It was cool and damp when we woke up this morning. Cool enough that I had my bolero and vest on this morning in camp to stay warm. I looked as we were leaving camp and it was 54 degrees. They are not having that type of weather in Houston!
We had a light breakfast in camp - no cooking involved - before heading to St. Joseph for real breakfast. We wound up at Caffe Tosi in St. Joseph where I had a plate of the biggest cinnamon french toast I've ever had. It was excellent and gave me some good fuel for the upcoming miles.
While we were waiting on our food, a young bikepacker going from Detroit to Chicago rolled up. He was traveling light and was on his 4th day. He was going to Gary, IN today and into Chicago tomorrow, doing 70 - 80 miles per day. It is his first tour, and you could see in his eyes that he wanted to do more. We had a good time chatting about trips and gear while we ate.
Here's a cute mural we saw on our way into St. Joseph this morning.
After leaving St. Joseph, we rolled down the road. At about 20 miles, I was ready for a snack and butt break so I stopped while Rhonda and Jon continued on. I captured a last picture of Lake Michigan before moving inland. It has been a great week on the shores of Lake Michigan.
I stopped for lunch in New Buffalo, which would be my last stop in Michigan. I ate at a great taco stand, and it was the place to be - it had a long line of locals and regular vacationers that all told me it was the best place in town. I shared a table with a family from Missouri that have been renting a place here every summer for more than 20 years. I guess they are almost locals by now.
I was 40 miles in with 20 miles to go. Shortly after leaving New Buffalo I moved east away from Lake Michigan and crossed into Indiana through rolling hills on back roads. Since I wasn't on a main road, I didn't get a "Welcome to Indiana" sign - very disappointed. When crossing the state line the time changed back to Central Time. I think we'll probably lose that hour again and be back on Eastern Time by tomorrow night. Checking the internet at dinner, it turns out there is just a small corner of Indiana that is on Central
I mentioned a few days ago my backside was very sore. It has been getting better every day, but yesterday my achilles was starting to hurt. Thankfully, my achilles was better today but not all the way back to normal. On a trip like this, it takes awhile for your body to adjust to the demands of riding day after day. Hopefully by the end of the week my body will be on board with what my brain is demanding of it!
Because of the change in time, we were too early to check into the hotel for tonight (there weren't any close camping options). Rhonda and Jon were a little ahead of me and selected a Mexican restaurant across the street to wait. You'll notice I made good use of the waiting time and am starting to have a more respectable margarita count for being on the road 9 days!
Here are some beautiful hydrangeas I saw today, along with a picture of the quiet back road I spent the afternoon on.
My hotel room tonight, drying out the tent and clothes since I packed them up wet this morning.
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