Glacier Park -- 1

We drove to Kalispell from Missoula yesterday. Tomorrow we begin the BAC Canadian Rockies ride. Today, on our "rest day", we drove up into the park and hiked to Avalanche Lake. It was a scenic out and back four mile walk to a lovely lake in a glacial cirque. Lots of snowfields still in the mountains, but no glaciers. The Ranger told us that the Sperry Glacier is behind and to the right of the waterfall in the picture. They are predicting that all the galciers will be gone by 2020. We diligently did as we were told and bought our can of bear spray. The only wildlife we encountered were very bold Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels. They looked like chipmunks to me.

Cycle Montana -- June 20-26

Great ride, although we got off to a wet beginning. We drove into Missoula Saturday afternoon in a downpour, so opted to get a room for the night instead of camping. Good choice! In addition to the rain the sprinkler on the school athletic field came on at 5 AM, soaking all the campers. It was still raining for the first 18 miles of the morning ride, but gradually cleared -- for a while. We were racing a storm into the next campsite, but the storm won. Cold with high winds. A few of us non-hardy souls decided camping in the gym would be a good plan. Unfortunately the gym lights can't be turned off, so we crawled under the bleachers into a nice, dark, cozy cave.

Day 2 -- We are on part of the AC Trans-Am route and have seen bikers going the other direction. Clear in the morning to climb up Lost Trail and Chief Joseph Passes, but it started snowing on top. We were among the first to start down and rode right into an ice storm. The 20 miles to our water stop at the Big Hole Battlefield NM was torture. We were pelted by ice and riding in an inch of accumulated sleet. By the time we reached the Visitor Center I was soaked through and hypothermic. They stripped me to the skin, wrapped me in the blue packing blankets from the luggage truck. I still couldn't stop shaking, so they drove me in to the campsite in jackson Hot Springs -- luckily with umlimited hot water. It went down into the 20s that night. The tent was covered in ice when we woke up.

Day 3 -- Beautiful ride through the Big Hole Valley -- up and back over the Continental Divide again. Campsite at Fairmont Hot Springs -- seems there are a lot of these....

1. Day 4 -- Water stop in Anaconda at the Chamber of Commerce with intereesting hhistorical exhibits. Uphhill to Georgetown Lake for lunch, where we discovered that the van that has been driving around with us all week has a map of the Adirondacks painted on the sides. Nno one seems to know why. Swooping downhill into the nicely preserved old town of Philipsburg. We had a nice afternoon exploring the town. Charlie Pace clued us in on the root Beer Floats and Ice Cream Sodas at Doe Brothers Soda Fountain. They did not disappoint.

Day 5 -- All downhill (or mostly) today. We'll take it. Another beautiful (and short -- only 42 miles) day. Our campsite, at Chateau Bearmouth, was originally planned as a brothel. The campsites were pleasant, along the Clark's Fork (as in Lewis and...) River.

Day 6 -- Last day of riding and all downhill again. After all the climbing and the 75 mile days at the beginnning of the week this is a piece of cake. We rode the first 17 miles on Interstate 90. Not too bad except for all the debris. Our ride director had requested that the highway department sweep the shoulder for us. They complied, but unfortunately they did the Eastbound Lane. We arrived back in Missoula by 11:00 anad enjoyed lunch and showers at the High School before we took off for Kalispell to begin the next leg of our trip tomorrow.

Billings MT

Today we plan to complete the drive to Missoula. Yesterday was (again) a lot of driving. We did take the time to tour Theodore Rossevelt National Park as we passed Medora ND. The thirty-two mile scenic loop drive was a welcome break from the high-speed interstate driving. We saw quite a few animals, and enjoyed "Fruits of the Forest" pie a la mode at the Cowboy Cafe.

Dinner last night was at Jake's in downtown Billings, where Jim enjoyed a fine piece of Montana beef.

Fergus Falls MN

We've been on the road today day -- no pictures. Pancake breakfast in
Door County then drive, drive, drive.... We got off the road just in time. It looked very black ahead so we decided to stop for the night at 6:15. We got a room and headed out to Applebee's for dinner when the siren's went off. We thought we might go back into the Inn. They put us all in the hallways -- no windows -- to wait out the tornado warning. We came through OK, but there was a tornado just north of here -- the TV reported a truck flying across the road.
When we finally got to Applebee's our waiter reported the festive tornado atmosphere -- they had a plan to make everyone sit in the kitchen, but it never came to that. On the other hand the mall across the roqad just closed and sent everyone out into the storm.

