Mackinac Island Trip

Mackinac Island Trip 

Today we took the ferry to Mackinac Island which is situated between the Michigan mainland and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We caught a shuttle from our campgrounds to Mackinaw City to get on the Star Line Jet Ferry, very convenient. The Jet Ferry is very unique as it shoots out a giant rooster tail of water as it speeds across Lake Huron in about half the time as the standard ferry.

As soon as you arrive the first thing I noticed was the abundance of bicycles everywhere. People bring their bikes and there are dozens of bike rental shops. The Main Street looks like Crested Butte during Bike Fest. But I guess this is everyday because there are no cars on the island. None, zero, zippo. People get around by bicycle, foot or by horse. Plenty of horse drawn carriage. All of the businesses use horses for their deliveries. I saw horse carriages hauling cases of beer, luggage, landscaping stones and even a load of mattresses.

We walked all day all around the island. First we went to the Grand Hotel which is the largest summer hotel in the world. Very beautiful and very fancy. They have a dress code for all of their restaurants. We were not dressed properly. Heck I’m never going to be dressed properly for a place like that. We did eat at a place just outside of the hotel grounds, it was good I had tacos. 

We continued our walk up to the old fortress and into the State Park. Lots of overlooks and rock formations. For the most part there were very few people around us until we got to Arch Rock and back into the main part of town. 

Oh yes we even went to the gazebo from the movie Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Apparently that was the only time they let a car onto the island since 1909 or something like that. 

Before we got back on our ferry we stopped for a drink. I had tacos. 

It was a great place to spend the day. 

I went for another bike ride after we got back. 

Ride after the storm

Riding after the storm

Our night listening to live music at our campsite got cut short last night when the rains began. We headed into my van to play games. It’s nice to have a place for all of us to hang out when the weather goes bad. It rained on and off all night long and sometimes hard. The rain let up around 9am. What we didn’t know was how severe it was for the surrounding areas. Just like yesterday we got super lucky that the bad weather missed us. The towns of Charlevoix and Petoski took the brunt of the storm losing trees, losing power and having flooding. There was debris all over the roads for miles. 

My plan for the day was to go for a 45-50 mile ride in the morning and meet Jill and Angie for lunch. But with the morning ride I told them I would meet them at camp. Still planning for the same distance ride just starting up north after the roads dried. I took my time driving around Torch Lake and exploring the back roads. I wound up finding a pretty cool cairn monument, some fresh delicious cherry pie and the World’s Biggest Cherry Pie monument.

I got to Charleviox to start my ride around 1pm, thinking a 3 hour ride would still give me plenty of time to meet at the campsite and then have dinner. I used my Garmin to map a 48 mile roundtrip route. What I didn’t notice that there was no cell service at all in this small town. So it actually had a different town as the start. I did a short loop to see some very fancy houses and just let the Garmin recalculate a couple of times before finally following the planned route.

Garmin does give very good turn by turn directions with plenty of time before the turn and usually on bike friendly roads with little traffic. But what doesn’t seem to do in Michigan is avoid the gravel and dirt roads. Normally that is not an issue but today I was riding my Ceepo road bike and just wanted smooth roads. Probably the second road I turned on to turned to gravel about 4 miles along but do to construction. That lasted about another 4 miles. I was warned my an old guy riding a fully loaded touring bike going the opposite direction. For the next 15 miles or so it felt like I was riding on a very slow roller coaster going up and down, up and down over and over. I was able to keep a good pace but at the top of each peak you could see the next peak looming. 

It wasn’t until I was at what I thought was my halfway point that I had my first thought I might be off course but I ignored it. With the whirling wing and sun almost straight over head I got confused about what direction I was going. I thought I was starting to go back. But I was enjoying the ride so much I just rode until I saw I sign for Torch Lake I thought crap I’m not going towards Charleviox. 

