Leaving my people (and a luxurious rest day!) behind is hard, and I set out a little later than intended, around 9:30. It wasn’t a long day, but I had to get across the Mackinac Bridge via Bridge Authority transport—bikes and pedestrians aren’t allowed on the bridge.
I fumbled my way to the toll plaza, but was on the wrong side of the road; the website said to go to the Admin building, across the way. After scratching my head a bit, I realized there were stairs up and over the toll booth, forming a pedway of sorts. Reluctantly, I took all my bags off and piece by piece portaged my stuff and bike over the toll booths. I was so hot and cranky I didn’t even stop to take a picture of the bridge from the top. Oy.
When I had everything in one place, I went into the building to let them know I needed a ride and pay. The guy was like “I saw you across the way, and I was hoping you weren’t bringing your stuff over! You know we’d come and pick you up on the other side?” I did not know. I thought I had to come to this building, you see, like the website says. It turns out most people ask the state police across the road to call over for them? In any case, now I know.
The truck came around, and I got my bike loaded up and jumped in. I only have a little snippet of video of my ride across the bridge and brief stint near Lake Michigan because we were mostly chatting. Well, mostly him, about his work in national parks and how he managed to get promoted from park to park “even though this was all through the affirmative action years,” though he ultimately left the feds to come work for the state Bridge Authority in what he described as a stress-free job.
And then I was on trails! Miles of lovely trails that took me from Mackinac City down past Cheboygan.
It was threatening to rain on and off all day, and when I stopped at a market in Benton Township for snacks the cashier let me know there was a pavilion in the park with bathrooms and picnic tables if I needed to hide out from the rain. I decided to take a break there and eat some leftover mac and cheese Tas had packed up for me, and right as I settled down it started to rain in earnest.
As soon as the rain let up a bit, I took off again; I’d futzed around enough that it was 3 pm and I had nearly 30 miles to go, so it was time to put some real miles in.
That didn’t mean I could resist yet another charming Michigan roadside park with a view of Lake Huron.
And then for real some miles for real. I had another stretch of lovely trail (thank you, Michigan!) leading up to my home for the night, P.H. Hoeft State Park. After getting myself set up, I walked out to the beach and enjoyed the heck out of dusk falling over Lake Huron. I love the Great Lakes.
Aw, that last photo reminds me of Windy Ridge! xo
Now you know.
Goooo giiirl!
Biting my tongue and trying to follow the NYT rule about the %^#{%^ who watched you carry your stuff and THEN said something.
On a positive note, that last photo belongs in a magazine. Seriously—you should submit some of these!
You would really have liked the guy who saw me at a gas station and was all “oh, were you the one I saw broken down at the side of the road earlier?” (I was not—-I was taking a break but didn’t have a place to lean my bike, so it was on its side, which looks a bit distressed. A woman did actually pull over to see if I was okay.)
Thank god for that Mac and cheese.
Yes, but you do have the Cutest Panniers of All Time (CPAT) and they deserve the extra coddling.
💚
I love that the bag I got you is helping you port mac ‘n’ cheese on a bike along a Great Lake!