Florence - Pembine, WI - The Only Thing Fast On This Tour Is The Ferry

July 27, 2021

Florence - Pembine, WI

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Neither of us slept well last night. The AC was directly next to the bed. We felt like meat in the freezer when the AC kicked on, or were roasting. The bed was too soft for my liking and the pillows too tall. I must have slept at least some, because Jacinto said a violent storm moved through last night. I heard nothing.

Our instructions were to pay the cleaning lady. She said the storm was bad enough that she took her dog and went to the basement. I'm very happy that the storm was at night and not when we were on the road.

We were out the door before 10 AM. Today is riding day seven in a row. It's the closest thing we will have for a rest day until the end of the trip, 16 riding days total. Did Jacinto take advantage of our easy day? No! He made himself a longer route. 50 miles a day is his number.

He was going to the grocery store to pick up fruit for the next couple of days, then heading down Highway 101 to Highway 8. I took CR N to Highway 8. I could see broken branches and leaves all over the road from the storm. The sky was cloudy. It wasn't supposed to rain today, but the sky looked ominous.

The first few miles were repeats of yesterdays rolling climbs. What the heck? I was in for an easy day today. Not climbing! I was finally disgusted enough to look at the elevation profile. I was close to the top of the climbing and would take a downward tilt. That was more what I was thinking about for today!

I debated eating my apple. Was 30 miles enough miles to get the reward of a mid ride apple? About mile 15 I decided to go for it. This apple was a big disappointment. At least half of it was bruised. I ate as much as I could, but the dark bruised part was inedible.

I've been enjoying the past few days. I like no stop light towns that are wide spots in the road. Part of what makes them desirable is that there isn't any traffic! Today's roads had just enough shoulder and smooth pavement.

Dunbar was a wide spot in the road. The restaurant there had a sign outside that said, "the best days are the ones with the dirtiest clothes". I'm sure that was aimed at the ATV riders as there are ATV trails everywhere throughout Michigan and Wisconsin. From my bicycle tourist perspective, dirty clothes do not mean I've had a good day! Sweaty clothes, yes.

I was three miles from town when a garbage truck politely went way around me. I don't know just what was in his load, but a fine liquid spray covered me! It was so disgusting! My glasses and face had little dots of liquid all over! I'm sure the rest of me was coated also, I just couldn't feel it. That was a gross feeling. I was happy to be so close to town.

The disadvantage of little towns is hoping that the cafe we plan to eat at is still open. As I entered Pembine, I could see a closed cafe in front of me. Shoot. I hope that wasn't our place. I pulled into the motel. A woman was outside with a young adult man in a wheelchair. I asked if she were Amy. She seemed surprised, and answered yes. I told her that I'd made my reservation with her months ago. That surprised her also. I asked about food. Amy said she eats a plant based diet and never ate out, but Shawn inside would answer all of my questions. Indeed he did. Right next to the closed cafe was a bar that serves - guess what? Hamburgers and pizza. We will have some sort of food tonight . . . the gas station didn't look like a convenience store, but Shawn said that it was fairly well stocked inside. Speaking of good stock - Jacinto wasn't enthusiastic about visiting the grocery story this morning because he didn't think they would have much because the building was also a hardware store and the hardware would take up too much room. Once he got inside, he said they did have a good stock of groceries inside.

We are in K2, in a new building around the back. It is a spacious one bedroom apartment with a full size comfy sofa. $85. This tops last night as the best lodging deal of the trip. One more reason why I like little towns. We are about to depart rural Wisconsin for Green Bay and then Door County. I am concerned about navigating Green Bay. I've looked at both ridewithgps and komoot. They have radically different methods of traversing town. Our lodging is smack downtown - a purposeful decision based on the fact we have to cross downtown anyway. I am trying really had to enjoy our last couple of days in the MON (middle of nowhere). Once we get through Green Bay, we will experience Door County, for good or for bad . . . I hope it doesn't end up being like Mackinaw Island - wall to wall people . . . but, we can say we've seen it, and make our own decision on how desirable of an area it is. After Door County, we have the last push down Wisconsin to our van. Recumbent guru, AD Carson, will be escorting us for the last three days. Lucky me! We will have a local routing us through that section of the trip.

I'm starving already and it's only 3:30 PM. I think I will see if the bar has a menu on line. I can be thinking about what I can eat.

Here’s a dancing place for Don and Marilyn in Florence!

Jacinto looked confused when I asked him the name of this River. He said it was just some creek.

I had to ask for help as to what the very top sign means. Waterfall was the guess. I think that could be correct as there are at least three waterfalls in the area.

Bicycle art for today. I have seen many different yard bicycles.

Our departure photo. I went right, Jacinto went left.

I’ve seen a few bicycles this trip that are yard art.

All of the other cows stampeded. These two held their ground.

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 1,212 miles (1,951 km)

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