It was sad to leave the biker chicks. We had a wonderful time this past week in Wisconsin. Last night we all partook in the local tradition -- a Fish Boil. (Jim had ribs.) You get there early to hear about the legend of the boil. It was an easy way to cook fish. Then they decided they could sell it to the tourists. The fish is in a large pot over ana opoen fire. After boiling for a bit Earl, our boilmaster, threw a coffee can of kerosene on the fire. It all flames up and boils over -- very dsramatic. The rationale is that the over-boil removes the oils from the top of the pot. Whatever -- it was great fish. They made sure to tell us that we were eating lake Michigan Whitefish, which are vegetarian. They have stopped using the carnivorous Lake Trout. Dessert was another local specialty -- cherry pie.

Evening entertainment was at the open air American Folkore Theater. The advanced forecasts were for rain, so we were very lucky to have a clear (and warm) evening. We all took lap blankets, but that turned out to be unnecessary. The odor of DEET was somewhat overwhelming at first, but it faded away and so did the mosquitoes. We were thrilledd to be at the first performance of the season. Our play "Muskie Love" was a riotous success. The story was fun and the music infectious. In short -- we loved it!

The Peninsula Ride

Wisconsin Rides 3 & 4

The Island Queens head out! Boy, can 10 women (and 1 man) scurry when a ferry is departing two minutes after they pull into the parking lot -- in cars no less. But we made it! And Washington Island was worth the rush. Another perfect day for the 26.5 mile ride around the island.

Wisconsin Ride 2

Lance was corrrect -- it's not about the bike. It's really all about the food. Turn ten women loose in a huge kitchen (picture The Big Chill...) and the output is amazing. We are having so much fun enjoying everyone's favorite recipes. Last night Linda King was on with grilled salmon. Tonight it's Karen doing Tex-Mex. Linda turned out a wicked dish of scrambled eggs with all the fixin's this morning. My contributiion has been Grandpa's Pancakes. The real maple syrup was a hit with everyone.

Today's ride was 40.6 miles -- pretty small potatoes compared to what we're reading from Bob, but we were riding along the bay shore (as in Green Bay...). It was another beautiful day and equally beautiful scenery. We are all happy the the hills are mostly insignificant.

Rene has arrived -- many more hugs. Our 2009 group is now complete.

Wisconsin Ride 1

Linda has prepared us each a packet of seven rides. Our choice for this morning was the shortest one -- 31.5 miles right from our doorstep. We rode south along the shore of Lake Michigan, through woods that remind me of the Adirondacks (if it weren't so flat...). After turning inland we passed lush farms and had very little traffic. The roads are good and the riding is most pleasant.

I may have never eaten a bratwurst, but now I've had that experience First we cooked them on the grill, then boiled them with beer and onions. Local fare, I'm sure, and very good.

Door County Wisconsin

We crossed Lake Michigan on the historic S.S. Badger. Built in 1952 it was the largest of the great lakes "car ferries" -- meaning railroad car ferries. The tracks are still visible in the floor of the auto deck. Loaded freight cars rolled right onto the ferry and off the other side. After the bottom dropped out of the railroad market, the Badger was retrofitted as an auto ferry. She is now a registered National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. The crossing took four hours.

After disembarkiing in Manitowoc we took the scenic shore route to our rental house in Jacksonport. There are nine of us biker chicks, plus Jim, who is being called on for all sorts of manly things -- carving the turkey, grilling the bratwurst, fixing the water pump.... All he did was look at it and the water cowered in fear of Dr. Pump and came right back on.

Many hugs, much laughter and a magnificent turkey dinner -- why would anyone not come to reunions?

Ludington Michigan

We left Morehouse Lake at 8:45 Thursday morning and drove all day -- mostly in the rain. We reached Saginaw MI by 7 PM. Saginaw was a ghost town -- businesses boarded up, hotels closed. The Best Western where we had made a reservation was now something else. Wethought we were quite clever figuring it out. It took a while but we finally found something to eat.

Having spent so much time on the road on Thursday it left us with a lot of time for sightseeing today. We spent the morning on a tour of the Alden Dow House in Midland. Alden was the second son of Herbert H. Dow, the founder of Dow Chemical. He studied engineering, but switched to architecture and studied with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. The house, now owned by a Foundation set up by the family, was incredible. The setting alone was beyond beautiful. The house, built into a pond, had a "submarine room" with the windows right at the water level.

Midland had a nice (and prosperous looking)downtown and Main Street. We had lunch at a cool place then set out for Ludington, located on Lake Michigan. Father Marquette, the famous explorer died here. We had dinner downtown at the Jamesport Brewing Company -- motto Helping Michigan's economy one beer at a time. We did our share. A nice sunset walk along the marinas watching the Badger sail completed our evening.

Packing begins. First stop Morehouse Lake. Here's what we're leaving behind.