Indian lake

It's cold and rainy outside and the shower is like a warm oasis. It's the one luxury I get for my twenty two dollar fee besides a spot of sand/grass for my tent.
Any shower where I don't have to push a button ever other minute is a good shower. Any shower that is warm or hot is a great shower! And if you can adaquitly hold steam is the best.
I woke up at 6:30 today to try and avoid the rain. Food was in my hands at 8. And I left my phone charger at the Inn at 9. Ten miles Down the road when after peeing in the wood did I realize I left it at the Bay View Inn. In a panic I threw my thumb out but after one car passed I got reception. When I called a lady picked up and told me "A blond girl in a little silver car was on her was." I was grateful and embarrassed. Sitting on a hard rail she must have pulled up within three minutes.
58 miles to go.
The only stops I made where for stretching and urination. Which felt like every hour on the hour. But I did have four caffeinated beverages plus water.
When I got to the final town of the day I ate at Big Boy and got the one with everything on it (hold the chili - I rob't like beans) and a milkshake and ate all of both. Funny what 70 miles can do for you. It bummed me out to see I still had 7 miles more to go in the rain. But what is seven when I had already gone twenty two in the rain.
It is also crazy to think this is the first time I set up my rent in the rain.
Talk to a retired bus driver named bill who shared a couple brews with me and now I sit clothed next to a streaming shower. Later.

I am here at the Bay View Inn. No Internet no wifi. It's pretty much the second time on this trip. So I can't really gauge when it is going to rain. Maybe I could read a new paper. They don't have any floating around. It was cold last night and it's cold today. I haven tights and my rain pants on. My vest, two base layers, and my rain jacket on with the hood up. Two pairs of socks and then I took my arm Warner's and put them on my feet.
Yesterday I started in Harbor Springs. The lady who hosted me has quite a nack for giving a tour. So I decied it would be ok to let her take me for a tour and drop me at the mackinac island ferry. I have no regrets I saw a lot of things I would never have seen otherwise! For example the Legs Inn. A 100 pluse year old bar made all from natural raw materials and mostly from wood. Manly and beautiful.
Met another couch surfer cyclist at the ferry. She worked there. We examined each-others bikes and he gave me a sandwich. As the boat was pulling out she said, "Alex go to the Pink Pony and get a rum runner. Then camp on the island." She doesn't know my constitution. Ok I am going to start my drudge for the day and see if I can beat the rain to Indian Lake:/

Here I sit in Traverse City at Mackinaw Brewing Company having there oatmeal stout. Its pretty good. Not as good as Sea-Bas's ale at finals though. Kind of like apples and oranges but he made a mean black ale.
Had to stop back in a shoe store and get some fresh insoles. These happen to be superfeet. They feel pretty good so far but we will see if new numbness try's to arise. It is just about 1pm and I still have 75 miles to go before my days end goal. I am very skeptical that I will make it. My legs are just kind of shot from two 70 milers back to back.
Met some lovely kids who were touring as well - one of which goes to UIC. He was really shocked when I told him that yesterday.
I typically do not take pictures of roadkill but I saw one today that was impressively brutalistic and depressing. Must have just happened about an hour before because there we not any flies yet. Probably helps that is was right around 50 out. Someone actually had to drag the caucus of a dead doe with two baby fawns to the shoulder.. I am not a forensic investigator but it looked like the two babies were unborn and had popped out after she had been struck. I will stop there and spare you the photo.
Back to leaving Muskegon: After leaving camp I stopped at the stop of the hill still in the state park and had to see what the fort was all about. The old wooden building had been taken advantage of by many a high schooler in the area over the course of several decades. One little corner had even been burned. And the whole thing is made of wood it made me wonder how it survived. The nice weather made the view. The trees blocking the view from most angles but the lake looked and felt more like the Pacific Ocean than ever. The ride to Whitehall wasn't too bad at all. Probably because it was only like 10 miles. Which left a lot more for the end of the day! I tried to stay near the lake and then eventually gave up and stated to really follow the map after a wrong turn that took me down a 3 mile sandy dirt road. Inbetween Whitewall and Hart I found a bike path where the trees were high and they stopped the wind while providing shade. The path was not the smoothest but it was flat and it allowed me to really pick up some speed and time. I made it to Hart and would have liked to take a break but there wasn't any time. And apparently I made it a week too early because the asparagus festible is next week:/
The next 25 miles or so was just a grind. I did have one nice stop in search of some local maple syrup i met a roadside asparagus farmer/salesman who gave me couple choise spears in trade for a few moments of conversation. That is the first time I saw the other biker kids. And the asperagus farmers friend thought my trip was "Cool shit!" That's high prase! When I got to Ludington I had a tremendous kobe beef burger at the Blue Moon. And it is a good thing that the food and drink were good because the bartender was nice but was not good at his job and would not stop talking to me. He was talking about how this job differed from his last bar job and it sounded like he really had never worked a bar before. His coworkers had to tell him what"on the rock" meant when making a drink.SO I really am not exaggerating. The beer was only at 7 percent and was named coco loco or something like that. BUt It was a strong catalyst to stay and watch the playoffs but it looked as though lightning was moving in. And it was. The next four miles to camp were breeze. Not just because of my buzz but also because of an amazing tailwind that would punch me in the face the next morning on the ride out of camp.
At camp was my first real chance to spit some witty banter at the other bikers. They were into it. But before long the lightning that had been rumbling in the distance like pedal timpani finally brought the fat rain. They had a hard cidar and my buzz made gravity too strong to pull myself off the matt to see more of there antics as I imagined them on the shoreline watching the light crash all around on the lake. I barely pulled myself up to brush my teeth and sleep hard for the rest of the night.

