We had a nice stay at our three story house in Niagara Falls, ON but this morning it was tome to move on down the road . . . and back into the USA!!!!

We had a seven mile pedal up river before we came to the bridge we would cross . . .

. . . a few more things to discover, like the stupa . . .

. . . the Niagara School of Horticulture . . .

. .  which had a VERY tidy facility and grounds . . .

. . . and a ‘flower clock’ they maintain. It was only 7:30am but the tour busses were already arriving . . .

. . . they say you can set your watch by it!!!!

. . . and there was the Whirlpool Falls which we biked around . . .

. . . from the other side you can see the first gondola crossing of the day.

. . . and for those who didn’t have enough stuff there was one more chance to shop at Souvenir City!!!!

. . . YIKES!!!!

. . . here was our passage back into the USA . . .

. . . as we rode over the bridge there were good views of the hydro plants on both the American and Canadian sides . . .

. . . and yes, at 8:00am there was a awaiting line to get back into the country!!!!

. . . not even a ‘Welcome to the United States’ sign or a “Welcome Home’ mention from the immigration folks . . . oh, well . . . .

. . . but  I did stop at this homey little place for a cinnamon bun and coffee!!!!

. . . and I am looking for the eastern version of this route!!!!

. . . puppy . . I wonder how D is doing in MSN????? Will she remember me after being gone for three months?????

. . . there is a BIG GM plant in Lockport and they are ready to celebrate everything American. BUY, BUY , BUY and help the economy!!!!

. . . we are also on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation . . .

which has LOTS of Smoke Shops and C-stores. I saw more C-stores in three miles I think than our whole time in Canada. Americans like convenience!!!!

A highlight today, and the next several, is was riding on the Erie Canal Trail . . .

. . . Lock 34 had a tour boat coming through as I passed over on a bridge.

. . . here is one of the ‘old locks’ . . .

. . . and the type of boat that  would prowl the canal!!!!

. . . Connie was ready for a nice, quiet, low traffic ride along the canal as we headed east out of Lockport . . .

. . . nice privately owned boats along the way . . .

. . . reminded me of France!!!!

. . . not sure what this structure is but it must have something to do with water flow. The gates can be raised and lowered . . .

. . . some very picturesque settings along the way . . .

. . . many of the little towns had these mini-lift bridges that would raise and lower to let boat traffic through. This one is raised.

. . . every once in a while you need to look down. I did and  and circled back to check this out . . .

. . . an army of ants heading across the path . . . they were VERY busy!!!!

. . . as I neared Middleport, our home for the night, I met Jason who was under a bridge having a little lunch. He has been out since June riding the four major trails in this area including the Eire, C&O, and the Allegany. He would be camping with us tonight in Middleport.

. . . and soon Middleport appeared around the next turn . . .

Nice camping along the river. No charge,  bathrooms and showers by the police station, and electric power . . .

I met Kelsey, whose owner Bob brought her over to a faucet for a little drink . . .

. . . an eight week old cutie. Very sweet with sharp little teeth. I miss my Daisy (and Smoochie too of course!!).

It was raining when we arrived yesterday so everyone who had wet tent fly’s. crammed them into the only dry spot on our deck . . .  and it worked, everything dried.

Today would be the regular ‘day off’ with laundry, bike maintenance, shopping, a ride on the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat tour (been there, done that) and just relaxing.

Barring the mileage from yesterday, we will ‘average’ 50 miles a  day or less for the rest of the trip. Of course, some of the shorter days will be because we will be back climbing mountains. This time on the east coast!!!!

Oh yeah, and a day off usually involves food we really can’t get on our regular ‘working days’. Most of the gang visited a local steakhouse on Thursday night and I can testify the NY Strip was EXCELLENT!!!!

. . . after dinner Hugh, Rod and I visited the local gelatoria for a little dessert. Cookies and Cream never tasted so good. And that was a ‘single’!!!

Friday night a group of us went for Japanese . . . YUMMMMMM!!!

I talked to emJay today who reminded me we leave for our Provence bike trip in less than a month !!!!!

A little burp in the mileage figuring met what should have been a 55 mile day today into Niagara, ON is going to be 83 miles!!!!!

