Day 37 Ludington to Mt. Pleasant, MI. 114 miles with 3088' of climbing

Yesterday on day 35 we were on our own for breakfast and we did not load luggage until 0900.  We had until noon to see the sites of town and we had to be at the ferry landing at noon for a 2PM load.  After we loaded luggage some of us went into town and we toured the Maritime museum and toured a submarine that was built in Manitowoc during WWII.  It was neat to see, but I would not want to be on a submarine with all the close quarters.  We then went to the ferry landing and signed in as they would not load any bicycles until we were all there.  The ferry came in from the Michigan side at 12:55 pm and it took them about 45 minutes to unload all the cars, motor homes and semi's that were on there.  When the last car was unloaded they had us take out bikes in and they were all stacked on the port side of the ship on the 1st level.  We then went upstairs and they had a movie theatre,, video game lounge, souvenir shop, a bar, cafeteria and lounge chairs on the fantail and at the bow.  You could sit where every you wanted to.  I sat on the deck forward for a while after getting underway but the breeze got cool and I moved to the fantail where Mike the ride leader was showing photos he had taken with his camera of all of us so we watched that for a while.  The also played bingo in the are where you could get something to eat.  We just lounged around and took it easy for the 4 hour ride across the lake.  After arriving on the Michigan side we unloaded the bikes and as soon as we left the dock area we came to the Welcome to Michigan sign and it was time for a picture. We then stopped and got something to eat and when we got to the motel with the time change it was 8PM.  I took a shower and went to bed.

Day 37

We ate breakfast this morning at 0600 and we loaded luggage at 0630.  We normally load at 0600 when we have a 100+ mile day, but in the new time zone it is not light before 0630.  It was a cool 58 degrees when we left this morning and I was wishing I had my arm warmers on.  But it did not take long before I was warm and not cold anymore.  Today my legs were really heavy and I just did not feel all that good.  I had come down with a slight cold 2 days ago and between that and the sitting on the boat yesterday the legs just did not want to cycle today.  I could not keep up with the many riders that I had been riding with,  so I rode by myself until the 1st rest stop at mile 28.9.  I got off my bike and filled the water bottles and ate some snacks and I got back on the bike again and started to feel a little better.  After another 5-10 miles I was feeling allot better and my speed increased and all was good once again.  I rode with Kim for awhile after he caught up with me and he said that he was taking it easy today also and we talked until we spotted Tom and Rod along the side of the road and he stopped to talk to them and I continued on. All 3 of them passed me after about 3 miles and I rode on to the second rest stop at mile 64 by myself.  After getting something to snack on and filling the bottles up, Beth was getting ready to leave and we went to Subway and got a 6" sub to eat and then hit the road.  The miles were going by pretty good even though we had a slight headwind most of the day. The last rest stop of the day was at at Senior Citizens Center at mile 82 and once again we filled the bottles and snacked and took off for home and the last 30 some odd miles to the motel.  We had a crosswind and tail wind most of the way back in and the miles went by quickly. 

We arrived at the Motel and the luggage was unloaded, we checked in and cleaned up and once again made it to the end of the day.

Today is the last century of our trip.  All the days are now 92 miles or less unless I take a wrong turn and make it another 100 mile day, lets hope not.