And the Rains Came............. And the Tents were Dry!

Tuesday, September 4th (54 miles biking-total is 150)

I am sitting in Java Joe’s in St. Ignace, waiting for either a call to pick up the three bikers just outside of town or that they are at the hotel.  Our room will not be ready until three, but in the meantime the tents and canopy are hanging on a tree in back drying out.  Did I mention we had a storm roll through last night?

Yes—first night of rain and the tents stayed dry for the most part—no leakage!  The campground last night was Big Knob State Forest, right along the north side of Lake Michigan.  It was a rustic site and that was after the 6 mile drive in on a gravel road!  I drove in and checked out the place as it is "first come, first serve” for sites.   By the time I headed back to pick them up as I knew they would not want to ride on the road, they were about 2 miles along.  Pat and Rebecca loaded their bikes on the car, but Deb wanted to ride in—she was close to 100 miles for the trip and wanted to reach that milestone!

The place was pretty empty, so we picked two sites and set up camp.  They did say chance of scattered showers for the afternoon.  We walked to the beach and Rebecca did go all the way in the water, while the rest of us waded. 

 

 On the way back to the site, there were some rumbles of thunder—but it seemed far away.  A bit later it started to sprinkle and we were glad we had the Wisconsin Badger Canopy set up over half of the table—Thanks Tony and Kate! 

 

 

Then, sprinkles turned to downpours along with lots of thunder and some lightning.  Supper was a salad followed by garlic bread—the planned spaghetti will be another night!  Pat did decide that wine is better out of a bottle than from a box!

It rained for probably close to 2 hours.  It stopped about 8 and we went for an hour walk along the road.  We got into the tents and they all seemed to be dry.  The tent Bec and I have was new last year and had not gotten wet yet—however it was dry inside this morning.  Most things were damp inside and out, which is why they are all hanging on a tree right now.  I guess it is good timing to get rained on the night before you stay in a hotel—provided everything dries out!

 

We loaded the bikes on the back of the Suburban this morning to take out to the road for the start of the biking day.

 

The bikers are doing a great job—no issues with the bikes or the bodies yet!  Tonight we are meeting some friends who are up here and going out for supper. Then a night in a Real Bed!  I am sure a shower will feel much better here too.  Tomorrow, we head over to Mackinac Island on the ferry and the plan is to all four of us to take the bikes.  The weather report is for 70% chance of rain tomorrow, so that may change.  Tomorrow night is camping at Wilderness State Park; we are driving there after the island trip.

Start of Day 3 on the bikes at the end of the gravel road and Highway 2