. . . so we moved the breakfast time up 15 minutes!!!! On the way out of Selkirk we noticed we will miss the  Annual Gas Fest. NO IDEA what that is!!!!

. . . the gang was passed by, what I think, is the largest double bottom manure spreader know to man . . . glad there were no mishaps as it detoured around our riders!!!!!!

. . . another spin by the store with no fruit or veggies . . . most of the small stores like this having nothing fresh . . . . (but they did have Dew Worms) taste like chicken!!!!!

. . . first warning sign I have seen for ice coming off wind generators. Probably not a good place to be anywhere near one of the in the winter.  WONDER WHAT THE ‘THROWING RADIUS’ MIGHT BE”!!!

Great draw bridge along the way today. Hugh saw it fully retracted,when he rode by, letting a freighter slip out into Lake Erie . . .

. . . they REALLY mark the RR crossing in some areas for bicyclists’ . . .

. . . this one really ended up being no big deal. You can see Good Mike up ahead.

. . . today we would be on a trail system for much of the afternoon keeping us out of urban traffic as we bike trough Port Erie and into  Niagara, ON. Paved and very few bicyclists’ along the way . . .

. . . downside, LOTS of crossings creating bumps for those with loaded bikes. Had a headache by the time we were done from the  constant ‘thumping’.

. . . looking for  ‘simple accommodations’, you might want to consider . . .

. . . with the adjoining landscape business. ‘Turn yer Haven into a Heaven’!!!!

. . . great name of a little burg we passed through . . .

. . .now this was one BIG hay barn.You could stack em’ 8-10 high!!!

. . . soon we entered the greater Niagara area . . .

. . cutesy restaurants and shops began popping up. Looking at this authentic ‘prop’ outside this restaurant, it’s hard to believe the capacity of this lifeboat is 39 people!!!! Hopefully no on ever needed to use it.

. . . as we neared Fort Erie, there right across the water was Buffalo, NY . . . almost within spittin’ distance . . .

. . . but we stayed on our side of the river and proceeded along the Niagara Pkwy . . . many, many nice homes along the way . . .

. . . with more being built. Some are . . . ‘doing quite well in todays economy, thank you’ !!!

. . . soon on the horizon appeared Niagara, ON . . .

. . . and the headwaters of the Falls. UNBELIEVABLE the speed of he water . . .   600,000 gallons of water flow over the falls EVERY SECOND!!!!!

. . . and to think a 63 year old woman, a teacher from Bay City, went over the Falls in a barrel and survived. See video here!!!!

. . . Connie takes a well earned rest in the mist created by he falls after a LONGGGGGGGG day with me in the saddle . . .

signs warn . . . ‘Don’t get too close to the Edge’.  Not a problem for me.

. . . and here came the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat tour, chugging up to the foot of the Canadian side of the falls . . .

. . . our family visited here YEARS ago (like 55 years ago) . . . I can still remember staying  at Sully’s Sunbeam Motel!!!!

Snaren and Roxanne, Looks like they were still in  business in 1972!!!!

. . . the American side of the falls is definitely not as impressive as the Canadian side . . .

. . . after a little more touring around it was time to land at the Air BnB we have rented for the next two days. Three levels, 10 bedrooms and three  baths . . . Home Sweet Home.

On the road again, this time another 65 mile day to Selkirk, our home for the night . . .

. . . our first lighthouse sighting . . .

. . . Anne and I have cooking duties and have been drooling over the GREAT Beef Stroganoff we were going to make until we got to the market. No fresh veggies or fruit. Everything was canned . . . ended up being homemade chili with frozen hamburger patties, crumbled up!!!!

. . . Selkirk was like a scene out of  the movie . . . ‘ The Russians are Coming.  . . The Russians are Coming’ . . ..

. . .with this old WWII vintage submarine on display. It was locked up so no touring . . . a shame. Would have been fun to see the inside!!!!

. . . more wind turbines along the lake today, some within several feet of the shore. There is LOTS of produce and fruit grown  in the area (although not available in the local stores) and LOTS of what looks like migrant laborers doing the hard work . . .

. . . this crew was ‘picking pecks of peppers’!!!!

. . . there was a wind turbine fight next to the road, so I stopped to check it out . . . BIG . . .

. . . with BIG propellers. The outer point of each propeller is traveling over 100moh!!!!

. . . the peppers that appear in your market may come from here!!!!!

Here is the industry spin on wind turbines . . .

. . . one of the more controversial parts of the turbine industry is the number of birds that are killed by the turbines. The sign says that for every 10,000 birds killed by autos, house cats, other equipment and people in general, only1 is killed  by a turbine!!!!

. . . they are an interesting piece of machinery . . . .

. . . hey Smoochie, another  bio reserve just like the one outside of Newton, IA. Who knew there was more than one!!!!

. . . oh, they got  it covered up here . . . and again today, the drivers of ALL types of vehicles were VERY courteous.

. . .  C-stores, for purchasing beverages, have been far and few in between as we have biked across Canada. Here was one of the first we have seen. Sort of an oasis out in the middle of nowhere. Gatorade is expensive up here, even with the exchange rate.

. . . LOTS of NICE homes along the way today both on farms and out in the middle of nowhere. Here was one that was on the market for $1.2 million CND. A ‘bargain’ when considering the USD exchange rate!!!!

. . . first fatality marker I have seen since entering Canada . . . and on a straight section of road . . .

. . . today we also passed many small river and creek tributaries  entering Lake Erie . . . nice viewing . . .

. . . this maybe the largest home I have ever seen!!!! Built right on the shore of Lake Erie by a husband and wife team who started their careers in 1973 as farm laborers.

Farming, the orchard business and trucking have been very,  very good to them. It’s Big I’m telling ya, BIG! My photo was taken near the red star.

. . . fun to bike along and watch the freighters prowling the Great Lakes . . .

. . . but the view was partially spoiled today  by this HUGE steel mill built right on the shore . . .

. . . as I biked along the perimeter fence a large cloud of something appeared. I pedaled faster and tried not to breathe!!!!

. . .t he mill had a conveyor system for unloading ore from ships . . . it went under the road bridge . . .

. . and up into  the plant. VERY loud operation. I can’t imagine working in that type of environment all day . . .

. . . evidently the government has some environmental concerns too because here was one of several environmental monitoring stations positioned outside the perimeter fence . . .

. . . soon I  came upon the Hillbilly Horticulture business flying both a Harley Davidson and Confederate flags . . . funny!!!!!

. . . more produce along the way. The mild weather along the lake is provides great growing condition’s for  . . . asparagus . . .

. . . not quite ready for picking yet . . .

. . not only is wind power BIG up here on a commercial scale, but also for the local landowner. This chap has his own generators’ . . .

. . . and as the sign says, helping them to live ‘off the grid’!!!!

It was a quiet night at St Michael’s and by 8:00am we were on the road . . .

. . . we will be riding on the Talbot Trail/Waterfront Trail, along Lake Erie for the next several days  . . .

. . . the Canadians are looking out for us. The drivers are VERY courteous giving us a wide berth. If there is oncoming traffic the cars behind you stop and wait until they pass, rather than trying to sneak by you . . . nice!!!

. . . we are in the land of wind power with hundreds of wind generators located along the route . . .

..

. . . first view of Lake Erie to the right and left of the wind towers . . .

. . . and the first and only grasshoppa’ I saw today . . . but it was pumping!!!!

. . . the Canadian’s, at least in this part of the country are VERY patriotic. EVERYONE seems to have multiple flags flying on their property. Even in these old relics. This must have been a handsome home at one  time.

. . . the Canadian’s also seem to take great pride in ownership and are VERY tidy. Regardless of the size, or age of the home, they are al well kept and maintained . . . not a trailer home, with several old washers out front, to be seen.

Being the Talbot Trail, there are lots of historic markers along the way. You can see them coming up because many are built into these ’beehive’ type structures!!!

. . . along the way I met Roy and Macy. Macy is the rescue dog and Roy said when he got her she weighed 70 pounds. She is now down to a svelte 50 pounds. She was a happy pup!!!

. . . mbbt members beware, bowling ahead!!!!

