Made it to Michigan !

Hi y'all

Yesterday we very happily cycled into Grand Rapids - three days cycle ride from Chicago - each day quite different in the scenery and weather.

On Sunday a.m - after being provided a yummy breakfast - we said goodbye to the wonderful Werner family and cycled out of Chicago following the Lake Shore Path as much as we could. The 20 mile training run for the Chicago Marathon on Oct 9 was taking place so we shared the path with several hundred others slogging it out! We got great views back to Chicago across the huge Lake Michigan and were so lucky to have had beautiful weather the whole time we were there.

Getting further south/east things turned more industrial and the day turned greyer. We ended up camping the night in the Indiana Dunes State Park and even had some rain during the night (the second time only we've had rain so far!!). The next day we crossed into Michigan and had the best coffee yet in a little lake town called New Buffalo - losing an hour as we did - now we are on Eastern Time (yes we've been in 4 time zones now!).

Cycling on from there for the next 20 or so miles was beautiful as we kept as close to the lake as possible and went past some beautiful real estate in the woods - wow! Michigan in general is pretty hard hit by this recession but you wouldn't think so in that part - some pretty big mansions. We made it to South Haven that night where we succumb and stayed in an old hotel right in town which was quaint. Yesterday morning the fog was dense and so we didn't get on the road til 10 a.m and the fog didn't lift fully til about 1 pm. It seemed to take forever to get to Grand Rapids - not helped by the promise of good friends & a real house to stay again ahead and also getting caught up in navigating through the city of Holland - a beautiful place but not easy to get through on cycles. So it was super cool to arrive last night at Drew and Steph's place - a beautiful old brick cottage in a street full of similar beautiful houses - in the south/central part of the city. Nicole worked with Drew and Steph back in Tennessee and this is my first time meeting them - and it is so nice to have this chance to meet and hang out for a few days. This morning Steph has taken us for a drive around and to a cool farmer's market where we purchased produce for me to make dinner tonight - I can't wait to use more than one pot and have a kitchen full of utensils!!

The weather has definitely changed - it's officially Fall now - and the trees are losing leaves and changing color and the stores are all promoting autumn things and Halloween (pics to follow in a week or so?).

I would agree with the comment that was posted by Craig (my cool bro!) that Americans are positive and confident - generally more so than us Kiwis I think - and yes that is a good thing that we could learn. I think that often translates into a genuine friendliness and willingness to help too - here's one example for you:
In Chicago we sat (In Dunkin Donuts!) having a coffee one morning and I spotted a guy walk by with a cycle seat in his hand. I just said to Nicole ..."I must ask a cyclist about good ways to cycle out of here" when a woman sat down at the table next to us wearing a bike helmet. So I got talking and asked her for advice on good ways to get through to Michigan. She wasn't 100% sure but took our email and said she would get her husband to let us know. On Sunday as we were leaving town we checked our emails and she had given us her number so we called & she gave us some good advice re roads etc, then later in the day called again to see where we were at. We had just taken a little detour off the road to see the Lake and she gave us a bit more advice about good roads etc. About 20 mins later, as we pulled into the State Park we had just decided to stay at - this same woman and her husband pulled up and yelled out "Hi!" They were driving back from New Buffalo to Chicago and decided to try and find us. They had been so helpful and little gestures like following through & then making an effort to try come say hello make for big impressions of some very cool people here - thanks you two!!!

So - really looking forward to having some down time here now and will be planning the next part of our route - we are likely to head across Michigan and into Ontario, Canada to see the Niagra Falls and drop down to NY City from there - ye hah!!

Great to have you all as part of the ride! Hope you enjoy the pics above too. M & N