Paul's Touring Blog

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It was a short night for everyone as we found out in the morning. The boys had stayed up past midnight and Sarah and Curtis had a different kind of thunderstorm in the house than we did outside. Sarah had hot coffee waiting for us, though, and that helped boost all our energy levels.

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I woke up multiple times during the night thinking I heard something trying to get at the food. I even got up one time to check. The hanging food was safe. Dana forgot about the PB in her pannier and when we got up, we found the racoon(s) had opened all our bags and got into many of them. Stuff was strewn around the campsite. They even tried to eat at my tool bag and bag of oil and rags. They did get away with one of the PB jars which apparently satisfied them enough to not look for the second one. The bags were coated inside and out with sand and racoon prints. Fortunately, they know how to open the buckles, so no damage to the bags themselves.

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Ahhhh. What a refreshing night. Dana made coffee and we enjoyed the view while eating Tracey’s homemade Yogurt and Granola. Ahhhh and Mmmmm. To top off the morning, when we went to thank and say good-bye to Tracey, she had freshly made cookies ready for us. Not enough superlatives to describe how well she treated us.

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Nice to wake up and have coffee made and waiting for you. We joined the Folgers for breakfast before Craig left for work and their home-schooling lessons began. Whatever their formula is, Craig’s and Kelsey’s kids are all engaging and polite and we all took a moment to capture a group photo. After breakfast, I did a double-check on Dana’s tire after we both noticed a wobble. I took out 1/2 of the double boot and reseated the tire and crossed my fingers that it would last for a couple more days. We packed up and said our goodbyes to the Folgers and headed out for, well, we’re not quite sure.

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We woke up just before sunrise started breaking camp. The morning was as beautiful as last evening’s sunset. Today we’re heading to Muskegon and Norton Shores. On the way, we’re going to try to get a fishing charter in Muskegon, and then go stay with Craig and Kelsey and their four children with whom we stayed on our last year’s tour. 

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Sometimes my Spidey sense is right. We woke up to thunder and lightning and a torrential downpour overflowing the gutters on the hotel. Good morning to stay dry in the hotel, and enjoy breakfast until the showers were over. The hotel had an attached restaurant which offered a hot breakfast buffet. I got up first and went for coffee. We had two doors; one to the parking lot and a second to the hallway. Negotiating the inside hallways was as tricky as finding the lobby outside, but I found my way back with the coffee. I didn’t say I told you so. Didn’t have to. Thunder and pouring rain were my spokespersons. ⛈️⚡🌧️

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Morning came, and except for a small part of the fly that the tarp didn’t cover, we were mostly dry. Damp, for sure, just from the 100% humidity, but nothing was sopping wet. Glad there were enough trees around to secure that tarp. While it wasn’t raining at the moment, the picnic table at the site was soaked, so we decided to head to the restrooms and then the ranger station to see what the weather was going to do and adjust our route if needed. The connections were very slow and we did get a “mostly cloudy, but no heavy rain” report.

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We didn’t linger on purpose, but it was hard to say good-bye to Pauly, and he made us kick-ass coffee in his variety of coffee machines (& yesterday, too; I forgot to mention that). I reviewed the route to our next target with him — Platte River National Park Campground — and he showed us a two-mile detour that would take us to a closed-for-business blueberry farm where you could have your fill of berries for the picking. I quickly added that to our route and Dana called to confirm a reservation in a rustic, walk-in site.

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“Rest” Day #2 (You’ll see why it’s quoted soon). Up early and at ’em, Pauly ordered us some great bagels and went and picked them up. You might have noted that Pauly doesn’t seem to cook — you’d be right, but as an airline pilot, he has a seventh sense for finding good, delicious, & healthy(ish) food. We sure enjoyed what he found and needed a good fill-up before starting today’s activities along M22 – as he explained it’s theme: “More than just a road, it’s a way of life!”

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I don’t remember much about leaving Barnes county Park campground except that it was a routine morning, save for getting water from a pump well. We did make coffee and had some breakfast, broke camp, etc. We rode back to the Torch Lake Inn’s coffee shop for another cuppa and some WiFi. Three of our four potential warm showers host in Traverse City had turned us down. I tried the remaining one who had indicated he traveled for work and might not be available. To our luck, we got an almost immediate response from Pauly accepting our request. Made for an easier day just knowing where we were going to be staying.