Our trip to Michigan went very smoothly. We arrived at Detroit airport at 20h30. We went to bed very tired (and very cold due to over-exposure to AC!) after a nice dinner at the hotel.

We woke up and had a slow morning. Decided to skip breakfast and head out to get the car – we rented it for few hours but it was still 60 bucks! We drove to "Jack’s bicycle and fitness", got our bikes and other gear we needed, like Anna’s helmet, two very good lights, and replacement tubes. The biking place was of questionable quality, judging by the assembling of the bikes (after later inspection, one of the bikes seemed well assembled while the other was missing a few set screws where the water bottle cages would attach, as well as both spindles installed with the lock mechanism on the wrong side of the bike, nothing that can’t be remedied but a little red flag if you are checking details).

Then, we moved to the REI shop to buy more equipment: a light tent, gas for the stove, and a 30 L bag for Jay’s bike. It took forever, and once we finished we realised we were hungry! We did a short search for Mexican food, miserably failed to find out where a food truck was, and decided to have a simpler option at a Panchero’s. It was basically a chain, not the most beautiful reintroduction to Mexican food, failing Jay’s high hopes for authentic Mexican cuisine. Still tasty though!

After food, we headed back to the hotel and decided to try out the bikes. We found that there was the Lower Huron Metropark nearby, and headed there by car (too dangerous to bike around the Detroit area otherwise). We entered with a 10 bucks fee and parked near a motorbike gang. Jay prepared the bikes while Anna tried out her birdwatching equipment. Anna got very upset realizing she won’t be able to carry the binoculars while biking. Wasn’t this a biking and birdwatching trip?? It looks like it all be a biking, then pausing, then birdwatching trip…

We set off for a first ride in the nature along the paved bike paths of the park. The weather was perfect, though a little more water would have been nice, especially when we got stuck on the far side of a train. We spend equal amount of time waiting for the train to pass as we spent biking. Despite all the odds, we managed to bike some 10 miles (16 Km for Anna’s people!).

Birds spotted:

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Green Heron - Butorides virescens

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus

Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura

American Kestrel - Falco sparverius

Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus

Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris

Scarlet Tanager - Piranga olivacea

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis

Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus

Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula

American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis