as written by Jeff
First, I’m sorry I haven’t written more down for our blog. Data coverage these last few days has been very sketchy, so we haven’t been able to post here. However, Brittany has been writing every day, and every page will be posted here, in the order it was written.
Second, we have completed nearly 1/2 of our mileage! We have traveled about 560 miles of our 1200 total… it’s truly incredible! I’m so proud of my wife and kids for their perseverance and great attitudes!
Today we woke up in the beautiful–and rustic–Hog Island state forest campground. We were camped next to a beach on the northern short of Lake Michigan, and besides getting down to the 40s last night, it was a great stay. We got everything packed by 10am and were on the road shortly afterward… it’s amazing to see how routine some of the tasks have become: packing up bags each morning, taking down the tent, packing the bike trailers… the kids know what to do now, and they **usually** pitch in pretty well. Of course, we definitely have a lot of “moments” when things don’t go the way I just described…
Our trip today was 36 miles or so, our last mileage in the Upper Peninsula. We traveled along U.S. 2, and we saw so much of Lake Michigan along the way. At one point we stopped, took off our shoes, and played on the beach. That was definitely the highlight for most of us!
The beach along US-2 was gorgeous… I’ve always wanted to stop here to wade in the water, or take a swim!
One thing I’ve been wanting to share is the experience I am having with Caleb riding behind me. Caleb is, well, a talker, to say the least. And he has questions about EVERYTHING, but especially about the natural world. We’ve actually nicknamed him “Radagast,” after the Brown wizard in Lord of the Rings who associates with all natural things. When we stop, even for a minute, he is off the bike picking flowers, catching grasshoppers, or looking for other interesting creatures. And then when he is on the bike, the questions never cease. This would not usually be a problem, of course, except that I can’t hear whatever words he says when a car passes me on the highway. So, for example, he may ask, “Daddy, do frogs eat moths?” But all I hear is “Daddy, do fr… [zoom] …sloths? So I say, “Sorry, Caleb, I didn’t hear you… could you repeat that?” Okay, attempt 2: “Daddy, do [zoom… zoom…] socks? Very confused, I ask him to repeat again… and this goes on and on and on. Because U.S. 2 is a busy highway on Fourth of July weekend, and Caleb always seems to time his questions perfectly with the next car passing by. Agghh!
Anyway, here are a few questions that I have been able to discern in the last few days:
“Is one-eighth one-half of one-quarter?”
“What do slugs eat?”
“Are grasshoppers protein?”
“Do birds eat moths?”
Caleb will definitely need to look into the biological sciences as he gets older.
Traffic was crazy on US-2, as folks from the Lower Peninsula arrived in droves for the July 4 weekend!
Well, on with the rest of the day. On the way we stopped at a store and picked up some Mackinac Island fudge, and we explored the Cut River Bridge–basically a bridge that spans a 157-foot gorge. We arrived in St. Ignace around 4pm. Man, this town has some pretty stinkin’ big hills–we had to dismount our bikes to walk up a couple of them.
We got to Straits State Park at 5:00 and the kids and I set up the tent while Angela picked up food for Pioneer Pie–some of the yummiest food you’ll ever eat out of a dutch oven. We visited the beach while the Pioneer Pie was cooking, and took the bridge picture there–the kids were amazed at how huge it was. What a treat to be able to experience this with them.
Tomorrow we head to the cottage on Mullet Lake where Angela used to visit her grandparents during the summer, a lot of special memories there. I will blog more about our trip while we take a day to rest there (only our 2nd day off of riding!).
Stay tuned, more to come!