Flat is back

If we're not careful the days can blend together and we fail to notice the subtle changes that occur each day. I think of this as we are sitting in a "city" park (Otter Lake) with our tent set up. Yes - we are surrounded by the usual large RVs, but there is also green grass and large shade trees. I think back to Northeastern Montana that was brown, somewhat dusty and devoid of the large mature trees we now enjoy. Where did the change occur? Somewhere in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin over the course of several weeks of pedaling. It has been amazing to experience this country of ours with the gradual changes hardly noticible over the course of a a day but over a few weeks.

The storms of last night were significant and we witnessed a lot of debris as we traveled today. Tree branches, leaves and twigs were all over the road. We are thankful that we were under cover in a hotel last night.

The ride today from Midland to Otter Lake was relatively flat. We actually welcomed it. We followed another rail trail through Bay City and lost the trail several times as it became camouflaged as a sidewalk. At one point we crossed the Saginaw River too soon. We watched the real trail from across the river until it joined us at the next bridge. It all worked in the end.

Across the river from the real trail

From Bay City we rode on to Frankenmuth. We should have figured from the name but nothing prepared us for the Disney Land type replica of a German town. It was amazing. It was like tourism in overdrive. We ate lunch and headed out of town welcoming the peace of the back county roads. Neither of us care for crowds and shops and there were plenty in Frankenmuth.

Miles today = 82

Total miles = 3280

 

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