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September 3 Saturday Bicycle touring from Van Meer Michigan to near Mackinac Island Michigan We get on our bicycles and race in slow motion to a washroom in Shingleton five miles away. At breakfast, in a rest area, we meet an elderly couple from B.C. They tell us they were nearly shaken to pieces on the road, especially near Sault St Marie, and warn us against trying to cycle it on our bicycles. They have been travelling for two months now and are getting tired of it. They are heading back home to the Okanagan. He uses the outdoor biffy, then advises his wife to use the motorhome bathroom instead. "They are pretty stinky." I'll have to second that assessment. There is no toilet paper either and the weekend is just beginning. It is the only rest stop for miles and it is particularly busy with a constant flow of traffic in and out. As we were sitting at the picnic table I heard one guy go in and say, "Oh, my!" It can't be as bad as the outhouse near Michigamme where Sharon said it looked like someone took a shit while swinging around. It had a fan too. Guess that's what they hung onto while they took a dump? A lot of people, both cyclists and non-cyclists, have told us about the horrors of the Trans Canada highway. We decide to head south to cross at Port Huron rather than try our luck on the Trans Canada. We cycle off Hwy 28 at Seney to begin cycling Hwy 77. Then we cycle Hwy 42 to go by Manistique Lake. It is a pleasant ride on a country road. At Curtis, we cycle tour along Hwy 33, then back to Hwy 2 which has a great shoulder. By Gould City, a roadside restaurant is advertising "World's Greatest Cinnamon Buns." I ordered two to go. They are giant at eight inches square and six inches high. They are oozy and still warm. We cycled into a rest area we we ate one of the giant cinnamon buns and it filled us up. We kept cycling until almost dark. The campgrounds are full because it is the Labor Day long weekend. We are in tourist country near Mackinac Island. We have good views of Lake Michigan. We are cycle camping in Lake Superior State forest. I saw a faint track of a road going into the woods. When no cars were coming, we pushed our bikes back into the forest and hid amongst the ferns. Once we were inside the forest, it is hard for passing motorists to see us or our fully loaded touring bicycles. We cooked the steak that we had bought for our anniversary supper, but had been too full to eat it that night. It turned out to be tender and juicy. I guess all that bouncing around in my bike pannier tenderized it. The ferns are really tall and lush -- almost waist-high. When we sat down to make our supper, we couldn't see over the tops of them. Very secluded and private. When bicycle touring one can get some great wild camping spots out in the forests. |
