DAY
35
Manitowoc WI
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| Distance: 57 Miles | Climbing: 1328 Feet | Winds: West 10-15 | |||
| Weather: Scattered showers in the area | Terrain: Gentle rollers | ||||
TODAY'S TALES:
Today we slept in due to the short day and loaded the luggage after a late breakfast. Even though it was only a 57-mile day, which most of the group could kick out in less than 3 hours, they were all standing around the lobby like buzzards lurking over a dying cow waiting for us to open the luggage van. By the time we got all situated and ready for the bags, Jim, Jeff, and Mike were covered as the riders were throwing their bags on faster than they could stack them. So much for the Type A personalities mellowing out.
Our route was across beautiful Wisconsin countryside toward Lake Michigan. I know I've said this about every state, but I think Wisconsin is one of the most scenic states we ride in. Each state has it's moments, but Wisconsin's dairy and crop farms dot the undulating countryside and remind me of Norman Rockwell paintings. I rode off route a mile or so a couple of times and couldn't believe the beauty of the landscape and was glad we didn't have to detour since the published route was probably the mildest terrain around. If you got off route almost in any direction the terrain would be much more challenging with short and steep hills everywhere you looked...I remained in sensory overload most of the morning.
One thing I really like about this area is the fact people
take so much pride in their yards. Everywhere you look you'll find beautiful
landscaping and colorful flower arrangements. I wish we
could do that where I live in Alabama, but it's so hot, it kills everything that
tries to grow in the summer. The lawn art is a bit higher on the "quality"
scale than we saw in Idaho through Minnesota too. In those states, any
rusty, unusable farm equipment was a candidate for a lawn art
display...especially if the equipment happened to be a manure spreader.
For some reason, manure spreaders were the "lawn art of choice" for many yards
as we crossed the US. It didn't do much for me, but whatever floats your
boat I guess.
The last few miles before town we got our first glimpse of the "Pond." County road XX took us as far west as we could go without getting wet so we turned north to parallel the Lake all the way to town. You could tell we were close to the water because of the the cool air that met us within a mile or two of the lake and because of the large flocks of gulls parked in the farm fields. Tomorrow's ride across on the boat may be a bit chilly...need to tell the troops to take a jacket.
As we
were nearing town, the middle to back end riders were confronted with a pretty
black cloud just west of the Lake. Karen and I took shelter in Wal Mart
while it poured and a group with Jeff took shelter in a barn just outside of the
city limits. Jeff pretty much corralled everyone near him and advised them
that it was going to be wet in buckets pretty quick so they should consider
taking shelter...just as they got to a barn, the sky broke loose. Nothing
this group can't handle...good job folks getting in safely.
We also had a treat when we arrived at the motel. The local bike club, the Lakeshore Peddlers, provided ice cream in the lobby to our always hungry for ice cream cyclists. Thank you LSPs...that was a nice touch for a welcome to your city.
Everyone got in pretty early today so we had our rap and dinner early enough to get folks to the laundry and time to rest for the boat ride. Tomorrow we have a day off...not really as we will be boarding a ferry and crossing Lake Michigan. We'll load at 9:00, then be at the ship at 12:00. It's a 3 mile bike ride to the boat and by now everyone is in good enough shape to be able to cover that distance well within the time limit. We'll get into Ludington Michigan about 6:00 since we lose an hour into the eastern time zone when we get off the boat. It's hard to believe we only have two more weeks in this trip...I don't think the riders realize that yet, but they will become aware when we get on the other side of the lake. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, not a rest day at all since we still have to pack up and move out, but we'll get through it like we usually do. Our next riding day is 115 miles...I hope I and the riders get some rest on the boat. There will be no entry for tomorrow, be back again when we ride to Mt Pleasant. Have a good day. M
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TODAY'S RIDING PHOTO RECORD |
 These strategic silos are always striving to keep up with the latest technology. |
 The owners of these weapon systems are really creative...the cows are wax. |
 After the t-shirt swap last night, Annie was feeling wild. She won a non t-shirt...she got a tiger striped dorag. I goes nicely with her leopard shorts. |
 Pam and Jane stopped by the lighthouse this morning on their way out of town. While there they found a puddle with some minnows in it. Evidently during a high wind and pounding surf against the rocks the minnows were blown into the parking lot and had settled in this small puddle of water...WHAT TO DO? "Let's rescue them," remarked Jane, "and free them back into Lake Winnebago." "Good idea," replied Pam, "let's get to work." For the next few minutes she and Jane tried to corral the frisky minnows. Their intentions were good, but their efforts were somewhat in vane as they slightly misjudged the throwing distance and tossed the first couple of rescued minnows toward the lake into a pretty stiff wind. You can imagine what happened next...while airborne the poor minnows were enjoying their fun flight until they realized they were being blown back into the rocks...some may have survived. Finally, they got the last ones out of the puddle and learning from their first attempt, carefully put them into the water below the rock line. The girl's hearts were definitely in the right place, but maybe their execution of the rescue plan was a little off plumb... |
 They had made another slight oversight...they hadn't seen what was lurking just about where the minnows that made it past the rocks were landing...I'm sure the ducks appreciated the unexpected meal. |
 Something about a beautiful floral arrangement that brings out Ken's softer side. |
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I hope St Peter can wait for a little while longer. |
 Jim was
enjoying the tailwind so much yesterday that he was wishing he had a sail.
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