. . . soon, around the corner came Colleen, from Olympia, WA. She is more than half way around a loop from Mpls. on the Northern Tier. She was hoping to do the whole thing from WA to MA but her son and daughter in law had other plans by having a baby during what would have been the middle of her trip. Sooo . .  she flew to Mpls with her gear, helped welcome her now grandchild and then headed east to MA. She was now on her way back to Mpls. Read her blog here. Safe travels!!!

.

. . .  many local villages have reminders to slow down . . . not sure why this person planted all the trees along the lake, which will eventually obscure the view . . .

. . . but this one was a plea to help save the grandchildren and deer. Hope those were deer skeletons lying around the sign!!!!

. . . this message painted on the side of a semi trailer is obscured for at least half the year as the corn grows taller and taller !!!

Port Stanley was a cute little ‘New England’ type village. The main route today runs about a mile in from the shore. Whenever there is a town that starts with ‘Port’ is means a steep downhill to the lake and a VERY steep climb back up to the high ground. Usually 12-16% grade!!!!!!

. . .  this is the ‘shortest’ water tower I have ever seen . . . and not even on a hill. Must not need much head pressure . . .

. . . again, the Canadian farmers re very tidy. Even old barns like these get new boards and a face lift to keep them functional . . .

. . .  have not seen much road kill on this trip but here was a big boy that’s going to miss the rut this year . . .

. . . the wind turbines are VERY controversial in this part of the county . . .

. . . and most protestors are members of the OFA . . .

. . . some nice splashes of color along the way. This sumac must have been accidently sprayed or is stressed. Too early for fall colors!!!!

Around the next corner I met Lisa and Steve from Camden, Maryland. They are circling Lake Erie on their two year old tandem. Nice folks. Have a safe trip. Think about riding the Northern Tier or Trans Am in the future. You would love it!!!!

Tonight we are staying in a Providential Park. Very limited groceries available so we had pizza . . .. delivered right to our sites!!!!

Our camp area behind the managers house was grassy and shady, BUT VERY NOISY, both nights, due to the  traffic on a major road located just to the east of us.

We have been getting out water out of a spigot on the back of this machine we have been looking at for the last two days. I finally checked it out and found out it was a ‘Dog Wash ‘ machine. This campground has EVERYTHING!!!! including the hydrant area on the right for the dogs to ‘do their business’!!

you load Fido in the pen and close the door . . .

. . . choose the options you want and insert your credit card. Not sure is the TV screen is for the dog to watch or has an instructional video for the owner!!!!

We finally got on the road and it was hell on wheels again for about 15 miles riding down the river. Rush hour, narrow shoulder and traffic going in both directions. No one could move over to give us a break . . . GET ME OUT OF MICHIGAN!!!!!

I did have time to take a few sign photos along the way, including this lawyer . . .

. . .who also handles dog bites. Surprisingly we have very little problem with dogs on this trip. Hope our luck continues . . . I did get one of Bryan’s  cards!!!!

. . . hey Smoochie, ‘Smooch your Pooch’ . . . give her one for me too!

. . . hey Snaren, this one is for you!!!

. . . this one is for me I guess. Those Michigander’s really knowhow to hurt a guy . . . ‘puttygut’ !!!!!

. . . OK, but where is my Smoochie!!!!

. . . we paralleled the river between the US and Canada for about 20 miles until we entered St Clair, where we would ferry to Canada. Here was the last Bicycle Route 20 sign we would see. These signs have been a great asset as we have traveled across the state of Michigan, especially through the metro areas. Thank you very much!!!!

The ferry loading and unloading zone on the US side  . . . not much to look at. 15 cars coming over from Canada and only two heading over. Both had Ontario plates!!!!

The ferry reminded me of the ColSac II that prowls the Wisconsin River near Madison . . .

. . .might be built by the same company. I should have checked!

Hello Canada . . .

Happy to be in Canada and Happy to be out of MI!!!!

. . . we immediately went to the local C-store for beverages and to hit the ATM. Only a $1.95 CND transaction fee . . . nice!!!

. . . so  why is this young German man wearing a gallon of milk around his neck . . . must not be that unusual because the custom agent on the Canadian side did not even blink!!!!

