Clare, MI to Houghton Lake, MI:

May 13, 2019

Porcupine country

Here is a bad picture of the mural in the breakfast room in our hotel.

Leprechauns hiding their gold coins are active in this and other murals in the hotel. Many original settlers were immigrants from County Clare in Ireland. Clare, Michigan has a sister city relationship with a city in Ireland.

It finally dawned on me why Rhona and I faced this long string of cold, wet and windy weather. The last time this happened was on a three week tour in Ireland. It rained all but one day and the rooms we stayed in were never warm enough for Rhona. That is until one B&B where it was warm enough to suit Rhona. She commented to the owner who said the only reason it was so warm was because her sister was visiting from Florida and she cranked the heat up for her.

I think the mischievous Leprechauns are at it here again.

Cold wind from the north was the story again as we headed north from Clare. Initially we cycled past several Amish farms and businesses. I could sense Rhona trying to think of an excuse to stop at an Amish country store to try to load up on baked goods.

We saw several goat operations. The kids were full of themselves, butting heads with whichever playmate was nearest. Holsteins in large dairy herds and Jersey (possibly Guernsey) in small farms we’re prevalent. We also saw some llamas.

The sun broke through for an hour in the middle of the day but clouds returned. We’ve completely outpaced the Spring bloom. Deciduous trees are bare, without even many buds. We’re seeing many more conifers.

This is not an example of a “bare” tree. A chainsaw did this. We stopped because Rhona’s knees told us to. We noticed on our cross USA tour that parts of our body that hurt the first week toughened up and didn’t bother us the second week. That is happening again with her knees and my left elbow are making bids for attention.

I was just thinking Rhona should start watching for porcupines in addition to beaver when we came across a porcupine roadkill.

I cropped this picture to exclude the gory part of the porcupine. It was amazing to see how many quills we’re scattered even 20 yds. down the road.

After dinner we walked to Houghton Lake. The sun came out and the winds calmed.

While walking back to the hotel I wanted to get a closeup look at a Sunoco sign that was stored in the rear of a closed Valero station.

I always thought the signs were metal or the newer ones plastic which allowed neon light to illuminate the sign. This one was rubber stretched tightly like the head of a drum.

Today's ride: 49 miles (79 km)
Total: 616 miles (991 km)

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