During this whole ride so far I had not passed but one place to get food or water. So I continued to Alden, this was my original start location that I entered on my Garmin the night before. Alden is teeny tiny about half a block long and with mostly antique shops and a few ice cream and pizza places. It does have a small general store but of course it is not open on Sunday, either were many of the other stores. I tried the ice cream place but it wasn’t opening until 6pm. A gentleman at a antique store offered me to fill my water bottles from the bathroom sink. Perfect. He gave me directions to get me back to Charleviox in a more direction way. 40 miles down, probably 35 miles to go. 

This route took me right along Torch Lake for 10 miles or so offering glimpses of the lake from time to time. Most of the day the roads are tree covered so staying out of the direct sun is awesome. Since I started heading back I was using google maps on my phone because I didn’t trust my Garmin to stay off of gravel roads. Almost at Eastport both the phone and Garmin were guiding me onto a gravel road, reluctantly I took it for a mile or so. Got to the other side and realized they both were rerouting my return. After a heated argument me the little lady who lives in my phone, I disobeyed her and continued to Eastport. 

From there I found a place for more water and food. It was a gas station grocery store. I grabbed a water, vitamin water and a slice of pizza. The kid behind the counter was very funny. He charged me for the waters but said “ I’m not sure to charge you for THAT, it’s too old! “ I thanked him and ate it anyway. I just wanted fuel to get back. 

Now I only had 15 miles to go. The winds were strong all day but now they were mostly at my back. That kept me going feeling strong and I kept a good pace all the way back to my van. My van such a beautiful sight when a 45 mile ride turns into a 77 mile ride. All in all a wonderful day on the bike. 

Thanks for writing.

A Day on the River

Today we met Angie’s friends for a kayak down the Manistee River. At the beginning I didn’t think the day was going to happen. There hung a large storm front out in Lake Michigan. Right when we arrived at the launch we heard thunder and the sky got very dark to the west. I know I for one was not comfortable getting into a boat with a storm coming. I’ve had my crazy boat experience for my life time already while in Oregon a bunch of years ago, I didn’t want to repeat it. Only half of the group had arrived yet so we waited for the rest. Turned out they had the same feelings as me and were waiting for the storm to pass. It did but apparently not before flooding downtown Traverse City where we just left. 

The sky’s cleared for a beautiful day. Our group consisted of 11 single kayaks and one larger fishing kayak that was carrying a propane grill. Yup, a grill. Most of the other kayaks had small coolers of food and beverages. And of course 2 dogs. As we started to push off the dogs were running around and jumped straight into the water. Little did I know that these dogs were going to swim for most of our river trip. But the one dog jumped in before his owners got ready and got caught in the faster moving water towards the bridge and debris. I paddled quickly over to the dog and had to pull the dog into my boat. Didn’t think I would be doing doggie rescue today. After we got to better water he did swim pretty much the whole day.

We paddled and floated down the river very peacefully for about 5 hours. Just enjoying the day, the river and conversation with new friends. About half way we stopped on the river bank for lunch. These guys pack right, burgers, chips, dip and Oreos. 

There were a few larger groups in canoes and a couple other groups in kayaks. It was a funny how many different ways people were able to enjoy the day on the river. Some were just floating, others were fishing and others were drinking their way down the river blaring garbage music. All were happy.

Now we are at our next campsite in Mancelona listening to a live band. 

Pictures to follow. Hopefully 

Traverse City State Park and Vasa XCski Trails

The past two nights we have stayed at a fully packed camp grounds in almost downtown Traverse City directly across from the beach of East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. Tonight I went to the beach to try to see Comet NEOWISE. Well I missed it. The sun sets much later here than at home. Jill and I were at the beach waiting and she decided to go to bed. I walked her back and got my camera and tripod. I took too long and missed my opportunity. I also realized I need to spend some time learning the settings on my camera. 

Earlier in the day I converted my Open into my mountain bike, changed the wheels to 650b. It was recommended I try the Vasa Cross Country Ski Trails that are just outside of town. It was mostly bike paths to get to the trails. There was a trail map at the beginning of the trailhead. I should have taking a picture of it. I tried to ride the 25 kilometer loop. Well there are so many trails that overlap and single track that crosses double track and fire roads that cross snowmobile/ 4x4 trails that I was lost and confused in no time. The trails were fast and fun but with a lot of sand and ferns. I rode for a good hour and a half when decided that was time to find my way out and start for camp. As the heat of the day came and my water supply was going low I finally came across two guys target shooting. I asked them how to get the heck out of there. They steered me in the right direction. It still took me another hour. Very fun place to ride. So much variety. 

