MUP Day 2 - DeTour Village to Sault Ste. Marie

We awoke at 6 a.m. to a partly cloudy sky that lacked the look, to which we'd become so accustomed, of impending rain. Making pretty good time, the kids were dressed and the gear sorted, packed, and loaded on the truck before we went in for breakfast. We still brought up the end of the breakfast line, but we enjoyed our pancakes, eggs, fruit, and coffee just the same. We set off on our second day of riding, our destination, Sault Ste. Marie, a distance of 66 miles.

Less of today's route was adjacent to the shoreline. Instead we rode though a mix of forests and agricultural fields. We noted a conspicuous absence of the corn fields we ride among so often near our home in the lower peninsula. We had a few big hills to climb,



some big hills to descend,



and some long flats where we had little to do but pedal against the wind.



To pass the time, we sang songs and played the animal guessing game while we rode. Quinn's Web-Kinz, Roger, had to ride on top of the rear rack trunk, because Quinn had shed enough layers of clothing to fill his handlebar bag where Roger usually rides. Quinn worried very much about the possibility that Roger might fall off on the fast descents, but we strapped him on tightly, and he did a good job holding on. Like most dogs, he probably enjoyed the feel of the wind blowing through his fur.



Anybody need to pee? Some of the facilities in the UP were a little rustic...



We had wonderful lunch stop at the Main Street Cafe in Pickford. Abbey and Quinn had chicken nuggets, and Cindy and I had veggie melts. They served us curly fries and straight fries and plenty of refills on our drinks. I don't remember what Grandma and Grandpa ate, but it was a really nice little place to stop for lunch. Surprisingly, they even rounded our total bill down, to facilitate the cash-only policy that's so common at restaurants on the UP.



The last few miles of the ride had us pedaling through small farms and residences along the St. Mary's River, which is the river that connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron. Eventually we travelled through downtown Sault Ste. Marie beside the locks on the St. Mary's River that lift or drop gigantic freighters 21 feet up or down as they pass from one body of water to the other.

We pitched our tents at Lake Superior State University, this time right beside the MUP U-Haul. Look closely and you can see that Quinn is supervising from a comfy camp chair while the rest of the crew (except me) sets up camp.



After dinner in the university cafeteria, we walked down the hill into Sault Ste. Marie to stretch our legs, to get feel for the town, and just to see what there was to see. MUP day 3 would be a non-bicycling day and we'd be spending the day in Sault Ste. Marie.