Crossing the finish line!

3300 miles, four flats, two tubes of suntan lotion, and one tire later, I MADE IT! Woot woot!

I am writing this entry from Ann Arbor! I arrived yesterday evening after my fourth consecutive day of century rides (that's 100 miles, in bike-speak). Yesterday was only supposed to add up to 95 miles, but due to construction in Jackson and getting lost looking for the motel (apparently iPhones aren't a cure for that), I racked up enough miles to brag!

It was a long haul the last four days (on my Long Haul Trucker, aren't I witty?), but the feeling of accomplishment is great.

The riding was actually pretty hilly in spots, except for yesterday, which was mostly flat. Here's a picture near Ft. Custer State Park.



I have been seeing a lot of turtle roadkill in Michigan, which is sadder than other roadkill for some reason. The other day I saw a pre-roadkill turtle crossing the road, and I stopped to take a picture. He pulled his head in when he saw me.



Hopefully he hurried up and finished crossing after I left. As you can see he's very close.

Yesterday it seemed like it took forever to get to the An Arbor city limit, I was so excited.



Today my dad and I walked around campus and did errands. Sorry Andrew, I didn't think to get a picture with Ely when I dropped my gear off at The Battlestar. Next time!



Tomorrow we fly back to Seattle! I'm already excited to start my next adventure. I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me and encouraged me on this journey.

An extra special thanks to my best friend Brittany and also to my wonderful partner Nate. You guys believed in me more than I believed in myself sometimes, and it made more of a difference than you can know.

I'm STILL going to do one more post rating the states, but I'm gonna do it on a real computer, once I get home (hopefully tomorrow).

One leaner, buffer, tan-lined biker chick is heading home to Seattle! Make way!

Location:S State Rd,Ann Arbor,United States

Race To The Finish!

Finally I'm making myself update the blog! The end of the trip is zooming towards me. I'm super excited to come home, but at the same time I'm a little sad that my adventure is almost over (but only THIS adventure).

After leaving Petoskey, dad and I biked a very pretty ride and ended up camping in Barnes Park, which sits on Grand Traverse Bay. We had aimed to get farther, but there were endless ridiculously steep hills that pooped out the pops. It was also so warm that when we stopped by the side of the road for a break our shoes sank into the tar on the road! Sticky.

The next day we had another short day because we decided to stop in Traverse City, which is an ACT. This stands for "Another Cute Town". We realized that we were exclaiming that towns were cute so much that we needed an acronym. Although, I guess it is incorrect to say, "It's an ACT," we should say, "It's ACT." But we don't.

Then we decided to take an extra day in Traverse City, because of weather. At this point we were so behind schedule to get to Ann Arbor on time that we had to change our plan of action.

After much agonizing and hand wringing, my dad decided to rent a car for the rest of the trip. I'm going to do four ~100 mile days to make up for lost time, and so dad is back to cheering me on from off the bike. He met me twice today along my route and brought me lunch and snacks. The purist in me is still insisting that I carry all my gear. However, I did buy a six pack of beer tonight, and I'll let him carry the leftover in the car :)

We saw a really cool and giant caterpillar today when we stopped for lunch:


It's so giant (and check out my thumb tan)...



...and see-through, and green!

Nathan wasn't impressed by this caterpillar when I told him about it. I don't get it.

Now we're camped in the municipal park in Reed City. Tomorrow I'm going to bike ~105 miles to Smyrna (Michigan, not Greece).

Onwards!

PS, I've been reading about fly fishing and I'm getting a little obsessed. I can't wait to find some places to fish around Ann Arbor! I was thinking I could even bike to the fly fishing. That would really look ridiculous.

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Location:Howard St,Reed City,United States

Beautiful Michigan, Fudgies, Into the Mitten

Hello from the mitten of Michigan! The end of my trip suddenly feels very near.

My dad and I have had great fun going through the UP. After leaving Escanaba, we biked to Indian Lake State Park, where we weathered an exciting thunderstorm in the evening. Here's a pic of the Bay De Noc, which we passed on the way:


Here's one near Manistique, MI:


The next day we biked 85 miles to Brevort Lake State Park. We were a bit disappointed with this location. We were all excited to camp at Lake Michigan Campground, but it was full up. I tried to talk the camp manager into letting us set up in a non designated spot, but he wasn't having any of it.

Lake Michigan is breathtakingly beautiful. It is crystal clear, aquamarine, and goes on forever.




Today we finished up the last little smidge of peninsula, and then took the ferry to Mackinaw Island, and then on to Mackinaw City. They don't allow motorized vehicles on the island, which conjured images of quiet relaxation to me. However, there were so many tourists it ended up being a bit of a circus. Many of them also rent bikes. I saw several people with their helmets on backwards. on the upside, I got to eat fudge.


Apparently the longest porch in the world is on the island. Great claim to fame.


Here's one of the Mackinaw Bridge from the ferry:


From Mackinaw City we continued on to Harbor Springs. It was very pretty and very hilly. After dinner we hopped back on the bikes for a quick ten more miles to Magnus Park, in Petoskey. There's a storm just north of us that made a lovely sunset.


Now I'm really sleepy. Good night!
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Location:Little Traverse Wheelway,Petoskey,United States

French Toast, Escanaba, Into the UP!

The last few days have been filled with rolling hills (some pretty steep), farmland, and forests. We actually ran into a bear the other day! He was crossing the road as we were coming around a curve. I think he was more frightened than we were.