Add pictures later 

Crystal Lake and Frankfort Michigan

More catch up blogging. 

Wednesday night we arrived at a fantastic Boondockers Welcome Host in Frankfort Michigan. Dan our host was very welcoming and gave us the best spot on his site. He has room for 4 RVs I believe. All have water and electric hookups. We got in just in time to cook a quick dinner and for the rains to come rolling down. Jill and I spend the rest of the evening playing UNO in my van.

We made plans to meet Jill’s friend Angie in Traverse City in the afternoon so I went for a 50 mile bike ride around Crystal Lake and Frankfort. I planned a route with RideWithGPS so I decided to take my Open. Glad I did because I rode some very fun dirt and hard packed sand roads. Beautiful roads , rolling with few cars. Of course the only close pass I got all day was from some jackass with Texas plates. I did the loop counter clockwise so when I got to Frankfort almost at the end of my ride I gave Jill a call and she was just leaving our campsite. I met her in Frankfort for a refill of water and some cherries she had just picked up at a local roadside stand. 

I made my way back to our campsite took a quick shower and started heading to Traverse City so we could do laundry. Along the way I stopped for lunch at a food truck and had Asian Tacos. Wow they were good. Jill and I met up with Angie at the laundromat. 

From there we arrived at our new campsite at a real State Park. Lots of campers, the place is packed. But I must say people are doing a great keeping their social distance. 

We had a camp side fire that took me freaking 3 hours to get started. We stayed up until almost 2am talking. There was no way I was going to waste that fire right after I got at started.

Another State Line.

Ok this is a couple days late, sorry. Long drives and spotty cell service are my excuses. 

On Wednesday Jill and I left Columbia Station Ohio. I did get an hour bike ride in before we left and a nice hot shower. We had plans for a long day of driving to get to Frankfort Michigan by 6pm. It was a 7 hour push. Ouch. We had great weather and I had great music. I went thru eight CD’s dancing, singing and drumming the steering wheel the whole time. I can definitely keep myself entertained while driving. We broke up the drive with a few stops for gas and to run some errands along the way. We even drove some side roads to see the Lake Erie coast. And had to wait for a long freight train, I loved it. 

First Stateline Crossing of this Adventure

Last night we had a wonderful nights sleep at our peaceful hillside in Tidioute. We woke up to a fog covered valley and as the fog was lifting I sent my Mavic Mini drone up for a look of the valley and Allegheny river. It was beautiful, sadly I’m not able to post those pictures or videos here yet. I will try to figure that out soon.

Jill and I went for a mountain bike ride by Kellettville Recreation Area. Since this was Jill’s first ride in quite a while we made it nice and short and easy. A little bit of climbing and some playing with rocks and roots to get her accustomed to riding again. My Garmin didn’t charge last night, bad cord I think, and my phone restarted halfway through the ride so I only got half credit for my ride. 

After our ride I set up the outside shower and hot water heater. It worked fantastic. Nice and clean and not chilled to the bone for our 4 hour drive to Ohio. 

Tonight we are staying at another Boondocking site south of Cleveland. A very nice lady named Valerie greeted us as we pulled in. We shared stories of life living in an RV. She had some great tales of her many years traveling by RV. We are just beginning to make ours. 

Starting West

Today I got up early so I could get a ride in before we packed up from the cabin going west. I used the Ride with GPS app on my phone today to find a simple 10 mile ride from the cabin. It worked great because it gave me turn by turn voice directions from my phone. My Garmin does not do that. Garmin has some catching up to do. 

After my bike ride, I made a big 6 egg cheese omelette for my sister and I to share. Mmmm good. I also got in a quick 4 wheeler ride thru the woods and down to the pond before finishing loading up for our 4 hour drive west.

