Since we had to stop biking to fix a few squeaky bike issues, we took the chance to enjoy our time with Dave and Brenda, and try other activities - boat touring, kayaking, walking, with only short bike rides in between.

Jay scruta l'orizzonte in occasione di una delle brevi pause durante la nostra gita in kayak intorno a Grand Island, sul lago Superiore.
We also had a few meals out... The amount of meat consumed so far exceeds the 6-month norm for Anna. She also had a few absence-of-veggies issues, while Jay seems overall pleased with the diet.

La strada dell'arte a Minising, Michigan.
This couple of days has been important also in view of planning next biking week - the coast of Southern Michigan is way more touristic then the Upper Peninsula, and we had a hard time finding either camping or motels to camp/rest.
Assuming we can do 35-40 miles/day, we planned with a two-fold strategy in mind:
--> presence of decent bike paths;
--> availability of any type of cheapish accomodation.
This would have been simpler in other seasons, but July is not an easy time. Most campings are extra-full, and most motels, B&B, AirBnb, htotels, and similar are extra-expensive AND extra-full.
We came up with a decent-looking plan, but we had to stretch out our first assumption...
Do you think we can make it?

Le splendide spiagge di sassi della riserva nazionale di Pictured rocks, Rocce dipinte. Qui siamo a Grand Island, Lago Superiore, Michigan.
The absence of biking helped with the birding, at least in terms of time. We saw many sandhill cranes, mergansers, a few wonderful woodpeckers and colorful warblers, and an amazing male belted kingfisher, for a total of 60 species.
Birding:
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon
Golden-winged Warbler - Vermivora chrysoptera
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis
Canada Warbler - Cardellina canadensis
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia --> finally identified!! Heard it often before and never made it to see it.