Manistee the 30 minute blog

Its funny how a short 40 miles can feel much longer than that.  And that is what I plan to do today plus the 30 I already laid down. 

On the rest of my day off in Holland I road my bike around downtown and on some of there random paved trails.  They were really nice high trees no wind.  After about twenty miles of riding I had regretted wearing flip flops and my tight jeans.  But then again what better way to break them in! They have a windmill and a conservatory out on an island in the middle of a swamp downtown that looks very majestic and interesting but I didn't want to pay the 7 bucks to go get a tour of the windmill.  Holland is easily the most well-to-do town I have been to yet.  Some of the houses on the south side of the lake were stupid.  After I made my way back to camp and peeked in the Tunnel Park and realized the tunnel wasn't that great I headed down to the main park where the two lakes meet. I saw this crazy car pass me and I pedaled as hard as I could to see what it was.  And it was a Ford GT40 just this color.  Its engine sounded intense.  Really a beautiful car.

I ended up getting to Muskegon around 5 beating Ms. Jones and her friends by several hours.  This was totally fine considering every time I seem to reach a campground I want to pass out.  I took a shower and laid down for about an hour.  She called around 7 and wanted to know where to go.  Eventually they arrived and we deiced to watch the sunset.  It was pretty close to prefect so we watched extra hard for the green flash.  But it never came.  It was still really nice for me.  On the way back we went to the tip of the channel that opened up into a panorama of the lake and the city.  Probably my favorite view thus far.  Something about sitting on large rocks next to a body of water does it for me.  It was similar to the jetty in New Buffalo but reminded me of being at my grandma's house overlooking the Columbia Rive toward Longview Washington - where industry peppers the shore with orange lights and smoke.
Back at the campsite we ate delicious campfire veggies and a chili of sorts.  Then we got a some beverages and went back to the channel.  We sat for quite a while talking about life while the wind ripped around us.  The air was warm and didn't require a jacket - one of those moment to remember.  Back at the site we watched the fire go out and then so did we.  The next morning we had some coffee.  I told then to take the great boardwalk around the lake by bike.  Ate a little food and was off for the next town.  And that is what I have to do now.

Well dear world here I sit in my tent. Epic lightning crashing all about me! I thought this day would come for the last couple days and here it is. The sun is just setting so the darkness is not yet here but the flashes still shine through. The stone is only three miles out now with each stroke. If I die throw a large party, karaoke in my honor, and get lauded if you are single!

Overheard

Laying in my tent tired from riding around town today in tight jeans and flipflops I heard a girl walk by talking to her mother: "Where does he change? (no reply) "Where does he keep all his stuff?" wish I could have hear the mothers response.

A kite in the sand is worth two in the sky?

Here I sit at the Holland Beach St Park. Watching this seven year old drag his kite through the sand. He runs as hard as he can in absolute pleasure. Every 30 years or less he falls with a small puff of sand around him. The kite stops but in a few seconds he is back up haul'in at about 3mph. His mom standing on the concrete half watching but constantly saying, "Great job." Not in the most enthusiastic tone ever but in that motherly pitch that as a child when you hear it you know it must be truth. It would be greats if other could give such a tone of guidance and reassurance to us in out day to day life.
Also I'm curious about this 24 flavors of soft serve phenomena! How can be?! (if you karaoke in Portland you know what I mean). I asked the teen blond cashier if they just add a swirl of flavor and she said no. Starts with vanilla base and then mix. Surely it can't just be mixed in a blender.
Now the father is flying the kite. The boy is sitting not in sand but in boredom. After getting the kite good and high he gives it back to the boy. This takes about ten minutes. The boy now less joyful and more focused as he slowly walks back toward mom on the concrete. Once there it takes about three minutes to hit the sand.
I don't know what the moral is but I am going to get some of that mysterious soft serve.