Blue Boat Home

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on September 7, 2004]

Hi, folks. As I write this it's the evening of Labor Day, and I'm at a beautiful campground near a swimming beach at an old limestone quarry south of Bowling Green, Ohio, but I'll probably send the message tomorrow from the vicinity of Findlay. My sister and I had a great time in Ann Arbor, catching up, seeing sights, and visiting friends. On Friday we walked rather too much around downtown -- Ann Arbor's downtown covers about as much area as Minneapolis's -- and then had dinner at Hei Wa House.

I took my time getting up this morning because I could hear rain falling on the tent.  When I did leave the tent, swarms of mosquitos chased me back inside twice!  So it was probably after 10:00 when I finally left Portage Quarry.

I knew I was overdoing it yesterday, but I couldn't seem to stop riding... so today in addition to a strong headwind, I had a lot of muscle cramps and that special kind of fatigue you get when yesterday's sunburn meets today's sun.

I got an early start because I kept mistaking the glow from my hosts' security light for dawn, because they hadn't offered me a restroom, and because I didn't want to still be there when they woke up.  I was in Ohio by about 9:00 and in Waterville (southwest of Toledo) by noon.

After breakfast this morning, I packed up my things and was eager to hit the road.  I said goodbye to 'Becca and went to church at the UU church southwest of town.  The congregation was not particularly welcoming during the coffee hour, but as soon as I was out in the parking lot with my rig they had a thousand questions.  Fortunately it takes me a long time to put on my sunblock.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on September 4, 2004]

A few stories to share:

[sent to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on September 2, 2004]

Hi, folks! I'm safe and sound in Ann Arbor, MI, where I visited with some college friends last night, and where my sister will meet me for the next few days.

Battle Creek is much the same as when I interned there 7 years ago; the biggest change is that Kellogg's and Post have moved a lot of their manufacturing overseas, most notably Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which are now made in Mexico. That shook people up a bit.

September 2

I hung out at Bill & Anne's this morning while they got ready to leave for Worldcon, then headed into downtown around noon.  I ran some errands, then hung out at the library for most of the afternoon.

I woke this morning to find that a heavy dew had undone all of yesterday's careful drying. I knew it would be a short ride into Ann Arbor, so I got coffee and waited for the sun to rise and dry the tent again. Got on the road around 10:00.

The ride into Ann Arbor was fairly quick and uneventful; I got in a little after 3. Stopped to use a phone book and was able to get my bearings very easily; found a library, a bookstore, and a photo shop to make some postcards, and I still got to the Murphys' house early.

I was pleased to have found tonight's campground while I was doing research at Keith's... it's a private campground right next door to W.J. Hayes State Park, which my DeLorme's Gazetteer notes is in the "Scenic Irish Hills" and has hiking trails. I called the campground from Battle Creek, and they said they'd charge me $17 a night, which is a bargain by Michigan standards. So that's part of why I went so far yesterday: to get closer to tonight's stop so I'd have time to hike.

I headed southeast out of Battle Creek toward a campsite I had called yesterday and found to be $18 a night for tents, which is cheap by Michigan standards. However, I got there by 2:00 and decided to keep riding to another place that also looked good. I figured if it was too expensive, I'd just keep going all the way to where I planned to stop tomorrow night ($17) and spend two nights there instead of one.