Corvin gets a ‘monthly allowance’ deposited into his debit card account and has run out of money twice now before the end of the month. We have offered him a ‘short loan’ but he will hear none of it. He never eats breakfast or makes a lunch and eats out along the way. He also carries an ‘emergency ration; of chips and Gatorade. This morning he was up early and eating breakfast and making lunch because he was out of money. Not wanting to throw out the milk . . . he brought it along, by wearing it . . . FUNNY!!!!

Canada seems to have a bike trail system too, that we took advantage of right away . . .

. . . the Canadian Coast guard was ready to do rescue on the river. Interesting that the river is only about 1/2 mile wide and lined with cottages on the US and Canadian side. Talk about a porous border . . .

. . . I believe these folks were picking cucumbers for pickles . . .

. . . part of the contraptions they lay on as the tractor crawls ahead . . .

. . . we saw several of these today. Single solar panel out in the middle of a field. Not sure what it is all about . . .

Great advertising . . .

This is the first sign in Canada spotted regarding any political issue . . . saw hundreds of these in the next 15 miles . . .

. . . the ‘old smoke barn . .

. . . not sure what they smoke in there but the timbers are well coated!!!!

. . oh, and it looks like they have pipelines in ON, too. Wonder if they cause the controversy they do south of the border. In fact this line may be feeding into the US of A!

In Dresden. . . we stopped to shop but Mark thought the merchandise was crappy!!!!

. . . they did have a nice looking winery with a tree on the roof made of empty wine bottles!!!!

. . . however we settled on the local FoodLand, a Canadian chain. Watered and Gatoraded up for the final 18 mile push to Ridgetown!!!!

Along the way we saw this HUGEEEEEEE produce company that grew its products  . . .

. . .  in these HUGEEEEEEEEEE greenhouse. Got to looks this one up!!!

. . . and they are trying to do it the right way!!!!

. . . Mark and I had been talking so much as we biked along we thought we had made a wrong turn somewhere!!!

After 70 miles, 20 of it on crappy road and the rest of it with a headwind, we arrived in Ridgewood, our home for the night. We are staying at St Michael’s Catholic Church, with some camping outside and some sleeping inside.

Denise is one who is inside. She said for the last two nights it was a 4 minute walk to the bathrooms!!!!

Corvin and Allison have kitchen duty tonight . . . no cooking over the MSR stoves tonight . . .

Pasta with bolognas sauce, green salad and pie for dessert. Nice way to end a long day! Tomorrow is 73 miles!!!!!!

Yippee . . .  a layover day in Port Huron .  About half of the group opted for a motel stay downtown and the other half is camping at a HUGE campground Over 400 spaces available for everything from tent camping to RV parking with full hookups. There was a $6, all you can eat breakfast, that Corvin and Ally Gator checked out . . .

  . . . but many of us went to the  Country Kitchen. They opened at 7:00am and Mark and I were there at 7:02 am. Soon . . . many of the others filtered in for breakfast. Friendly staff and Ann did a great job taking care of us!!!!

Most will enjoy the beautiful weather today riding round town, doing laundry, bike maintenance, swimming and recuperating. David caught a virus, and after being visiting the emergency room in Bay City, was transported to Port Huron. He is continuing to recover in a motel. Hopefully he will be ready to ride tomorrow!!!

I headed over to my ‘remote office’, McDonalds to work on some business.  As I walked up to the place, there were two semi trucks parked alongside that were loaded with pigs . . .

. . . it reminded me of the truck full of little squealing piglets we saw back in MT. These were full grown though and their howls were frightening. Not happy to be where they were. I wonder if some of these may come full circle back to McDonalds as a McPork Sandwich?????. This cramped transport method seems inhumane, but if we are going to continue to eat meat, it has to get from Point A to Point B.

Our campground is quite the place, Over 400 units holding everything from tents like ours to the largest RV’s. Probably a square city block in size, it is subdivided into street with block of sites that with all services available  . . .  three pools, activity center, batting cages, miniature railroad, air cushioned jumping bags . . . lots for the kids to do. They all seem to be having a great time and the lines at the onsite ice cream parlor are never ending. BUT . . . by 9:00pm last night you could hear a pin drop in the place. Just like puppies . . .  give the kids a workout during the day and they sleep well at night!!!

. . . big RV’s are nothing new and it looks like the new craze for ‘keeping up with the Jone’s’ may be the customized golf car. Of course, one needs to keep it covered so it doesn’t get wet . . .

