Jacob Usher
Last night was the first time in four days we slept in our tents. I think I got too comfortable sleeping in beds! I woke up last night and saw lightning flashing across the sky. I wondered if I should put my rainfly on and sound the alarm for everyone else. After a quick glance at the radar, I decided to close my eyes and risk it.
We woke up dry, and the morning went smoothly. I didn’t get the best sleep, but somehow I was the first to finish my morning routine and was ready almost 15 minutes before the gang. This is pretty rare for me.
We spent a lot of the morning on the Pere Marquette Rail Trail. It was a very flat and straight ride. Not as scenic as some of the other rail trails we have been on, but shaded and relaxing. My brain treats bike paths as ‘free miles’. This was a great time to listen to music and zone out. I have listened to a lot of full albums on this trip, but today I was in the mood for live concert sets.
Michigan’s Pete Marquette Rail Trail
Three YouTube concerts later and we were in Midland, Michigan getting lunch. We treated ourselves at the Amazing Deli with sandwiches and hotdogs. We timed it well to dodge another thunderstorm passing by. Usually people notice us because of our bikes. Some notice us because of our clothes such as a lady who asked about Be Loud! in Traverse City. Today a lady noticed us because we were playing Euchre.
Waiting out the storm at the Amazing Deli in Midland, MI
The thunderstorm passed and we visited the tridge (triple bridge) before leaving Midland. We probably would have missed this without our Euchre conversation at lunch.
The Midland Tridge, at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa Rivers
The rest of the riding went quickly and was not too eventful. I appreciated the recent increase in red barns. They are all over the place now. I also noticed the fields of corn seeming to get taller. The ones today were tall enough for a corn maze if you were 2 feet tall. We stopped at a discount grocery store to resupply on snacks and dinner. Everything in the store was either damaged or near expired. A lot of items were actually just expired. We all thought it was a cool way to reduce food waste and get some very cheap groceries.
Some Michigan farmland
We also got some nice views of the thunderstorms in the distance. While we were watching the storms to the East fade away, storms from the West tried to sneak up on us. We arrived at Bay City right in time to watch a beautiful thunderstorm roll right by us.
Thunderstorm rolls in over Lake Huron, near Bay City, MI
Also we have some great news to share. Be Loud! Sophie received a donation of 10,000 dollars today! Thank you, Phil, for the very generous donation from your foundation. For anyone considering donating, the bar has been set very high! No pressure :)