Boulder Junction ended up being a very good location, food wise. I had a yummy walleye sandwich for dinner, and the most amazing stuffed French toast in the morning. It was so amazing. Oh man.



I ate that.



...and that.



Dad complaining about his bites.



I found a giant chair.

From Boulder Junction we biked into Michigan and camped in Iron River. The campground host is a VERY enthusiastic country music player, who practiced his craft (with amplifiers and everything) for hours. Literally. It was a lot.



Michigan!

The next day we biked to a little town called Hardwood, and camped next to the river.


On the way



I put moleskin on dad's nose to protect him from his glasses.



Part of dinner (thanks for the tip, Andrew).



From camp



Today we had a short day and biked into Escanaba. We got a motel, and have spent the afternoon doing laundry and fixing up our bikes.



On the way here

We're hanging out now for a bit, then we're gonna go see a movie! Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty stormy, hopefully we won't get too soaked.

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Location:7th Ave S,Escanaba,United States

Picking Up Speed, Thunderstorms, Flies!!

Me and pops seem to have hit our stride. Each day we're managing to go a bit further. Today we made it 65 miles, despite being caught in a storm! Or perhaps it was because we were in a storm. As my dad says, not having a choice is good incentive.

Yesterday we biked around 57 miles to Glidden, WI. We had a bug filled evening camping in the city park. They had a cool tank there.






The scenery is fantastic out here. Rolling hills and lots of lakes. Lots of deer flies also. Dad is getting eaten more than me, due to my faster speed uphill, I suspect. There have been some epic chase scenes the last few days where I can look in my mirror and I see a swarm of giant flies chasing me.









Nathan is kicking butt in Montana at his field course, so I'll mix it up a bit and post some pics That he sent me of where he is.






His pictures may have won this round. I'll get you back, Andersen!

Looking forward to getting into the UP in the next few days. Can't wait to get home and see all my friends again.

Onwards!

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Location:County Highway M,,United States

Slow Progress In High Heat

Well, we're trucking along. My dad is keeled over in the grass right now from exhaustion. He's having a rough time of it-he also smooshed his big toe on a rock when we were camping a few days ago






It's pretty hot out, but not quite as muggy as it has been.

After leaving the Twin Cities we camped north of Osceola at Interstate State Park. I was worried it would be closed because of the MN government shutdown, but the park is luckily run by Wisconsin (although they have their own issues right now...). At night, the woods around the campsite filled with fireflies, which lent a bit of enchantment to the evening. Someone left firewood at our campsite too, so I got to have my first campfire of the trip.



I want to point out to Andrew that in addition to there being the previously-mentioned Andrews Lake in MN, there is also a Taylors Falls!



Last night we camped on Fox Creek, and kept cool by sticking our feet in the water off of the dock. Now we're at Bear Lake, which is near Haugen, WI.

I'm anxious to pick up the pace, so I can be at home in Seattle for a few days before I leave town for good (well, for two years). Weather is supposed to cool down somewhat after today, so I'm hopeful.

Brittany: I've been thinking a lot about the state-rating. I'm gonna do a post about that next, and just fit in WI and MN to the ranking once I'm done. I might post that later today, since I have all afternoon to kill now!

Missing everyone!
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Location:U.S. 53,Rice Lake,United States

There And Back Again, Extreme Hotness Of The Temperature Kind (unfortunately)

Just after posting from the bicycle bunkhouse a few days ago, I was excited to get some company!

One thing that I've really liked about this trip are all the opportunities I've had to meet people that I normally would never get meet in my bubble of work and friends. I mean really, I never thought it would be in my cards to be sitting at a table in a converted barn in the middle of the Minnesota countryside with an army helicopter pilot/farmer and a career coast guarder drinking boxed wine and chatting into the evening. We found so much to talk about! Plus, I got to hear an amazing story about how Donn survived chainsawing himself in the neck. Really good story. Here's a pic if me and Donn before I biked off the next morning.



The only picture of Dale that I have, unfortunately, is the one he accidentally took of himself when he was trying to use my newfangled device (iPhone).



From the bicycle bunkhouse I took Donn Olsen's directions to Stillwater, MN. It was a dreary day that ranged from drizzle to downpour.

I had a pretty awful but short ride the next day from Stillwater to meet my dad at a hotel by the airport in the Twin Cities. It was pouring rain all morning before I left, and I waited as long as I could before leaving town. I had two pots of coffee while I was waiting in vain for the weather to change, so you can imagine how incredibly hyper I was. In the early afternoon I just decided to go for it. It was like biking in the shower.



Steamy.



Putting on my brave face. That's a fake smile.



Trying to take pictures while biking is a bad idea.

In the course of this thunder and lightning filled ride I:
1) Fell in the mud
2) Got lost
3) Got a flat on a bridge and had to change it in really bad place

Finally got to hotel and met up with dad! Yesterday we poked around the city while his bike was getting put back together at the shop. We went to Mall of America, which was disgusting.






And ride the lightrail around town doing errands.



There is now a horrible heat wave going through the area. Me and dad left early this morning, but fell short of our goal as the heat index rose to 110 degrees (the low tonight is 81).






Tomorrow is gonna be the same, so we're gonna get up even earlier and try and get somewhere.

Feeling a bit frustrated by lack of progress. Also missing Nathan. Is a bit if an adjustment to have him be busy doing awesome stuff all day, instead of being available to talk to me whenever I want! :( I guess the world can't revolve around me all the time...sigh.

Wish me and dad luck as we muck our way through the heat tomorrow!

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