. . . saw this one at the onsite laundry earlier in the morning and later saw it at it’s site, about 300 feet from the laundry. 

We Americans are a funny group and ALWAYS seem to want to take things to the next level. ‘Camping’ is a good example. Towards the end of the day there was a steady stream of these ‘portable fully-equipped homes’ returning  to there larger ‘permanent fully-equipped homes’.

I keep thinking about the question Corvin asked me early on during the trip, “Do Americans have too much money????” We have a great country, and most of us have a great life . . . but the excesses . . . ????

As Pope Frank says, “Who am I to judge”!!!

Tomorrow it’s into Canada for our band of gypsies, as roll on down the highway!!!!

We all slept well last night and it didn’t rain!!!! Yippee!!!!

. . . Rod ended up swinging a different deal with the campground management so we ended up close to the bathrooms. Really works when he plays the ‘we are a bunch of old folks that need to go to the bathroom several times during the night’ story. Unfortunately, it is not a ruse but TRUE!!!!!

. . .  a few photos from our big dinner the night before. Mark and Jim were cooking. Mark first thought chicken pasta and in fact bought 4 pounds of frozen chicken. While it was thawing, our head carnivore Allen, who is from Fort Worth TX and knows his steak, found a full loin of rib eyes at the local meat market. Mark went shopping again, bought the whole loin and return to camp with 16 pounds of rib eye  . . .

. . . Jim served as grill meister while Allen supervised the operation!!!!

. . . medium rare, PLEASE!!!

. . . the steaks were ‘held at temp’ while the parmesan zucchini and mushrooms were grilled along with the cauliflower, broccoli, tomato veggie packets!!!!

Unbeknownst to me, back in MSN, neighbor JohnnyG was going to the market, bumped into emJay and asked her is she needed anything. ‘How about a nice steak’ she said . . .

. . . before prep

. . . after prep. Nice!!! We both had steak but 1,300 miles apart!!!!

. . . we advised Ally Gator that if she wanted to come back to the ‘dark side’, and start eating meat again, tonight was the night!!!! She settle for beans and the veggies. Strong willed woman!!!!

. . . considering Wade, Doc Mike, Bernie and David missed dinner there were only 1 1/2 steaks left . . . so obviously there was still time, and room, to make a visit to the Kit Kat Ice Cream Corner parlor in town . . .

. . . I had the double scoop chocolate fudge sundae, WITH a cherry of course!!!  Soon it was  . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

We woke to the threat of rain starting after 10:00am but it never materialized AND we had a great tailwind!!! Things went well early on with just enough shoulder and low traffic for our 65 mile ride to Port Huron, our home for the night . . .

I stopped at the half way point of Brown City. Supposedly the home of the motor home, I found no historical marker of display!!!

. . . I don’t think with was it!!!!!

. . . as I had a little ‘pick me up’, Shawna rolled in with her 11 axle milk truck. She rides her route daily.

The maximum allowable gross vehicle weight on the heaviest “Michigan-weight-law MDOT Intermodal Policy Division Policy/trucking/Truck Weights Michigan_1_6_17.doc Page 2 truck” is 164,000 pounds, which can only be achieved by use of eleven properly-spaced axles.  At 8.6 pounds a gallon, if I did my math right, their are over 4,700 quarts of potential chocolate milk in there!!!!

Like most diesel tractor drivers they do not turn off the engine when they so and my moment of piece while enjoying my ‘pick me up’ was disturbed for about 15 minutes. I went around the corner to the other side of the store.  After she left the noticed the town was crawling with motorcycles. They looked like ants crawling all over town. Ends up there is a ‘charity ride for hospice’ starting at noon and over 500 riders are expected. About 50 of them were already in town running up and down main street each trying to be louder than the last . . . I got out of town!!!

. . back out in the country it was peaceful. One thing I have notice in MI is you would not want to veer too far off the ACA prescribed route unless you REALLY knew where you were going. A LOT of unpaved, sand/gravel roads!!!!!

. . .  soon the village of Yale appeared on the horizon. Sorry we missed their special festival . . . sounds like fun !

