August 9, 2013 Manistique --> St. Ignace - 88 miles
Manistique was such a lovely and restful town that we tried to extend our stay at the Northshore Motor Inn for another night and take a rest day. However, since it was Friday the motel was already booked up for the weekend. On to plan #2 - head along the shores of Lake Michigan towards St. Ignace (across from Mackinac Island) some 88 miles away. Efforts to locate lodging halfway or so along the way were unsuccessful, so I began resigning myself to a possible camping adventure in Daubinway.
It had rained overnight and into early morning, and it was still overcast and cloudy as we started out at approximately 10:00 am. Luckily, the forecast was for the clouds to pretty much clear as the day progressed. We had no sooner pulled out from the motel driveway when Randy discovered his rear tire going flat. So, we turned right back in to change the flat.
Once underway, the ride was similar to the previous rides. Good roads, etc. A fair tailwind. However, pretty heavy traffic. During a water break, we discussed where we might stop for the night. One alternative was to take a turn at Gould and travel north to Newberry, where there were many motel options. However, that meant a 70 mile ride to St. Ig on Saturday and an additional 20-30 miles overall. I suggested we consider riding all the way to St. Ig (long 88 mile day) and taking a rest day off on Saturday. Meant a big push, but with the good riding conditions it was doable. This is what we finally decided to do later in the day.
The view coming in to St Ig was lovely and we settled in at a very reasonably priced locally owned motel for 2 days. Tomorrow we will rest, explore, etc.
