Wow, how quickly time flys! I can't believe we are in Canada, again! Before talking about that we have some catching up to do.
Chloe and I decided to go through Wisconsin and blaze our own trail instead of following the ACA (Adventure Cycling Association) route. Our first stop was in La Crosse, where we were fortunate enough to have a host for the night. Ed was wonderful, he even met us out on the trail and bicycled back to his house for a 40 mile ride! Ed is planning to finish the Northern Tier Route later this summer, Go Ed Go! We were so happy to have a nice air-conditioned place to rest our tired bodies. Ed even treated us to pizza for dinner!
Once again we were quite slow in the morning leaving the comforts of a nice house, our departure time: 12:00 p.m., no big deal. Ed helped us plan a safe route to our next destination and through Wisconsin. We decided to take mostly rail-trails, which are old rail road track lines that have been "paved" (more like covered with dirt) over and turned into convenient trails. We were happy to take a safer route and be off the road for a while. This day in particular, the sun was beaming more brightly on our faces than usual. As a way to cope for the extreme heat, and in addition to the normal sun block routine, we thought we would try something different to cool ourselves while riding. I think we took the "sun's out, gun's" method a little too far. To say the least, Chloe and I have been lathering the aloe vera on for the past few days and have suffered what I think, is the worst sun burn I have ever had. Lesson learned: fewer layers are not better, but the lack of such will make cars more aware of your presence on the road...bit of a catch 22.
We made it to Sparta WI where we stopped for a bite to eat. The temperature was 102 degrees. Gross.
The funnest part of the day was traveling on the Elroy-Sparta State Trail. The trail is 32 miles in length and runs on the abandoned Chicago & North Western Railroad bed. It passes through three limestone rock tunnels, the Kendall and Wilton tunnels are 1/4 mile long and the Norwalk tunnel is 3/4 mile long. The temperatures changed and became cooler the closer we got to the tunnels. It was a nice repreve from the hot heat! The tunnels were pitch black and we needed our headlamps to get through them. Both Chloe and I felt like Alice in Wonderland spinning down a rabbit hole, the tunnels were so dark you could barely make out any light at the end, I experienced complete "tunnel vision".
We made a friend, Andrew, and rode with him for the rest of the day. We all camped together in
A small town, the name escapes my memory. After riding together for another day we parted ways. Chloe and I headed for Madison. We had some difficulty finding our way through Madison, which was a quaint college town, but we finally found our warm shower for the night with a Madison local, Abbey. She was so much fun and very energetic about cycling.
Bound for Milwaukee the next day was much harder than we had anticipated due to the heat and humidity. We had a little trouble navigating our way out of Madison as we were in search for a new butane/propane fuel canister. We were not lost, simply turned around. Somehow in search for REI we ended up outside of a Home Depot instead. Of course, no luck. The fuel canisters are hard to come by and we only find them in specialty outdoor stores. Anyway, that's where I met Tim. He was curious about what we were doing and stopped me to chat for a minute. The kindness of strangers never ceases to amaze me. Even when it is just a word of encouragement, it makes all the difference to us. Tim was so excited about our adventure, without knowing me he said he was proud of what Chloe and I were doing! It put a smile on my face and left me feeling uplifted. We finally found our way out of Madison and looked up yet another warm showers host for the night and found the lovely Marty and Dave. We had been keeping in contact with Marty the whole day with our whereabouts and our ETA. Well by the time 5 o'clock rolled around we were still 40 miles away. We started up at a slow pace and after some quick calculations I turned to Chloe and said that we need to pick up the pace. Well she was on the same brainwave because not long after I said that she popped in those earbuds and didn't stop spinning the lightening legs until we pulled up Marty's driveway at 9 o'clock. Marty and Dave were phenomenal hosts! They are very familiar with touring and have done a handful of tours themselves. So it was like second nature for Marty to help us plan out our route through Michigan to see our family because she had been through there already. We are so grateful for their hospitality and wish them well on their future tours they'll undertake...hopefully an international one!
How many people can say they spent the 4th of July in two states? Well I'm sure a lot actually, but that's what Hannah and I did! We left Marty and Dave's around 5 in the afternoon to catch the ferry across Lake Michigan, but not before we had homemade waffles for breakfast, and a grilled cheese and falafel for lunch. Riding to the ferry was such a fun experience. We were weaving our way through Milwaukee's summer music festival so we got an earful. We fell asleep once we were on the ferry. But the closer we got to Muskegon, MI the louder the "boom" of fireworks became. It was a spectacular scene biking through the night with the firworks lighting up the sky. But as soon as the grand finale was over the sidewalks and streets became cluttered with people. We dodged our way through looking for our campground but of course we got "turned around" and had to stop at a McD's to utilize their wi-fi. We thankfully made it to the Wolf Lake Campground (which we found out in the morning wasn't anything but a petting zoo) at one in the morning. Before going to sleep I asked Chloe..."what if we just rode like this the rest of the time, you know at night, without any traffic and cooler temperatures?" she didn't find that very amusing.
From Muskegon we went to Saranac where we met Maggie, Matthew, and their family at the local Baptist Church. We were looking for a place to stay and escape the heat when they so kindly offered up their place to house us. We made dinner at the Church and waited for them to complete their decorating for their sisters surprise birthday party...we hope it was a success! Unfortunately the hour grew late and with a hundred mile day ahead of us we decided to pitch camp behind the church and call it a night.
Our earliest morning yet, we were on the bicycles at 6:00 in the morning! It was nice to see the sun rise and we were quiet for the first 30 miles into St. John. We stopped for a quick bite at the local cafe and soon after were on our way to see Cousin Diane, Michael, Tessie, and Eliza. The heat was the worst we rode through. We didn't break for almost 4 hours that day and when we finally stopped for lunch it was 105 degrees outside, we had 20 miles left. Luckily we found a place to quench our thirst with a rootbeer float! We had a wonderful time with our family and spent the rest of the day cooling off in the lake with a picnic. We are so grateful for the hospitality of our new friends Michelle (Tattoo Barbie), Scott (Ken), and their children. They were so welcoming and their excitement for roller derby was contagious! We spent the night laughing, eating pizza, and catching up.
The next day we went to meet our Uncle Warren and Aunt Martha in Algonac, MI. Another hot day to say the least, but the ride wasn't terrible. We were greeted with love and a lake front view of the St. Claire canal was a sight to see! We enjoyed swimming in the water, and Aunt Martha did not stop feeding us the whole time. Talking with family is so nice and the visit was encouraging to our spirits. We were definitely happy to be taking a day of rest in the comforts of their home. It is amazing what a nice bed, clean clothes, and a full belly can do for you!
Before leaving Uncle Warren and Aunt Martha we snapped a few photos and waved goodbye from the Marine City Ferry where we crossed into Canada with our new cycling buds, Brian and John. We were happy to have some new company, the boys are from San Francisco CA, (hippies). They are cycling to raise money for a Clean Water Charity which provides clean water to third world countries. So far, they have raised $3,000. We enjoyed the rest of the day riding and sharing stories about our experiences on the road. The four of us arrived in Summer's Place Campground where we set up camp and had an ice cream to top off the day.
Our adventure continues through Canada, next stop Niagra Falls!
-Hannah
P.S We will update more often from here on, I promise!
Thanks for all of your support and patience!
