looks

The bikes

Start-day 3

   3 months ago, I purchased a rain jacket at T. J. Maxx. It took me a long time to decide if the cash was worth it, I even left and came back the next day before I finally laid down the $40. After our first day of cycling, I've come to the conclusion that the jacket has already more than paid for itself. I suppose I shouldn't have expected any less from the weather, it always rises to the occasion whenever any of the Wilson family tries to engage in any prolonged outdoor activity. 

   We actually left on Wednesday, which was a day later than our original plans. Ironically, the reason for our delay was that the weather on Tuesday looked rainy.  Of course, the weather was perfect for riding all day.  Even though it was pretty much a monsoon, we set out into the rain around 2:00. 

   Other than a couple of detours and the sheets of water falling from the sky, the 45 mile ride to Ludington was fairly event free, and we arrived at 6:30. 

   Before we left home, I had arraigned to stay with a woman named Claudia I found on a cycling hospitality website called warmshowers.com. She graciously welcomed us, fed us some excellent sweet potato soup, and gave us a place to sleep. That night, as I fell asleep, I realized that it was the first time I'd slept on a bed since January.  The next morning, we got up at 6:30, packed up our panniers, and headed out to the ferry. 

 

  Our first clue that something was amiss was when we pulled up to the ticket office and there wasn't any other passengers hanging around. Inside, Pop said, "hi, I'd like to get out tickets.". The woman behind the counter looked at us and asked, "You mean for today?".  "Uhh, yea...".  "Oh, we canceled the trip for today because of how rough the lake is, but I can reschedule your tickets for tomorrow."  Great, that does us a whole lot of good.  After a brief conference, we decided to head back to Claudia's and see if we could stay for another night. On the way back to her house, I mentioned that we should see Claudia wanted any help on her porch. 

  *quick detour on Claudia's porch*  Claudia, a single woman in her 50's, holds a degree in agricultural engineering.  She also apparently has some experience in construction. So, instead of hiring someone to build a three-season porch, she decided to do it herself.  We arrived 2 weeks or so into the construction process, and she had already set beams int the ground and was now in the process of installing floor joists.  What I found really amazing where the plans she had drawn, illustrating every part of the porch from the distance from the sidewalk to the length and type of the length of the bolts. *end detour*       

   Claudia took us up on our offer to help with the porch, but only if the drizzle that had developed cleared out.  Dad and I spent a few long hours in the local library until the afternoon arrived and brought sunshine and warmer temperatures. By that time, I was dying to be up and moving around, so working on the porch barely felt like work. 

   When Claudia decided that we had done enough for one day, we all went inside and helped to prepare supper, which we later enjoyed with one of Claudia's friends.  

   I really enjoyed our stay with Claudia, it was heartwarming to meet and get to know someone who cared about others enough to open her house to them. 

 

  Fortunately, the wind died down overnight, and we set sail on the Badger at 9:00 the next morning. After a smooth cruise, we unloaded our bikes into Wisconsin. Once we had secured a map and changed into some cycling clothes, we rode 45 miles through perfect weather to a small private campground Pop had located ahead of time. Once we arrived, we realized that he had neglected to make a reservation. And it's memorial day weekend. Even so, the camp lady manage to squeeze us into a tiny grassy section 15 feet away from a busy camper. Later, we walked around and only found 3 empty sites. I really don't understand the attraction of staying someplace that probably has a higher population density than Chicago and calling it "enjoying the outdoors". 

   Anyway, that's where we are now, resting for a long day of riding tomorrow. 

Intro

    So this is going to be a record of my bicycle journey from my home in west Michigan to Seaside, Oregon.  In it, I plan to record the experiences I have, the people I meet, and the places I see as I work my way across the country.  I really don't know how often I'll be able to post entries, but with any luck I'll be able to do at least one per week.  

    I will be using Adventure Cycling Association maps to string together a route that stretches for 2,000 miles.  My dad and I are planning on leaving next Tuesday the 21st, and will cross Lake Michigan on the Badger ferry from Ludington.  We plan on riding for 8-10 days before being joined by the rest of the family in the truck, who will act as a support vehicle for a week.  After that, I will continue on solo to the west coast.  I've decided to not set any time limits for the trip, but conservatively I would estimate that it will take me close to a month and a half.