O, Can.... na... da!

Yes, we are still riding along strong. When we last signed off entirely too long ago we had just taken the Lake Express ferry across Lake Michigan. We landed in Muskegon and from there we rode south along the shore to Holland State Park. Nothing prepared us to what we encountered there. No, this was not a normal state park; rather, it was a sandy beach, yes, even a Miami beach look alike--in Michigan of all places! It was crazy. Even though it was a Sunday evening, the campground was packed--all 330 campsites. But, we had reserved a place that afternoon via telephone and what a mistake that was. They placed us right at the entrance to the park and directly next to a dumpster full of trash. Yes, we payed $35 for this right. Needless to say we were less than pleased but out of options so we made the best of it, which was marginal at best, but that is neither here nor there.

At this point we were right in the middle of a super heat wave so the next day we woke up at 5 am while it was still dark. This was akin to waking up at 4 am as we had the day before in Milwaukee to catch the ferry since with our arrival into Michigan we entered into Eastern Standard Time. Tired though determined we pedaled 101 long miles to East Lansing broken only by a pizza sandwhich for lunch and a much needed two hour long siesta in the afternoon. In East Lansing we were greeted by Sarah, a Montana State friend of Kelly and Liz.

In East Lansing, Sarah, and her mom Leslie and husband Lewis showed us the royal treatment. We were fed lots of good food. We visited Michigan State University where we checked out the map room. We watched movies. We didn't ride out bikes. We ate great Japanese food. It was just great.

From East Lansing we spent the next couple of days working our way to Port Huron, Michigan and crossed into Sarnia, Ontario. Crossing was rather interesting. Even though there is a pedestrian part of the bridge, it is forbidden (purportedly a pre-9/11 thing) and so we had to put our bikes into the back of a border truck and be driven across. On the other side they simply looked at our passports, asked us a few questions and decided we were harmless enough to let us pass on through. It took us just over four days to pass through Ontario and we loved every minute of it. We had heard from numerous people that it is a boring stretch and along the freeway we'd assume it is, but we took the more scenic route and loved it. From Sarnia we meandered our way down to Lake Erie as some storms moved in. That afternoon we caught some showers but nothing too bad. However, they next day proved to be a soaker. It rained for the better part of the whole day and made for some miserable riding. By the time we made it to Lake Erie we were soaking wet, cold and just wanting to be done. So, we grabbed a couple cups of coffee in Port Stanley to warm up. We made it a few miles further up the road until we just couldn't take it any more. So, for the first time this trip we scouted for an inviting, nice looking place with a barn. We found the perfect place so we rode on up to the place, knocked on the door and asked if we could get out of the rain by staying in their barn for the night. They said that we could and the owners, Lee and Elaine, proceeded to roll out the red carpet for us. They cooked us dinner, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, fresh potatoes straight from the field behind their house, cookies, and even an imported beer. Additonally, they let us shower, wash our clothes, and Lee even gave us a tour of the Perry family farmsite. He was the third generation to farm there showed us the fields he used to farm situated between the house and Lake Erie in which he primarly grew tobacco, potatoes, and rye. None of us knew tobacco was grown in these parts but actually is a substantial portion of the agricultural economy there. He also educated us on the errosion that occurs along the shoreline. There is a big sand cliff from the fields to the water and over the years huge amouts of land has fallen victim to the lakes. Just in his lifetime he has lost acres to the water. This was all readily visible along the shore as there were huge sinkholes and erosion lines. We were utterly fascinated by this phenomena.
The next day Lee and Elaine sent us off with a big breakfast and a perfect example of nice Canadians. Even though just the day before they were complete strangers we were rather sad as we pedaled off. We had a pleasant ride along the shore of Lake Erie until the very end when it appeared that a monster storm was moving in. So, we pedaled our butts off for 45 minutes to the closest camping spot, Haldimand Conservation Station. We did beat the storm although it never amounted to much more than a sprinkle. The wind that we had to pedal into, however, was much meaner. We were rewarded for our work though with a free night's stay with a shelter and shower.
The following day we rode along Lake Erie among 100 (or so) wind turbines spanning miles along the shore. We also made a stop at the Sandhills, a point on the shore where the winds have formed a sandpile some 300 feet high. It was crazy. After 25-ish miles we began working our way up to Lake Ontario and the Niagara region. There we hit wine country for the first time this trip and definitley took advantage of the situation with stops at a number of wineries and a bottle from Stonechurch Wineries. It was fun. Our day's destination was Niagara-On-The-Lake, an historic town on Lake Ontario. It was a beautiful small town, albeit a tourist trap. As such, there were absolutely no places to camp. Wanting to spend the night in the town and being that we don't have the money for a $400 a night hotel room that where everywhere, we saw a lady working outside of St. Mark's Anglican Church whom we asked if we could pitch our tents on the church's property. She replied, "absolutely," however, the church was hosting the Chamber Orchestra's opening gala that evening so we'd have to go in the far back corner of the lot--in the cemetery among thousands of gravestones. A cemetery! Out of options we reluctantly obliged, which we are sure surprised her as much as it surprised ourselves. Yes, we are becoming more brazen the more we pedal; well, maybe desperate is a more appropriate word.
They next day we left without looking back and biked down to Niagara Falls where we were surprised to find that there are actually three falls, not just one as we had always thought. Who knew? Well, they were obviously beautiful, and we had a good time on the "Maid of the Mist" boat tour, a $14 boat ride that goes right into its misty paradise. Of the 100 people on our boat we were the only ones who did not use the complementary garbage sack raincoats. It was a great fun and totally worth it. Afterward we crossed back into the US at the Queenstown-Lewistion bridge and again had no trouble crossing and were even able to ride our bikes across this time.