. . . but it was easy to review, in these murals, EVERYTHING of any importance that has happened in Yale since 1850!!!!

A turn onto Hwy 19 brought an end to the great ride . . . two lanes, high traffic volume, very narrow shoulder and hundreds of motorcycles. They were all heading north to Brown City for the charity ride. Riding north in groups of 15-20, two abreast, they took up the hole lane, not allowing anyone to pass. The bad thing for a south bound cyclist was the noise and the fact they were blocking any south bound cars from pulling into the other lane to give a bicyclist a wide berth. VERY LOUD and SCARY ride for 20 miles . . . at Brockway I turned of the highway to take a trail the last 12 miles to Port Huron.

In Brockway was the ‘Eddie Munster’ House!!! Looked for the ‘Thing’,  but it was nowhere to be found!!!

. . . hey is it Leine time yet????  . . .Connies is thirsty!!!!

. . . on the 6 mile ride on Hwy 139, to the start of the trail, is where I almost met my maker. Near Brown Road, I could see a large tractor ahead coming out of a corn field, that would cross in front of me. I thought the woman driving saw me, but no.  Sitting high up in the enclosed cab, she had on earmuffs, like the kind you can buy at Farm & Fleet, with the little antenna sticking out the side meaning she was listening to the radio. At her height I ‘m sure she had scanned the road both ways looking for approaching cars, but never saw me. I skidded to a stop as she passed right in front of me. If I had not stopped it would have been the ‘Perfect Storm for me, as I probably would have been skewered by the hay bale forks she had on the front of the tractor.  As she vanished into the adjacent corn field, I let a few ‘suggestions’ fly. But she never heard them . . . and she never saw me . . .

. . . so it was with GREAT, GREAT pleasure when I got on the Wadhams to Avoca Trail. Not a great admirer of trail riding. the peace, quiet and lack of other riders . . .

. . .. made for a nice approach into the greater Port Huron area. One of my worst bicycling days  . . . ever!!!!!

Before we turned in last night we had to visit the local ice cream parlor right outside the park . . . as you can imagine they do quite a business during the summer . . .

. . . then a walk down to the lake . . .

. . . the sky and horizon were starting to fuse as the light became dimmer and dimmer . . . nice!!!

Today we were on the road and after a few moments getting lost in Bay City, soon we were n the country where soybeans are king and the land is FLAT. The plants were about 2 1/2 feet tall!!! Healthy!!!

This is the most elaborate wood vendor I have seen on the trip. Had whatever you wanted . . . wonder if he sold an ‘assortment pack’???

. . . right next store was Johnson’s, Home of the Giant Pumpkin . . .

. . . this was sort of interesting named town we passed through . . . didn’t see one Native American!!!

. . . someone was putting up quite the barn/house . . .

. . . sort of matches their house next door but only BIGGER!!! Lots of crosses in peoples front yard today like the one pictured above,

We rode for about 10 miles on Hanger Line Road which took us into the half way point for today, Frankenmuth.

. . . as we entered the burbs there was this very content pup that was happy just to watch the world go by. No bark or chase . . . NICE!!!!

. . . recycling day today. It is always interesting when biking by to see what folks are throwing out. Some Michiganders’ REALLLY drink a lot!!!!

Frankenmuth is a sister city with Guzenhausten, Germany. The town is know as Michigan’s Bavaria!!!

. . . a very prosperous and tidy tourist town. The first thing I notice when I looked up were the number of antennas they have mounted on their water tower. Must be quite the revenue source. Dave, from Dave’s Bunkhouse, got $800/month rent for just having one cell phone tower on his property!!!

. . .as I rolled down main street and looked down I saw the biggest spider of the trip so far. Lifted my feet up off the pedals!!!!

The architecture certainly fits the sister city venue . . . but sort of Disneylandish . . .

. . . the river has a Core of Engineer approved water control structure to prevent erosion . . .

. . . the town also has a covered bridge. Authentic . . . built in 1979????

. . . and of course the Bavarian Inn and Lodge. I walked around downtown for a while and a lot of the shops looked like the type you have in any tourist town like this. People on vacation LOVE to recreationally shop and buy things they probably have no use for at home . . . but it’s fun!!! They were lined up at the cash registers . . .

