L'inizio dell'avventura: le bici sul battello che da Bois Blanc Island ci ha portati a Cheboygan, prontissime.
It was not meant to be an easy day: we had made about 100 m when Anna’s rack suddenly fell off! A 30 min of Jay's magic made it work, but a metal bar had snapped up...
Cheboygan. Il primo problema, dopo 100 m dalla partenza: un componente in alluminio si spezza e il portapacchi e le borse con 8 Kg rovinano a terra.
Once we solved the issue, we took a very nice, dedicated, bike path that connects Cheboygan to Mackinaw city. We had light rain most of the way but were not bothered thanks to the thick canopy! Once in Mackinaw city, we took a stroll in the main strip and had coffee and bagel stop, then headed towards the Mackinaw Bridge. The Mackinaw bridge connects the lower peninsula (right hand) with the upper peninsula (left, weirder shaped hand), it is about 5 miles long, and for safety reasons no walking or biking through is allowed. The bridge authority guy was taking a nap right before the bridge. We had to wake him up, put our bikes on his trailer and get a ride with him for a 10 $ fee.
After a 1h stop due to heavy rain, we biked to St. Ignace, where we had a very good Mackinaw fudge ice cream.
St. Ignace. Fino ad ora, il gelato più buono: per me il localissimo gusto "Mackinaw fudge", per Jay il solito ciocco-menta.
From this point on, the morale went down: miserable rain, constant stops to check the road, very poorly kept service roads, awful signage to the camping sites, and we ended up quite wet. Anna had a couple of meltdowns.
Due to the miserable weather conditions, we tried to find a motel instead of a campground. We ended up in the old-fashioned chapel hill motel. Showered, bought a couple of beers and saltines, had it all, and went to bed.
A causa della pioggia, abbiamo preso la decisione di dormire in un motel invece di inseguire i campeggi, che erano molto mal segnalati. Siamo arrivati al Chapel hill motel alle 20h e abbiamo dovuto insistere affinchè ci venisse assegnata una camera - il posto è simile all'insegna, e daà l'impressione che stiano per chiudere definitivamente.
Biking details:
Cheboygan - Mackinaw city – st. Ignace – Brevort
Total of 64 Km (41 miles)
Birding: A few new cute small birds to add to our list! What a challenge to identify the warblers, there are like 10 yellow-coloured!
Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus
Warbling Vireo - Vireo gilvus
Black-and-white Warbler - Mniotilta varia
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas
Yellow Warbler - Setophaga petechia