Day 5

WE DID IT!!!

What a beautiful, fulfilling, emotional ride we had today.  We left from Petoskey High School and out past the State Park where Kim, Barb and Jill got up early (after picking us up for dinner last night...awesome) and were out in front of the park to send us off.  What a beautiful sunrise and beginning to our final day.

We went up through Harbor Springs and then out through Good Heart, the Tunnel of Trees, and through Cross Village.  In Good Heart there was a General Store/Post Office/Real Estate Office that had us hooked up!  They had grills going and fresh baked goods (coffee and donuts that were still warm...FAB).  Overall, a pretty awesome stop.

The whole ride today followed the Lake Michigan shoreline and had some magnificent views.  We went out through Wilderness State Park and along the way Becky, Tod and the kids connected with us.  It was so great to see them, and it was at a point where the end was in sight and you just had this rush of emotion...Not sure about Randy, but for the three girls it was pretty overwhelming.

It was also pretty cool to be at the end of the ride at Mackinaw City High School and see all the people in their lawn chairs cheering you in...It starts to make you appreciate all the effort that went into the trip and what you had just accomplished.  Not that it was ever about accomplishment; I'm not sure if it was even about anything but heading out to see the State on our bikes.

We rolled into the parking lot at almost the exact time Kathy arrived to pick Randy up, so it was pretty cool to be able to share that moment with her as well.  WHOOO HOOOO!!!!

You can always hop in your car in Lansing and be at the bridge within 4 hours (or less for some...) but we just spent over 25 hours on a bike touring our State.  We saw a lot of things that most will never see when visiting Michigan.  We were in towns you didn't know existed, places that went by so fast you didn't realize it was a town, and some towns that were no more.  We live in a beautiful State, sometimes we just go too fast to appreciate all of it.

Well, thanks for letting us share our experience with you; we hope we brought some of the experience to you through the pictures and stories.  Will have pictures up shortly, and more commentary later.