Day 76 Escanaba to Manistique, Michigan

July 15, 2011

We did not get up particularly early, whether by Eastern Time or Central Time. The mosquitoes in any event had beat us to it, and our pack up was correspondingly hurried. We got in a brief further chat with Tim and had a quick look at his gear, or lack of it. Tim's version of a sleeping bag is a small blanket and his version of a sleeping mat is the same fluffy clothes that help to ward off mosquitoes. We are not sure who is tougher, Tim for doing without so many standard items or us, for dragging them all over the continent behind us. (We're voting for Tim!)

Tim's total kit. The yellow bags seem to be official shopping bags from the Purdue bookstore,

The road followed the Lake for a bit and then cut inland. There is not really much to see in this region. Traffic on 2 is quite heavy now, but we found out that 28 has no shoulder, so we are happier where we are. We flipped a coin at the junction that could have taken us to 28, and are pretty happy with the outcome.

Even the big retailers are on to the Pasty culture here. The under $4 gas price will no doubt establish the nostalgic age of this blog in future years.

Going in to McDonalds to take advantage of the wifi, Dodie was answering UQs before I even got in the door. This nice lady and her seven friends of about the same age, and same sex, had come out from their nearby condo.

Yesterday I raised the question with Dodie as to what one would find in a European town that did not have too much. Could it be as depressing as Bark River or would there be some twist to it? Today we are sitting at the St. Jacques grocery. In the display case there is not much, but what there is is smoked whitefish and pasties. We are cool with that!

(The storekeeper mentioned that Tim, who of course has already passed through, bought a whitefish. We went for the pasty.)

We ran into a mosquito that would probably have no trouble biting through even Tim's thick clothes. Have a look:

By the way, if you are wondering how we are really doing after 75 days on the road, have a look at this self portrait, together with our latest business proposal:

The road passes Little Bay and Big Bay and finally heads for a part of the lake shore where the view is across the total expanse of the lake.

A model cedar log home, typical of many houses in this area

St Jacques did not have much but what it did have was unique to the area and high quality

We really enjoyed the roadside trees and flowers today

Reaching this area, just before Manistique, finally gives the full impact of being at the Lake. We followed a sign for the 'business district' of Manistique and wound up in an industrial area. Only after some winding around did we feel we found the real town. We found a very good restaurant there, the Cedar Street Café. Returning to the lake shore we found a 1 mile boardwalk, plus a string of motels. Any camping spots seemed far off, so we jumped into a motel without the excuse of rain or fatigue. At $45 it will not break the bank. Wifi here allowed Skyping, first with Avi and Violet and then with Jeremy.

This to us is worth the cost of the room all by itself.

Today's ride: 87 km (54 miles)
Total: 4,549 km (2,825 miles)

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