A stop in Frankenmuth would not be complete without stopping at Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. Check out the Bronners Trivia

. . .funny to see the parking lot full of outdoor Christmas decorations and nativity scenes in the middle of summer . . .

. . . right inside the door . . .

. . and it is nice for Bronner’s to set the record straight!!!!

. . . four aisles of just ornaments for pets . . .

. . . including cute colliesk types . . .

Diana said there are over 50,000 different items stocked in the store . . . they are open 361 days a year!!!!

. . .Bill and Roger were loading packages into Santa’s gift bag in this old Chevy . . .

. . .I wonder what their eclectic bill is a month!!!! Pictures don’t really do the size of this operation justice. If you like Christmas stuff . . .  put a visit to this place on your bucket list.

. . .

. . . lots and lots of celebrities have!!!!!

. . . and like many places, make it a full weekend excursion and stay overnight next door. Water slide too!!!!

. . . and when you get to tired to shop, tour around town in this buggy. Connie ‘The Clydesdale’ Cannondale was REALLY checking out this handsome guy . . . (the one pulling the wagon)

. . .finally it was time to head east to Otter Creek our home for the night. Storms in the forecast for this afternoon and night. Could be interesting!!!!

The campground really quieted down last night and everyone slept GREAT!!!

. . . I woke up about 5:30am to make a nature call and when I looked out my tent I thought the mothership had landed . . .

Rod and Hugh were up and getting breakfast and lunch laid out . . . BRIGHT LIGHTS!!!!

. . . lots of goo fixin’s . . .

. . . with a ‘special’ delivery by Doc Mike . . .

. . . Cops Doughnuts . . .

. . . to big for one person to each . . .

. . . we cut them into thirds or halves!!!!

Soon we were out of camp and on the Pere Marquette Trail we would ride for the first 25 miles today . . .I hate trail riding, BORING. . . but at least this one was paved and had a little town about every 10 miles

. . . didn’t stop pedaling for 25 miles!!!!

. . . but nice facilities

. . . someone had even left some goodies . . . but I think I’ll pass!

The town of Coleman had a layout along the trail for 5.8 miles of the planets in our solar system, similar to the trail in Madison.  Here was the sun.

The planets are spaced in relationship to how they are spaced in the comsos and in relation to size.The ‘sun’ pictured above is 63 inches in diameter. Pluto, which I’m not sure is considered a planet anymore, is about 1/2 inch in diameter.

. . . here was the Saturn monument along the trail . . .

. . . the final stop with Pluto in the back ground . . .

. . . must be lonely that far out into space!!!

. . .

Stopped at the Averill Preserve which is a monument to one of the largest banking grounds in the world . . .

. . . during the great logging boom they would ‘bank’ the cut timber here until the spring when it would be floated down river . . .  how would you like to be one of the kids growing up in that town!!!

. . . it was a mess until things started floating!!!!

Along the way I met Joanie. Originally from Detroit, she now lives in Midland and handles the reservations and back systems for a local resort. She can do most of her work from home which allows her to skate almost everyday. She usually does tens miles. She can REALLY move!!!!

Along the way 5 miles of the trail had recently been asphalted and it stunk to high heaven, just like the road yesterday!!!

Along the trail was an access point to the home of Herbert H. Dow, the originator of Dow Chemical . . .

. . . nice layout but everything was closed . . .

. . . except for the smithy shop where the local boy scouts were learning how to work an anvil and make horseshoes . . . nice!!!!

. . . as we neared Midland here was a nicely restored bridge. Cost $7,500 when it was new!!!

The last 12 miles to the State Campground were on Wheeler Rd. Mark had read on several journals, months ago, to avoid this road al all costs . . .so of course we rode it.

. . . terrible surface, cracks every 10 feet, like rumble strips, no shoulder, high traffic . . . all the makings for a disaster. Couldn’t wait to get off it. I think this is the worst stretch of road we have been on the whole trip!!!.

. . .YIPPEE . . .soon the Party Store appeared and it is right near the campground . . .

. . . which is VERY nice. Good grass, no pay showers and multiple bathrooms . . . all the creature comforts old people need. Wade and Doc Mike are cooking tonight. We’ll see what they come up with!!!