Day 48 Land O Lakes WI to Iron River MI

August 4, 2023

It was 55° this morning when we got up. We had bought bananas and bagels so we had breakfast at the motel before we left. We didn’t go far before we were off the main route onto a recently sealed road but with chip seal underneath so not real smooth sailing. We went just under a mile when the GPS said we needed to take a right. UGH! Dirt road. It did have a dead end sign at the beginning of it but Hubs followed the GPS. We went over a mile and came to another dead end sign plus a private property sign but he pedaled on. Lo and behold, we came to someone’s home. Damn GPS!!! Now we had to turn around and get back to the main route. Adding another 3+ miles to the day. We were going along and all of a sudden Hubs says “What is that?? Is it a bear???”. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing as it was a dog. I can understand that he might think that as it was a black dog and he was on the shaded side of the street. On and off for the rest of the day I would just start laughing thinking about it. By mile 20 or so we came to a beautiful lake that we were able to get off the bikes and sit on a bench and enjoy the view. Once we left there was when the hills began. We actually had to push our bikes right across the street from the lake. A man was running up the hill faster than we could push. From then on it was up or down. It was not a fun day. We thought we were past all this but I guess not. It helps with the calories

This caught our eye and thought it interesting

We stopped for a bit and then I noticed it

This is Larry and Barbara. They were a hoot

This is Maggie’s place. Neat funky place. So cozy

This is where we are sleeping. It’s like an apartment

This is Maggie’s stove she got for 15.00 in college

This is Maggie. Great lady. She is 70 yrs old and would like to do a bike tour but would want someone to go with her.

though as I seem to be snacking more than I should. We finally made it to Michigan. We thought we would hit the state line a lot sooner than we did but we had to say goodbye to Wisconsin. The hills kept coming and we took more small breaks. We stopped at the top of a hill to rest and a truck came up from the opposite direction and stopped to talk to us. Their names are Larry & Barbara. They were funny. He said they were married for 50 years and she said no. They went to high school together and he was still trying to get in her pants. 🤣🤣 Larry is a mountain biker. He told us that the eastern part of Michigan is flat so I guess we will have more hills for awhile. We got to our warm showers a bit after 2:00 and the owner was not home. She had mentioned to Hubs she might not be home until between 4 and 7. Uh oh what do we do now. She had what looked like an apartment over the garage so Hubs did end up going up to see if it was open and it was. There was a list inside telling us all about it and that she had a shower in her basement. We weren’t sure if she left the house open or not. So we waited and then Hubs went to check and the house was open. So we brought our stuff over to take a shower. The water pressure was awesome and it felt so good. In the interim, Maggie came home. I was also able to do laundry. Clean body & clean clothes are nice to have on a bike trip. Maggie was very friendly. She has lived here 27 years and had had the house built. It was a pretty neat place too. Hopefully the pictures capture some of the detail. She bought the old stove when she was in college for $15.00. It was awesome. She stopped using the oven as it heated up too much and the wall behind it was getting hot all the time. She does use the stove and had an oven added under her counter. Again I was excited as we got to have fresh from the garden vegetables. Maggie and Hubs also had salmon but I don’t eat it so the veggies were my meal and they were crumptious! Tomorrow we head to Iron Mountain. 🤞🤞🤞the hills aren’t killers like today. Are quads were not happy with us today.,

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,722 miles (2,771 km)

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