MUP Day 4 - Sault Ste. Marie to Paradise

We'll call it MUP Day 4 even though our maps indicate it was Day 3. Thursday, 25 July, was the 3rd traveling day of the tour. After the usual business of getting up and packing up and eating breakfast we were on the road. Do I even need to mention again that we were nearly the last group to get going? Well, it's not a race, is it?

The weather looked great as we headed out of Sault Ste. Marie towards the west. Except, of course, for the westerly wind. The route would take us west through Brimly, after which we would pretty much hug the shoreline of Whitefish Bay. The morning started out right, with cool air, sunshine, and a few steep hills.

A detour had been added to our route, extending the total distance for the day by a few extra miles. The extra miles weren't so much of a challenge as was the traffic on one portion of the detour. A bridge under construction on 6 Mile Road forced the tour to drop south and and ride on about 4 miles highway M-28, which had more traffic and less shoulder than was comfortable.

As it worked out, Quinn and I got to ride M-28 west, then back east, then west again, because somehow, at a brief SAG stop just where the detour began, Abbey's camera (in its case) fell to the ground. None of us noticed. She thinks she had set it on the rear rack bag when she peeled off her jacket, and it must not have fallen until we started riding. A few miles down the road she noticed it was missing. We stopped along M-28 and discussed what the likelihood was that the woman at SAG stop had seen the camera and picked it up. Of course, we weren't even sure where it had been lost. The next SAG stop was several miles down the road, so we decided it would be best if Quinn and I turned back to see if we could find it. Quinn fired up his best stoker legs and we raced back down M-28, and back north to the corner at 6 Mile Road and South Piche. No sign of the camera. Quinn began to cry. He was most upset and felt very sorry for Abbey. Under his ornery exterior, he's really a sweet and caring little guy. He got off the bicycle and wouldn't get back on. I stood there straddling the bike, not knowing what to do, but I was saved after only a few moments when my phone rang. Abbey and Cindy had reached the next SAG stop and the camera was there! We were so happy and thankful that our SAG support person had picked it up. Quinn pulled it together, fired up his second best stoker legs, and we sprinted back toward the rest of the group. It seemed to take us forever to reach the others. I can only imagine how long it must have seemed they had to wait. We were definitely bringing up the rear of the tour after that!

A few miles later, we'd made to the Point Iroquois Light Station. Abbey took our picture.



Those of us with more tolerance for heights climbed the winding stairs to the top of the light. The view was tremendous.



Here's Quinn going down. He's the only one in our group who didn't have SPD cleats on the bottoms of his shoes.



If we'd had a bit more time, we could have explored the shoreline for a while.



Abbey captured the text of the sign.



We pedaled further down the road to the lunch stop for the day. There are few commercial establishments on this lonely Lakeshore Drive, so lunch was brought in to a little parking area with beach access. We were served cold, wet, and slimy wraps full of some kind of muscle tissue and liquid cheeze! Ugh. Eat or starve. They served us coleslaw, too, which was pretty good. And Gatorade, and cookies, and chocolate bars.

We spent lots of time wading around the shallow water along the sandy shore. The weather was beautiful. I wish we could have put on our swimming suits and stayed for hours! The kids and I found a whole bunch of little leeches on the bottom of a log.



But soon we were back on the tandems to pedal the rest of the way to Paradise. Abbey took pictures. The fanny flags were fun because they were good conversation starters with other riders and non-riders.





It was actually quite hot by the time we pulled into the school grounds at Paradise. There were a few nice spots left for our tents, and the kids had big playground waiting for them. We quickly set up camp, showered, and packed into the small cafeteria for pasties - a staple of the UP diet. Sort of like a pot pie without the pot. We really appreciated the effort that had gone into the meal that night. Home-cooked food, plenty of really good salad, and some tasty deserts.



After dinner, we hopped on the tandems for a quick ride into town for some Jilbert ice cream. Quinn always selects the most colorful. I had Mint Mackinac Fudge in a sugar cone.