Days 16 & 17: Rest on Mullett Lake

by Jeff

Our stay at Straits State Park in St. Ignace was largely uneventful. Since our last two campgrounds did not have any showers, everyone was grateful to get clean again (well, maybe Caleb & David didn’t care). As much as possible, we have reserved our campsites close to playgrounds, so that David and Caleb would be able to hang out there while everyone else worked on the tent, dinner, water, etc. At Straits State Park, the playground was pretty much our back door, so the boys were plenty occupied.

We broke camp at 9am and were on the road by 11; our first stop was the Mackinac Bridge. To get there, we took a very short gravel path between our campground and the welcome center, where we were able to pedal another 50 yards to get to the Mackinac Bridge Authority, next to the tollbooths. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) bicyclists and pedestrians are not allowed on the bridge. So, for a total of $30, the Mackinac Bridge Authority loaded up our family, 5 bikes (plus 2 trail-a-bikes), and 4 trailers and shuttled us across the 5-mile span. It was so cool. David and Caleb named it as one of the best parts of the day, though I’m not sure if it’s because of the bridge or that they were able to travel in a car…

 

Here's all our gear, all loaded up for transport across the Mackinac Bridge

Here’s all our gear, all loaded up for transport across the Mackinac Bridge

In Mackinaw City, we re-assembled our gear and went into town with two missions: 1) Pick up a spare tire for the tandem, as we’re more concerned about wear; and 2) Buy some fudge. For some reason, the kids didn’t want to go with me to the hardware store to buy the tire; they all wanted to choose the fudge. They loved the samples, of course, and came back with not 2 packages, but 5 packages of fudge (“Dad, it was buy 3, get 2 free!”) Yum, I’m not complaining.

There was a bike trail out of Mackinaw City—an old railroad that had been converted into a hard-packed gravel path—so we took that for 16 miles to Cheboygan. Okay, when you’re pulling heavy trailers behind you, it’s pretty slow going; it seems like gravel absorbs all of your momentum. There was some grumbling, and we often questioned whether we should take the neighboring highway, but we chose the slower path for reasons of safety and shade.

Our next stop was to be a Laundromat, since we had very few clean clothes remaining.. There is one in the same parking lot as Wal-mart, and several other stores, so we quickly dumped our clothes into a 50-pound washer and ate “lunch” (yes, at 4pm). David loved the Laundromat. He was fascinated by the washer and dryer, and couldn’t wait to tell the others about how it went ‘round and ‘round. Hilarious.

Then came a very big discovery: there was a Dollar Tree store in the same parking lot. The Dollar Tree is special because EVERYTHING in the store is $1 or less. It is now my kids’ favorite store in the world. When Joshua found out about it, he actually ran to the store. The big purchase for us: sunglasses for everyone. Oh, yeah. Not only will we be able to stop squinting, but we’re gonna look so cool.

It was getting late, and our final destination was Mullett Lake, where Angela’s uncle owns a cottage. This cottage was first owned by her Grandparents, and it’s a place where she used to spend part of every summer as a kid. It was still 14 miles away, and it was getting late (6:30pm), so her uncle offered to come and pick up some of our gear with his pickup. We loaded our trailers into his truck—as well as the youngest 3 kids–and rode the last dozen miles free and unfettered. It was amazing! The gravel path that we had been struggling on became like an expressway. We had no idea the trailers were slowing us down so much—we were laughing and passing each other, barreling down this trail at speeds we had not seen for a long time. It was a huge highlight of the day.

Once at the cottage, our hosts Paul and Laurie totally spoiled us. We tweaked our original plans so that we could stay an extra day at the cottage, and we’re so glad we did. We ate heartily, slept in beds until the late morning, napped, and played in the water all day. We even watched TV for the first time in 16 days: we had to watch the movie Independence Day. We went for a boat ride, played games, built sandcastles, had some water fights, saw a couple of beautiful sunsets, enjoyed the various fireworks around the lake, and even lit some sparklers with the kids. We couldn’t be more thankful to Paul and Laurie; the rest has been amazing… and getting back on the bikes is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system.

Watching the sunset together at Mullett Lake

Watching the sunset together at Mullett Lake

Our family with our hosts at Mullett Lake, Paul and Laurie

Our family with our hosts at Mullett Lake, Paul and Laurie

Unfortunately, as I write this in the early of hours of July 5, Elise has woken up with a stomachache, and she vomited as well. Fortunately, only 30 miles today, and she can ride in the cushy seat on the tandem (more work for me, but that’s fine). Hope she feels better soon… we’ll see what the day holds!

Our destination today: Petoskey State Park!

3 thoughts on “Days 16 & 17: Rest on Mullett Lake

  1. Wilsons

    Keep going Koch Warriors! We love checking in and seeing your progress. Tyler is so jealous that he has threatened to catch up with you on his bike. He has decided that this has to be part of his summer next year. We all look forward to your posts. We’ve been praying for you. We hope Cora had a great birthday and that Elise is feeling better soon! We miss you all!!

    Reply
  2. Laura Bozeman

    Greeting Koch Family!
    I finally had an opportunity to sit down today & read the Circle Tour Blog; oh my goodness!!! This is amazing! Praising God for great families like yours. Hope the remainder of your trip is uneventful with complete travel mercies provided by your best bike GUIDE! Enjoy HIS creation & your time together.
    Laura & Darrell Bozeman

    Reply
  3. Julie

    Trusting the stomach ailment was short-lived & wasn’t passed along to anyone else! Hope your journey continues to go well!

    Reply

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