The original plan was borne out of a look at the Adventure Cycling Association's online interactive route map. I was looking for a tour I could do in under two weeks that had simple logistics. I noticed that on the map one route, the Chicago to New York City route, went right past my in-law's house in north central Indiana. That's a ten hour drive from my home in Virginia. 

I could park my car at their place then ride the Chicago/NYC route to its intersection with the ACA North Lakes route. This would take me to a Ludington in  central Michigan, In Ludington, I would take a ferry across the lake then follow the route in a loop across the upper peninsula of Michigan then down the coast of Lake Michigan back to Ludington and then onward to Indiana.

East peasy. Except for one detail. When working out the distance of this adventure I forgot to take into account that I'd be riding the Indiana to Ludington part twice. 

What to do?

The solution was to drive to Ludington where I learned I could park my car for free at the ferry parking lot. The resulting tour would be over 800 miles long, just about right for two weeks allowing for two days of driving.

So I took off on July 3 for Ludington. The drive seemed endless. I scouted out the town and found a hotel. I ate dinner on the deck of a tavern with a view of the lake. This was good idea until the sun went down. It can get cold in Michigan in the summer. Good thing to know. 

After dinner it was off to bed so that I could catch the ferry in the morning.