Upstate Michigan with my friend John

My friend John Osgerby is buying a lake house in Gaylord Michigan so I stopped in for a visit and a couple of good rides. The first was a nice 47 mile ride around and through Gaylord. This is a Scandinavian community and the influence easily seen.

 John has so many interesting friends.

 The highlight for sure was a 100 mile ride up through Mackinac city and down the northeastern coast of Lake Michigan. The biggest surprise was that unlike my preconceptions, the water of Lake Michigan is the most beautiful I've ever seen. Bluer and clearer than in the Pacific in Mexico or Maui or in the Caribbean.

 Macinac Bridge, said to be 5 miles long, but alas it is off limits to bikes.

. The roads were very nice to ride but particularly in the tunnel of trees road for about 30  miles of the ride until we got to Harbor City for lunch. It was a relaxing time with John but like always it was time to press on. I had done as much of the Northeast as time allowed and it was time to head west.

Back to Canada and the wonder that is Georgian Bay

I'm sorry I've gotten so far behind but it is a testament to the fun I'm having and the better weather. When I went back to Canada I stopped back in to see the Schumakers for the night and they were delightful as usual. I enjoyed their company and Chris and I had a lovely breakfast before I left to go see Fred in Georgian Bay. Georgian Bay is just north of the Timusk cottage on Six Mile Lake. In this region the Canadian Cap is exposed. It is a cap of granite that extends for many miles and is amongst the oldest exposed rock on the planet. In Georgian Bay it pops up as many (30,000) islands. Fred's inlaws have a cabin on one of these islands. It is a bit more than an acre covered with Pine trees and wild blueberries that were ripening while I was there. They were delicious. I met Fred in Parry Sound and we went to a farmer's market that was the best I'd ever seen with a huge selection and all the fruit we checked out was bursting with aroma and flavor. We then drove north for 45 minutes where we met Fred's father in law also named Fred. He took us out on the boat to the island where I met Fred's wife and her amazing family. Everyone was bright, athletic and delightful to spend time with. The bay and islands were the most beautiful place I've seen if that is possible. For dinner we had fresh caught bass that Fred's BIL caught each day before dinner.

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 The island was bug free but back on the mainland where some of the family went to run the black flies were voracious. The fly paper was an interesting approach but given the numbers I doubt if it was effective. The black flies take a real bite out of you leaving a bloody hole in you if you don't swat them in time. I was fortunate to escape serious injury.

 Bathing was done off the end of the dock in the pristine water that was clear to the bottom 12 feet down.

 The next morning, Fred the elder took Fred and I into the mainland for a bike ride. We rode 90 miles in some hot conditions. I came to Canada to experience the hottest days of the trip. It was 95 degrees and very humid as we finished the ride. It was not without misshap as Fred experienced a blowout as he left the roadway due to gravel, yet managed to stay upright. He trashed the tire but I still had one on the bike left over from the Vermont 6gap ride. That was a bit of good fortune. We felt strong and Fred has definitely gotten stronger since I've been gone and while still recovering from Vermont it was a hard effort to keep up with him at times.

 Lunch stop at a fine general store along the way.

 Heading back to the cabin we happened on a young Loon that let us get a few pictures. They are beautiful birds and I have awoken to their song on many of my Canadian mornings.

 The next morning before I left, Ian took me fishing and it was literally a case of cast a line and reel in a fish. Ian knows the spots and in no time we had our limit and had released at least 20 keepers.

 
The hardest part was saying goodbye to Fred and Heather's fine family of interesting people. They are all go getters and the teenage kids are so well behaved as to be quite surprising and delightful. There is hope for the world folks. This is Heather, her brother Ian and her niece.

 Eventually I had to leave to continue my journey so I circled around the north side of Lake Huron and entered the US into Michigan.