Hi Everyone,

Before I forget, the farmers in Michigan have the widest variety of crops
that I have seen on this trip.  There is corn, lava beans according to Ruth,
kale, potatoes, alfalfa, grass for hay, sunflowers, and other stuff I can't identify. 
I haven't seen any wheat, but I assume that it is around. And there are oil
pumping rigs also. 

Last night I saw storm cells moving toward Midland but there was a possibility
that just the tail end would hit Midland.  This morning around 6:30 there was a
heavy downpour, thunder, and lightning.  We waited for a couple of hours for the
storm to pass and left only an hour later than usual.

Today we used the Adventure Cycling route again and they were fine except in
Bay City.  I don't know what Adventure Cycling is trying to do in the cities, but
their instructions are hard to follow or overly complicated.  It would be easier to
stay on the main roads.

We asked a runner for information on the rail trail we were on and he suggested
that we take Center Ave, M25 and we did that.  Then I asked a gas station cashier
 where the next turn was and she said that it was 4 major intersections ahead but
hat the zig zag route on the map was overly complicated and that she didn't want
 us to get lost.  She recommended a simple route of right turn at Farley and left
turn at M138 Fairgrove Road for us to go to Fairgrove.  The Adventure Cycling
oute zig zagged on 7 different roads.

Tomorrow I will be using my on route that has us staying on a state highway for
the majority of the day.  A lot depends on the weather.  It is predicted for a 50%
chance of rain. Today was also the same prediction and it was essentially an
overnight storm. 

Tomorrow we will still be in Michigan.   Monday we should arrive in Marine City
just south of Port Huron and north of Detroit where there is a ferry to take us
across the St Clair River into Canada. Tuesday we should be in Canada. 
This is assuming that there is no all day rain tomorrow.  A few hours delay will
not matter as Sunday and Monday are two fairly moderate days based on hotel
 availability in towns and not how long we want to ride.  The problem is that we
want to go at least 50 miles and there is a hotel available in that town but the
next hotel may be in a town that is 80 miles away.  We have run into that before.


The Statistics:  56.00 miles and 124 feet of climbing.


Steve and Ruth in Caro, MI