We kind of drove straight shot across the top of Pennsylvania to our first Boondockers Welcome site in Tidioute Pennsylvania. If we could have given ourselves more time we could have taken advantage of some of the best hiking in the state. But.... the good thing is I’m from here so it will be easy to come back later.

Our little site tonight is very simple and very cool. We are basically behind a barn/garage on the outskirts of town. We got here at 5pm and cooked a wonderful dinner 

Right before sunset we went for a walk up to Tidioute Lookout.

Bushwhacking and Swampwacking Bike Ride with a Hike

After a morning of minor house repairs at the cabin, Jill and I decided to drive to Ricketts Glen to hike to the waterfalls and I will ride back to the cabin. We got to the trial head at noon. I hiked with Jill to the first falls . Jill continued around the loop trial and I went back to her car. 

I used Ride With GPS to make a quick route back to the cabin but I really didn’t look at how it got me back just that it did. I must have the settings set to any and all means possible to get home. As soon as I started down the hill the GPS had me make a left on a private lane. Normally I would pass on entering a private road but if Ride With GPS says it’s good I guess I will try it. Well.... the private lane turned into an old hunting trial which turned into a game trial which turned into plain old woods. After trying to follow the arrow on Garmin for about a half hour or so I found  the old hunting trial again and then it turned into a swamp trial. I was having a blast riding through the woods, riding on the swamp trial all the time thinking I would see a bear at any moment. Once I thought I was going the right way and I come along a No Trespassing $250 fine sign. Well hell.... everywhere I turn it’s do not enter... what’s the fun in that. I will take my chances with the fine. I finally get back on a real road and I almost get bite by a rattlesnake. 

I will say that was so much fun. My shoes probably won’t dry out for a week. 

I guess photos and videos will post later 

Cheryl’s Cabin

Today we spent the day hanging out with my sister at her cabin very close to heaven and I got to go for a bike ride. Cheryl made breakfast as I was getting my bike riding gear together and setting up my map off of my Garmin. I just selected a 30+ mile round trip ride that the computer generated with the most climbing out of the three choices. The cabin is on a gravel road so of course my Open was the best bike for the day. The ride was probably 60-70% gravel and either up or down very little flat road. After all the torrential rains yesterday the gravel roads were kind of slow and soft. My first picture stop was for a street sign for Happys Rd, very fitting. I was!
I saw lots of deer, ground hogs, geese, turkeys and was chased by a dog named Bear who was no bigger than my shoe. Incredible rolling farm land and state park land with only a small handful of cars all day. I got 36 miles and got back just before the afternoon rains. Which makes for wonderful napping weather.
Jill and I went for a walk around the pond and through the woods. Pictures to follow. After dinner Allan and I took the 4 wheelers for a spin back down to the pond and on to the road looking for more wildlife. Even got to fly the drone around between storms, we will see how long it takes me to upload the videos from that.

Packing in the Rain

It is great the oppressive heat has gone away but it is replaced by Tropical Storm Fay. I’m so happy I put my van in the garage last night, it made installation of the sliding door screen much easier. And of course loading the bikes and cases was just as easy. Here are a few pictures of the van van loaded. I’m pretty sure I have enough stuff with me to last the next apocalyptic event.

Eve of Pandemic Van Life Great Adeventure

On the eve of my great van life adventure during a global pandemic, I've decided to start writing my blog again. If you like it and you want to read more please let me know.

Well as everyone knows the world as we know it is going to hell in a hand bag. So who could think of a better time to take almost 2 years away from work and just go for a bike ride while living in a van. No one knows if we are looking at a new normal or if everything will go back to the way it was a few short months ago. I've been giving an amazing opportunity from my work to "stay home" for 20 months at half base pay. I've decided to not stay home. Heading out tomorrow to my sister's cabin then continuing west for the foreseeable future. As abnormal as this world is the best place for me to be for my own sanity is on my bicycle. I hope to continue to keep my good mileage year going with a 100+ miles a week. Lately I've been getting over 200 miles a week, it would be nice to keep that going.