We had comfortable sleeping weather last night, and woke up to basically dry tents. Every night has been different!

Cynthia and I missed our planned departure by only 20 minutes today. We felt some pressure to get going, since I was shooting to be done by noon. No big deal though, it was easily achieved.

The first 20-plus miles out of Harbor Springs was really nice. Being Saturday there were very few cars, and we rode on Lake Shore Drive, a nice strip of asphalt running through a beautiful forest called the Tunnel of Trees. The lake was just to our left, sometimes visible, sometimes blocked from view by dream homes. Sometimes the houses have a breezeway in the middle or glass front doors with a companion window or set of doors on the opposite side, allowing you to see through to the lake. Expensive house architecture.

The weather was cool, a bit breezy, and overcast, and the mostly gentle rolling hills were a nice ride. Definitely a good start to the last day.

A quick stop in Cross City yielded this great attraction:

The remainder of the ride was less grand, rolling through less mature forests, with some spectacularly Michigan-quality roads (this is bad). But traffic stayed sparse so we had plenty of room to weave and avoid the blobby and potholed asphalt patching. we had a tailwind and we’re going slightly downhill as well, and on one stretch of nice road I looked down to see we were cruising at 19 mph. It was nice to finally have some help from the wind!

The outskirts of Mackinaw City seemed to appear quite suddenly, and just like that, it was over. We arrived at noon, right on schedule. I had plenty of time to shower, have a final lunch with Cynthia, Jeff, and Michael, and get my bike prepped and put on the trailer.

I’m now riding back to Montague on a big bus with a load of fellow cyclists, then I’ll get my stuff and head the three hours home. A long day for sure, but it’ll be good to be home. There are kitties there! I’ve got a day to unpack, take it easy, and get ready to go back to work. I probably won’t go for a ride, haha. Although I haven’t gone mountain biking for over a week…

Parting with Cynthia was kind of sad; we were basically inseparable for a few days! But I’ve got her and Jeff’s numbers and we’ll be keeping in touch. We’ve already talked about doing other rides, and plan to do Shoreline West again next year. I feel like I’ve made some enduring friendships there.

I definitely set out to do what I wanted to this trip. I saw many beautiful parts of Michigan I’d never seen before, made friends, rode a lot of miles (348 total), challenged myself, and had fun. i don’t think I could ask much more of a vacation!