Train stations seem to always be good places to stop. The first part of our day was on the Robert McClory bike trail, which mirrors a Metra line.
Bike art in Highland Park, IL ...
We stopped for lunch in Kenosha at "Mikey's Chicken & Donut Bar." We saw the bike and it looked like a match.
They have a wall of Jameson, too bad we still had 20 miles to go.
Our plan was to camp near Racine. Julie saw rain clouds and voted for a hotel. I voted for camping. Here we are in a hotel...
Proof of today's mileage:
Monday August 7, 2017
Racine, WI to Harrington Beach State Park
71.80 miles
We saw this sign, south of Milwaukee. It was ironic since we just came from cycling in Serbia.
There has to be a better way to transport plants...
This billboard was inspiring. I researched Chris after our trip - it turns out he owned 7 area cycling stores in the Milwaukee area and has recently and unfortunately passed from cancer.
North of Milwaukee we took a network of three bicycle trails: Oak Leaf Trail, Red Deer Trail and the Ouzakee Interurban Trail.
I don't always ride on trails, but when I do there are no horses.
Cedarsburg is a cool town north of Milwaukee. This old train station reminded me of one we saw in Bosnia (see older posts).
This bridge is part of the previously mentioned Interurban Trail.
The trail had some cool resting spots that had bike pumps, work stations and all the appropriate bike tools attached to cables.
Old girl down, you can see highway 43 in the background. We crisscrossed it several times over 5 days. The bridge is part of the Interurban Trail.
We camped at Harrington Beach State Park. It was really nice - right on Lake Michigan. Unfortunately we were too tired to explore any of it. I took this picture of our campsite as we packed up in the morning.
Proof of the day's mileage...
Tuesday August 8, 2017
Harrington Beach State Park to Devil's River Campground - Gillet, Wisconsin
70.97 miles
Leaving Harrington Beach State Park, heading east towards Lake Michigan early in the morning.
Wisconsin yard art...
Bill's cafe in Sheboygan, Wi...
...home of the buckett (2 T's) beater?!?!?
We saw this "trike" (spelling?) outside a grocery store. The owner came out, he was an old timer. He told me he had biked a lot in his life and three gears was all he needed now.
This is the Maribel Caves hotel. There are some amazing caves nearby. But at this point we had biked 70 miles, so we did not stop in to see them. This hotel dates from 1900. Evidently it was relatively intact until a tornado came through 4 years ago (2013).
We lucked out on campgrounds for this night. Our original plan was to camp along Lake Michigan 10 miles north of Manitowoc. We made it to Manitowoc by 2 p.m., so Jules suggested we go a little further. A quick google search turned up this campground.
It is an old grain mill from the 1840's. Many of the original structures are in place. There is a river with some small water falls. You can see the remnants of a wall that helped divert the water to run the mill.
See photos below...
The best part of the camground was an old fashioned "swimming hole" that the owner dug. We set up right next to it.
Old girl down again.
Proof of today's mileage...
Wednesday August 9, 2017
Maribel, WI to Krueger's Campground - Gillet, WI
71.4 miles
Old girl down just south of Green Bay. We road another 50 miles after this picture was taken.
We stopped for lunch in Green Bay at a place called White Dog Black Cat.
Leaving White Dog Balck Cat, the chain on Julie's bike broke. We were lucky to be so close to downtown Green Bay. Across the river was a bicycle shop called Broken Spoke.
Here is Julie's bike getting a new chain. We really lucked out - they fixed it relatively quickly and we were on the road. We still had 40 miles to go.
Whenever I hear "Ron," I think of the terrible movie with Kurt Russell called "Captain Ron," or I think of a boss I once had delivering flowers. Now I also think of this nice grocery store north of Green Bay.
We were excited to pick up this trail north of Green Bay that went almost exactly to our next campground.
The trail started nicely - that is Jules in the distance.
The condition of the trail gradually worsened.
Oops - the condition of the trail and the bugs forced us to decide to get off at the next road crossing.
By this point, Jules was so tired that she put her helmet on backwards... and did not notice.
We finally reached Krueger's Campground. It is primarily a "seasonal campground" - meaning people live there for the summer. The owners were quite amused by us. Also, each campsite comes with a fire pit mounted to an old lawnmower.
Proof of today's mileage...
Thursday August 10, 2017
Gillet, WI to Lakewood, WI (big sister Margie's cabin)
43.96 miles
We did not take too many pictures today - it was a monsoon most of the morning.
The guys at last night's campground recommended we get breakfast at "Laverne & Shirley's" in Suring, WI. We only found "Laverne & Gail's." After we ate, the rain cleared up and I changed a tire with a slow leak. I spent the morning pumpimg it up every so often because I did not want to change it in the rain.
The townies inside the diner had a field day with us. They thought it was hilarious that 2 city folk were biking in the rain. The best quote:
"Things are so bad in Chicago, they're gettin' out of there on their pedal bikes!"
Old girl partially down - gas station in Mountain, WI. Only 15 miles to go.
We made it!
Proof of today's milage...
Below is a snapshot of our total route. We did a total of 329.57 miles in 5 days. By comparison, we cycled 438 across 5 weeks in eastern Europe.
