May 31, 2019
We’re Among Friends
Superior to Port Wing
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Jackie’s speed: 8.2 mph
Scott’s speed: 10 mph
Weather: sunny, 50-55 degrees with chilly northeast wind 10-12 mph
Rhetorical questions: how hard is it, and is it essential, to check the weather report before getting ready to be outside all day? Rhetorical answers: not hard, especially with all the available weather data, and essential.
The sunshine on this last day of May misled us into thinking we should dress in shorts and jackets for early summer. We loaded the panniers on the bikes outside the entrance to the Super 8, after the standard cheap motel breakfast fare, not interesting enough to describe. We looked at each other. “Man, it’s really cold.” Scott got the key back from the desk clerk so we could redo our outfits. (My word. He doesn’t do “outfits”). I checked weather.com again: low 50s with northeast wind, wind chill in the mid-40s. At least the later start, about 09:30, was not an issue, since we had decided to stay in Port Wing, just 40 miles away.
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The prairie landscape traveling east along Highway 2 in Montana and North Dakota turns into a relatively level wooded landscape dotted with lakes in Minnesota. Here in Wisconsin skirting close to Lake Superior, Wisconsin Highway 13 led us through bucolic farmland edged by green forested hills. Traffic was light, the road in good repair, with a decent shoulder. Without having to watch for fast traffic and debris, we could lose ourselves in the hundred shades of green and clear blue sky as we rode along. No doubt about it, the land was becoming hillier, helping us prepare for the Adirondacks we would climb next month.
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During the breaks when he waits for me to catch up, Scott checks the Ride GPS bicycle mapping app to verify miles left to ride, terrain, or possibilities for breaks. About 13:30 when I rolled up to him, he said, “There’s a Bear Paw Café in about five miles. We can stop there and have lunch.”
Remember the motivators? Food is high on that list. We are always hungry for our meals so almost anyplace will do. The Bear Paw Café serves up “short order” fare, but when prepared by an experienced cook who likes pleasing her customers, it’s cuisine. I ordered a patty melt which came with home made potato chips. Wow. Scott got the cheeseburger and fries. We found out later from our campground host that the owner-cook has a lot of kids, like 15 or 16. Some are biological, some adopted, others she and her husband took in as foster parents. So, a good citizen of her town. At first when we arrived, there was only one other car, which gave us pause, but it was 14:30 and way outside a regular meal time. While we were there, people came and went, most for coffee and the homemade strawberry pie. We wanted some, but were too full after the late lunch. We would come back for breakfast.
The Bear Paw owner-cook had recommended the Port Wing Marina campground, so we headed into the cold wind for the mile ride to the marina, after a brief stop at the post office so I could mail my broken glasses back to the optometrist. The marina was an unpretentious place with the essentials for fishermen and beachcombers, no luxuries. Scott and I looked out at the rollers crashing on the shore of Superior and knew immediately we wanted to stay here. Wind? For sure. But, how could we pedal around the lake and not be on the shore? The woman who owned it told us to look around and said we could pitch the tent anywhere we thought would work. Our tent is small, so a space between a boat under a tarpaulin and a storage shed, protected by a stand of trees, would be just fine.
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The owner had come to Wisconsin from Connecticut after getting a degree in environmental sciences from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. That led to a conversation about Maine and how people end up where they do. Of course I mentioned one of my sons went to Bowdoin, she said that had been her first choice, but she couldn’t get in. I also said we had briefly considered retiring there, but ultimately wanted to come back to where we came from. She said she became part of the community in Port Wing by joining the volunteer fire department, teaching kindergarten, and volunteering her services. She now has two sons who attend the local schools, which she said is ultimately the most valuable contribution to the small town.
She offered to keep open the small marina store that offered bait, tackle, t-shirts, and caps, “just in case” a storm blew up and we needed shelter. We felt very comfortable there. In the shower facility attached to the store, we learned a new designation for his and hers, appropriate for a fishing village: outboard and inboard.
We pitched the tent, arranged our sleeping pads and bags inside, and stowed the panniers under the tarpaulin covering the boat. I sat in one of the cushiony outdoor lawn chairs and worked on the blog for a while until the wind got too cold. As the sun sank lower, the wind got colder, so we got inside the tent for our re-hydrated lasagna, then settled down for the night. We fell asleep to the sound of Superior’s waves crashing on the shore and gulls screeching. The temperature did not drop below 40, so we were plenty warm. The time we spent in Port Wing convinced us the state motto was apt: “you’re among friends.”
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,211 miles (1,949 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
I loved hearing of the kindness of strangers offering to leave the store open overnight in case you needed shelter from a storm. I imagine you collecting these experiencing like the gems they are.
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