Matt and I packed up camp at the Platt River Campground and headed to Traverse City, then onto Petoskey. The views of the water were amazing and beautiful!

Once in Petoskey, Matt set up camp at Petoskey State Park. I rode back into town to look for buttons made out of Petoskey Stone. My very talented and creative Mother is a button designer and had requested if found any to send her a few. Originally, the Petoskey stone buttons were hand crafted by Indians. I was hopeful to find some in the town of Petoskey, but I did not find any that resembled their good craftsmanship. So the search continues. I did however find a great deal on meat and veggies for dinner!

After dinner, Matt and I cleaned up and headed over the dunes to see the sunset. The wind was still blowing pretty good. Neither of us felt up to swimming, so we found a park bench and sat down.

We headed back and packed up the picnic table for the night. As I was unwinding in my hammock, our neighbor came over and handed Matt something. All I heard him say was you have to try the pastries when you get to the UP. He said good night and disappeared into the increasing darkness. Matt came over and told me he gave us $50 to try pasties when we got to the UP. Awesome! Together we counted our blessings for the day, then went to sleep.

The next day, Matt was up early. It was a brisk 49 degrees and he had made coffee. I had slept in until 8am 🥱 and he brought me coffee in my hammock. So sweet. We were both looking forward to getting across the bridge into the UP today, but needed a good breakfast. Matt made breakfast burritos out of leftovers. They were delicious and filling. Time was ticking so we packed it up and rolled out to the North Western State Trail. This trail runs from Petoskey to Mackinaw City. It is partially paved at both ends with hard packed crushed limestone in between. This made for a very enjoyable ride today!

https://www.trailscouncil.org/little-traverse-wheelway/

https://www.trailscouncil.org/north-western-state-trail/

Along the trail, we stopped for a break at the Odon Hatchery Visitor Center where we met a local who gave us insight for the trail. He was riding parts of the trail that day while his truck was in for repairs. Further down the trail, we ran into him again and had an extended conversation. We said our goodbyes to him and the pavement and got back on the trail which was now crushed limestone. Easy and safe riding on this trail today. Michigan has had some of the most wonderful trails for biking and this is certainly one of them.

https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/v-centers/oden

When we finally arrived in Mackinaw city, we toodled around a bit. On our way to our shuttle location, Rosie flew off her observation deck right into some flowers of course lol!

We gathered up our flower girl and found the pick up location for the shuttle across the bridge. Matt called and they arrived within 20 minutes to shuttle us over the Mackinaw bridge. My only wish was that we loaded and unloaded in a safer location. Both were mere feet away from busy traffic which was unnerving and did not feel safe at all. We made it to the other side of the bridge though and that is what counts.

For those wondering why not take the ferry round-trip, Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island to St. Ignace. Cost is $30 for the ferry+$16 for the bicycle. Totalling $92 for the two of us just to get across the lake via the island. $30 was easier on our already thin budget. Next year, we will hopefully be back to the island in time for the Proven Winners Grand Garden Show! It is an amazing event held on Mackinac Island. Sadly, we missed it by a few days this year. When we do go we will certainly have to keep Rosie on a harness then as she would get lost frolicking in all the flowers!

Our shuttle ride was soon over and we were discarded along the busy highway curb like hitchhikers. Once we were safely in the weedy highway landscaping, Matt went into the building to pay for the shuttle. We then made our way to the rest area visitor center. We picked up some brochures and maps. As we left the visitor center the wind continued to blow in a blind rage. At this point, I was DONE for the day. There would be no more miles left in me in short order. We made the executive decision to get a very cheap hotel, only because we needed to recoup, do laundry and get out of the wind. All of which the Days Inn in St. Ignace had promised on their website.

