Day 44. Tahquamenon Falls State Park to St. Ignace, 75 miles

I woke up at my usual 5 and bustled to head out by 6:30, knowing I had a decently long day and a mix of tail and cross winds. I’ve learned that a challenge of days I’m seeing folks is that my anticipation makes me impatient, and I can lose enjoying the ride. It’s a good thing! I’m happy to see my people. But it’s also a different track, and my brain has trouble working on major parallel tracks sometimes.

After a quick stop at the Paradise (!) convenience store, I ride the mostly deserted 123 through a beautiful morning.

I’m also saying goodbye to Lake Superior today. I’ll drop down to St. Ignace, where I’ll have a few minutes with Lake Michigan to my west–my only encounter with it this trip!–and Lake Huron, my new best lake friend for the moment, to my east.

Because of the aforementioned impatience and my awareness of my medium-long day, I don’t take many pictures. I’m also noticing a bit of melancholy at the dropping south and even more back into the world: Flint, Toledo, Cleveland. I’ve loved being in the U.P.—I have a real soft spot for Michigan and the U.P. in particular.

It is a weird and confusing contradiction that I have only ever lived in major cities yet yearn for places away from people yet won’t drive and night or in bad weather and thus am consigned always to live in cities until they perfect self-driving cars. And also I like cities, and Chicago has a lot of beautiful lakefront. Anyway. I rode 75 miles and made it to St. Ignace to the outstanding Airbnb Tas found, and Sean made me mac and cheese and chicken and Tas made a salad, and we drank beers and looked at the lake, and life was swell. Is swell.