Coast to Coast - Dan's Bucket List: Labor Day in Michigan

Caro, MI to Marine City, MI – Sept 7, 2009 (95 miles)

Yesterday the people at the Wesleyan Woods Church camp fed me and invited me to their Ice Cream social and then gave me a couple of Gatorades , some snack packs of trail mix, and some beef jerky for my trip. They wouldn’t let me pay for my room or the snacks. I had a nice stay there and got rested up good on a good bed with a warm shower and washed clothes. Very, very nice.

I got a good start today at 7:00 AM headed toward Canada. Today is Labor Day and all the restaurants were closed so it was snack food most of the day.

The day started off with some clouds but the wind picked up pretty quick blowing pretty hard southwest. When I was riding east I took the wind on the chin pretty hard. When the road jogged south, I got a little tailwind which was nice. I made it to Marine City, 95 miles, by 6:30 pm so that was pretty good for me. My right knee started hurting today. I better cut my miles back to 94 miles tomorrow so it won’t hurt so bad.

The people that were at the Wesleyan Camp made some phone calls and made arrangements for me to stay with a very nice couple named Jim and Lou Ann Douglas. They have a nice home right on the St. Clair River in Marine City. The front of their home is all beautiful rock work and Lou Ann has planted beautiful flowers out front.

They fed me a great supper with chicken, fresh corn, etc, etc, and then gave me a fresh peach dessert. Great meal. I also got a nice warm shower and got to wash my clothes again. It was very kind of them to put me up and was kind of Karl and Dan and Sue who were at the camp yesterday to help make arrangements with Jim and Lou Ann. I am only about a block from the ferry and will get to Canada pretty quick tomorrow.

Thank you very much everyone for your kindness.

I met a very young 86 year old man today in Brown City. He and his wife take care of the Brown City entrance sign. He is still spry and active. He says it is because he owns a golf cart to get around in but instead of using the golf cart he still rides a 3 wheel bike quite a bit which keeps him in good shape.

He looked like he was still going strong to me. There is a photo of him in front of the Brown City Sign. He still drives a nice car and stopped by to see if I needed any help. I was fine but he just thought I looked a little pathetic out there on the side of the road so he stopped by to check up on me.

It was a little windy today and I got pretty wet when the rain started about 4:30 this afternoon but it only lasted about an hour and ½ and I was pretty dry by the time I reached Marine City.

I think I got into a little poison ivy or poison oak or something in the woods last week. I have a little bit of a rash on my skin that looks like poison ivy. The side benefits of sleeping in the woods. I hope it doesn’t spread.

I saw some more pretty country of course. I was able to save another frog today that surely would have been smashed. He didn’t even say thank you as I threw his scrawny little body flying into the weeds on the side of the road.

I have seen a lot of turtles between Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan that crossed the road too slowly. Painted turtles, box turtles, and a few snappers. I have not seen any live ones or I would have taught them how to cross the highways more safely.

Based on the number of smooth tailed fur patches I have seen along the highway, I guess there must be a lot of opossums in this neck of the woods. Quite a few ground hogs, squirrels, and raccoons also. Our highways are by far the biggest killers of animals on the planet. The animals just don’t get it.