On our way there, we stopped at a few places that might have had Petoskey stone buttons. Note: I am speaking a foreign language am to some. Button? What is a button? A pin? There faces looked puzzled as their questions fell out of their mouths. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing a single button to give them a visual. After explaining it to multiple people, I gave up my search for the day and headed to the lakeside hotel. Matt and I checked in. The attendant was listing off the great amenities and the locations of each prized amenity on the property. Pool open until 10pm, hot tub with a burnt out motor, sorry, continental breakfast from 7-9 am, quiet hours 10pm to 8am, room is on the corner, enjoy your stay. I asked where the laundry was? Oh they didn’t have one. I replied the website said you do. Oh sorry, no. He mentioned it was a short (a mile uphill) drive back into town. My face showed disappointment at the misinformation the website gave and I informed him I was on a bicycle. A concept that was not lost as his quick response to my statement was oh its a short 5 minute ride! Needless to say for all the miles, wind and aggravation of being treated like a hitchhiker today I did not feel like biking uphill at the end of our day to do our laundry and the mere suggestion that I should pissed me off.

So I walked.

By the time I got to the laundromat, it was after 6pm and I was slightly less pissed. I’d say it took me seeing the flowers along the roadside on my way back to change my attitude.

I had ordered pizza to be delivered while I was waiting for the laundry to dry. I did not want to make dinner or go out to eat. I just wanted to use a clean bathroom, take a hot shower, eat and go to bed. When I arrived back at the hotel at dusk, Matt had waited for me so we could eat together. It is absolutely great to have a gentleman for a boyfriend. Lord knows I will never have settle for less anymore in my life. I am so very thankful for Matt! We ate dinner, sat and watched the sunset on Lake Huron then called it night.

The next day, I made it to the hotel cold breakfast on time to gather a few provisions for our ride that day. We packed up and rode to Java Joe’s for coffee. There we met a couple from Hinkly, Minnesota and chatted with them before we set off on our Westerly course for the day.

With the wind at our side and occasionally in our face, we considered adjusting our end point when we had stopped for roadside pasties, which were filled with meat and potatoes encased in a crisp crust. Our next pasties will hopefully have spices in it, but these were just the fuel we needed to keep going along our route on Highway 2.

We rode through road construction on Highway 2. Our shoulder disappeared and we flip flopped between both sides of the road to find a solid surface to ride on. The views were amazing in the construction zone, but not long lived as one had to concentrate on the ever-changing terrain as not keep the bicycle upright and not land into speeding oncoming traffic. We made it out of the construction zone upright and a bit harried. We then stopped at the next little town to take a break. There was another touring cyclist at the picnic table. Keith was from California. His route loosely followed the Northern Tier from Anacortes WA to the East Coast. He was touring solo on his very nice electric Specialized. We chatted for a bit and wished him all the best in his travels as we got back on Highway 2.

We came upon the long narrow Cut River Bridge.  We opted to skinny our way on the sidewalk instead of playing chicken with the speeding cars. Unfortunately, the very narrow sidewalk ended at the end of the bridge, followed by a steep drop off along the guardrail. Matt lifted the loaded bikes over the guardrail as I guided them down to the other side. I am so very thankful the wind gusts calmed down and that he has such good balance, not to mention he is strong like an ox. It could have been a day of repelling down the mountainside to retrieve bicycles and gear otherwise.

As we rode today, we adjusted our end point to Hog Island State Campground. We then realized the services in this section of the UP on Highway 2 were few and far between. No ATM to be found before our campground. Between the two of us we had $10 in cash and needed another $10 to pay to stay at the campground. We stopped at a roadside market and asked if they had an atm or offered cash back on purchases. Nope. Closest one was 22 miles up the road, which was much further than the campground. While I was checking if the campground took online reservations, a lady named Layne drove up and Matt had engaged her on conversation. She gave us $10 and said pay it forward. Thank you Layne! She and her husband Micheal were traveling in their van and have quite the story. Read about them on their blog.

https://conchscooter.blogspot.com/?m=1

Soon afterwards Matt and I were on our way to Hog Island State campground. We found a good spot, paid and attempted to swim. The lake looked like the ocean as the wind hadn’t died down yet. Instead we did our best to splash around and get the sweat and road debris washed off. The water was cold, yet very refreshing. Once back at camp we set up our hammocks and started dinner. The weather was moving in for the evening and we made quick work of dinner.

Just as we were cleaning up after dinner, rain drops started to fall. We hurried the pace, said goodnight and retired to our hammocks for the night. Tomorrow we would be heading in a Northwesterly direction towards Picture Rocks.