We left around 9:10 from our Econolodge in Holiday City on the first day of summer wondering if we would be stuck in storms all day. We woke up around 6:30 AM to a tremendous thunderstorm that rocked and rolled with pouring rain and thunder. After waiting it out for about an hour we headed over to the Country Fare Restaurant next door for some breakfast where we had a great meal and the waitress refilled our coffee what seemed like every two minutes - we could barely get a sip in!
We were happy to leave the motel, as Suzanne discovered a roach crawling on her leg as we went to bed (which Pete disposed of for us). The weather was very menacing, but luckily the wind was at our backs from the start of the day. We had to backtrack a little from Holiday City to get back to 576 North, a great route going straight north to Hillsdale, Michigan. We had planned on celebrating upon entering Michigan, but unfortunately there were no signs to be found. We eventually saw Michigan license plates on most cars and determined that we had crossed the border!
Today was a day of two things: College Touring Day and a day of avoiding death by tornadoes.
Our first college tour took place in the beautiful and charming city of Hillsdale. The town was so wonderful that I could see myself living there someday. We even found a Fifth Third Bank, where I withdrew some of my fortune, and Suzanne and I feasted on a number of cookies and cups of juice that they had inside. We checked out Hillsdale College and met its switchboard operator, Linda. She was extremely nice and told us that the college became famous in the 70's when it rejected any federal money and decided to raise all its funds independently. We also took a picture of a large puddingstone located in the center of the quad (puddingstones are a unique type of rock that are all over St. Joseph Island, so it was cool to see one here). Linda then rerouted us to a nice route that led us directly on to our next stop, Jonesville, OH. (Another case of value of Blanche DuBois, who said "My life depends on the kindness of strangers". We have had many incidences of this thus far.) As the name Hillsdale might suggest, the road out of town was full of hills and dales - very apt! Though the sky was still sort of menacing, we hadn't run into any storms and the wind was still behind us. We were able to make great time, though the hills did slow us some. We discovered today that biking is like riding with the roadkill - we passed countless woodchucks and possums, which are ugly creatures with really vicious looking teeth. Oh, the things you notice in much more detail when not driving a car.
In Jonesville we met up with Pete and had lunch at the Chicago Water Grill, all the while wondering about the weather which had become "the undertoad" - a la John Irving in The World According to Garp. The wind had picked up quite a bit by the time we left lunch but still no rain! We headed down Concord Rd. to our next stop, Concord, OH. There we talked to some nice people in Bingham Hardware for a few minutes. I asked them "would you like to follow me on my trip? I have a blog..." to which they responded "oh no, we couldn't do that!" They thought I meant physically follow me! I guess that would be confusing for people who don't know what a blog is.
On to Albion! There were dark skies most of the way and a few light showers but we welcomed them because they helped cool us off. Despite the temperature being only around 70 degrees, it was extremely humid which made us very hot during the afternoon. The route was beautiful all day long but this leg was especially nice. We came upon a wonderful old church that someone had turned into a house and stopped to take a picture. If any of you are looking for a house in southern Michigan you should check out Albion Road between Concord and Albion - there were at least 10 houses for sale along it!
Our second college visit, at Albion College, was cut short as the weather suddenly turned nasty. We did manage to find and take a picture of a plaque that documented the creation of the song "the sweetheart of Sigma Chi", my friend Doug Lamb's fraternity. The undertoad was coming so we took off to find a motel. Turns out the motels were a few miles out of town (as they usually are in these small towns) and sure enough, it started to rain. Suzanne took off with a new burst of energy toward the motels and I tried to keep up with her. The directions were kind of vague and we were wondering and hoping that we were headed in the right direction as the rain was getting harder and harder. After stopping at a house and then a gas station for more directions we finally made it to the Albion Inn/Best Western! And just in time, because after going inside the storm exploded.
We found out there were both tornado and thunderstorm warnings in effect. All the workers at the motel were excited about this news because, as one of them said, "nothing exciting ever happens around here!" We were just happy to have made it to a motel - things could have been very different if we hadn't. Pete was very worried about us because in our haste to find a motel we didn't have a chance to call him so he had no idea where we were!
Once the storm died down, Pete drove us back to town so we could get a look at it and we split a huge pizza there. It's amazing how much food you can consume while on these bike trips and still be hungry for more. Then, back to the motel to get some much needed sleep and Suzanne and Pete left to head back to Cincinnati. I look forward to Doug meeting me tomorrow night and am keeping my fingers crossed for decent weather tomorrow (though the reports say otherwise). It was a great day, despite the weather at the end, and we managed to ride 63 miles and get through a chunk of Michigan. Hope it continues this way!
Quickly, in response to some of your comments:
-Unfortunately, no, there is no way to track my progress via GPS.
-Al: Your comment about the Maid Rite sandwiches is there under 1st Day on the Road. Too bad I missed out on those sandwiches!
-Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement. It means a lot! Keep commenting!
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