Rest days have been few and far between on this ride. Day 36 was to be our fourth rest day. However, we had to load our gear at 10:00 am in the morning and be at a ferry dock by 12:30 pm for a 2:00 pm departure across Lake Michigan. With a bit of time on our hands, what were we to do?.....Look for ice cream of course! The first store with the giant cow shown below (see Holly?) was closed but we managed to find an open store in downtown where Greg, Gardner, Holly and I enjoyed the cold treats offered at this shop. The shop was beautiful, with Tiffany lampshades and booths that offered sculptured wood trim on the mirrors that adorned the walls by each booth.
Then it was on to the ferry. Built in 1952 to ferry train cars across Lake Michigan, the coal-fired SS Badger is now used for transporting people, bicycles, cars and wind turbine parts.
See the black smoke coming from the stack? The smoke is byproduct of the coal-fueled steam engines that powered the ship. By the end of our four hour cruise across the lake in this non- air conditioned vessel, we all needed extra showers to deal with the aftermath. Following a 7:00 pm landing in Ludington Michigan (now in the eastern time zone), we looked for a place to celebrate beginning our ride in yet another new state.
Don, Drew, Holly and Greg at the Michigan entry. Notice we are NOT in bicycle clothes for once, having only a 7 mile ride for this day.
After the photos, we hopped on our bikes in search for a place to have dinner in downtown. We arrived at our hotel about 9:00 pm, just as the sun was going down. Some rest day! Breakfast the next morning would be at 5:30 a.m. to ready ourselves for our last century of the trip - 113 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing. G'Nite!
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