August 7, 2013 Iron Mountain --> Escanaba, MI. - 56.5 miles
Started the day with a late breakfast at the family restaurant across the street. We had been told by the motel owners that if we requested the "special" we would get eggs, bacon, hash browns and a large pancake for $3.99. This was not on the menu and you had to have insider knowledge to get it. So, when the waitress came to get our order, we spoke the "magic words" and received this wonderful breakfast. The only glitch was that there had been a price increase to $4.99, which we dutifully reported back to the motel owners, much to their chagrin.
The motel owners told me their interesting story. They have been married for over 50 years and own two homes in Arizona. They bought the motel at auction for their two sons to run together. However, after a falling out between the sons, the parents were forced to step in and take over running the place. Now, they would like to sell the motel and return to a life of retirement, but the process is not simple. I responded with my familiar mantra, "life is too short", with which they agreed. These folks did their best to make our stay as comfortable as possible, and were very interested in hearing about the ride.
We left Iron Mountain at approximately 10 am under cloudy skies. The temperature was in the 50-60's range. Once again, good roads for riding and we cruised along for approximately 10 miles until we came upon the Iron Mountain Iron Mine. We had been told my the motel owners that there was a tour of the mine that was well worth seeing, and we stopped to check it out. However, we decided that we weren't willing to take the the time or pay the fee and decided to move on. Neither Randy or I are big on stopping and sightseeing as such. Our main emphasis is the ride itself and what we see from there, with occasional exceptions. I think this is one reason we are such compatible traveling companions. I know of others who prefer to stop at just about every monument, historical site and lookout.
The bike maps and Google map both showed a bike trail for the last 22 miles of the ride to Escanaba. We generally like good bike trails and decided to try and find this one. To access the trail meant following an out of the way back road for approximately 2 miles. And with no assurance that it was a good trail - we had been unable to independently confirm the condition of the trail beforehand. Along the way, out in the country, we came across a house and a young man cutting the large yard's grass. Randy stopped to ask about the bike trail, and the young man went inside to get his grandmother, who told us that the trail was gravel and more for atv's. She strongly advised that we did not want to ride the trail on bicycle. This was an example of what we sometimes run into - directions that are inaccurate or don't adequately describe conditions that have a huge affect on biking. And often the distances you have to ride to access off the highway trail heads is several miles. Nothing if you are driving in a car, but can take a significant amount of time if you have to back track on a bike. At any rate, armed with this new information, we thanked the lady and her grandson and proceeded to back track and resumed the ride on the state highway. They again exemplified the kindness of strangers we constantly encounter on these rides.
Continuing on towards Escanaba, we entered the Eastern Time Zone. Angry looking clouds began to gather and I was afraid we might have a downpour in the making. Gratefully, we seemed to skirt the storm, and arrived at the Sunset Lodge just north of Escanaba at approximately 4 pm. This small motel is owned by a young couple who left corporate jobs in Baltimore to opt for a more laid back life where they could actually spend time with and raise their children. In Baltimore, their daughter was in day care most of the day. Jared told us that he had ridden bicycle cross-country on the TRANSAMERICA route several years ago. Since Randy and I had both started last summers' ride on the TRANSAMERICA route, it was fun to compare notes with Jared and reminisce again.
Tomorrow we bike along Lake Michigan to Manistique. The forecast is for clear sunny skies.
