Today is Wednesday, July 26, and we are sitting in the warm and cozy Acorn Lodge having a quiet breakfast in the lounge area.  It looks like it has rained, and still may be slightly rainy. We don’t have to pack up a wet tent this morning - that makes Mike happy, but we may be riding in the rain today for a bit; it is pretty warm out, though. 

We have been cranking out the miles again because the scenery has been pretty similar and uneventful, up until halfway through the day on Tuesday.  On Monday, most of the day was spent riding Highway 77 East to Hayward, Wisconsin, a mostly cute town. It looks like it is somewhat touristy with lots of shops and restaurants on one main historic street. The rest of the town, from what we saw, was your typical town. However, there was one market we went to, Miller’s Market, that was recommended from locals we met while lunching in a park. This place was a tourist’s dream market; it had bulk items galore and wasn’t expensive. They had the dates, granola, and powdered milk we were looking for plus a whole lot more- sandwiches and bakery items too. I could have shopped for the entire tour here.  

The locals were from Round Lake which was where we were headed towards on Monday night. They invited us to stay at their house, and we had only been talking to them for a short period of time. People are so generous and trusting. We didn’t take them up on it; maybe we should have. We want to experience as much of American culture as we can, and that means making a connection with others, but then sometimes we just feel awkward accepting so much generosity or putting people out of their way. Other times it just gets exhausting as well, and we just need some private time. It is a tough decision because that is how you get to know an area and get a pulse on America, by connecting with others. I wonder how other bike tourists feel; I do know that many use Warmshowers quite a bit while touring, and I would just feel like I was always on and never off. 

Anyway, we made it to our destination, Boulder Lodge and Resort, and had the typical evening of eating, planning and cards.

On Tuesday, we decided to have another big mileage day because it was going to be hot and humid; I know, your are like, “What?  That is so contradictory!” However, my motto is that I would rather suffer on a bike than in camp.  I would rather be hot and sticky riding my bike than sitting in camp suffering; plus, we left camp at around 8:00 am, and still got into Boulder Junction at around 4:30 pm with a few stops during the day.  There has been plenty of time to get the miles in, like yesterday’s 90 mile day.

I enjoyed the day’s riding more than the past couple of days.  The roads actually started to be a bit curvy instead of straight, and the scenery got a bit more interesting.  There were not many cars either.  We rode Highway 77 East until the town of Butternut, and then we were on pleasant county roads until the extensive bike path that started in Mercer.  I was so impressed with this bike path that we followed all the way to Boulder Junction. I felt like I was on a manicured path winding through a golf course.  The pavement was pristine, there were touristy towns and there were bike amenities such as bike tools, picnic tables and bathrooms.  Of course, we passed many lakes.  Many of the lakes on our route have been screened by trees, so we always get a partial view here and there.  

Yesterday we were concerned with heat, and now we are concerned with rain.  Now our plans will be based on dealing with rain.  Always exciting.  But for now, I am enjoying the quite of this cozy lodge.  We will be in Michigan later today.  

Sorry I haven’t taken many pictures, but the scenery has been pretty similar: trees, tree screened lakes, bike paths, small towns…

See you in Michigan,

Team Bean

Stats

1. Cribbage Game Wins: Mike 7,  Dawn 6 
2. Tortillas Eaten: Mike 98; Dawn 42
3. Jars of Peanut Butter: 4
4. Flats: Dawn 2, Mike 1
5. Bike Haters: 4 (We had our first one in Montana yesterday.) None in North Dakota that we know of. 
6. Bags of  Salad Consumed: 15
7. Dog Encounters: 2
8. Beers, too many to count
9. Bags of M&M’s: 5 of various sizes
10. Fritos: 8 of various sizes 
11.  Bear Encounters: 1