Is May always this cold in Michigan?

Day 1 of riding: Algonac to Lakeport State Park - 39.8 miles

Algonac State Park is midwestern-friendly.  The fifth wheel occupants next door are very curious about our situation.  Where is our car?  How can we stay warm in the tent? We have a heater, right?  They are incredulous.  

We cook some soup and make sandwiches under a little pavillion.  I have reserved a riverside site for optimal ship viewing and it receives the cold wind off the river full force.  Later, another helpful neighbor stops by with a tourism brochure listing all the bike paths in Michigan.  He is wearing a "Mighigander bike tour" cap and points out all the folks he knows in pictures in the brochure.  He is in his early 80's and the only thing he likes better than sharing his knowledge of bike paths is sharing his vast knowledge of geology.  The St. Clair River he tells us was formed in one big catastrophic event.  He comes to this park to watch ships and suggests the boatnerd.com website.  It is pretty cool.

We wake to a frost-stiffened tent fly but the sun soon starts shining.  It is 34 degrees.

after riding a whole 5.5 miles its time to stop for cherry turnovers at Paul's Bakery in Marine City

My overall plan is to stay in my warm sleeping bag as late as possible to allow the sun time to warm the day before setting off on the bike.  Tom agrees that this is a smart plan but neither of us is used to sleeping in very late so it is not easy for us to execute.  We get on the road at 10 am and make use of all our layers of clothing.  I have these wonderful lobster mitts made of neoprene which keep my hands toasty.  Tom is wearing shorts.  He is perhaps losing his normal good judgement...

blue sky and sunshine temper the headwind

my biking family

The town of St. Clair has some cool public art sculptures and nice parks.  Fortunately, they also have a public restroom because all the fast food places are carryout only and the library is only curbside pick up.  Covid-19 was really spiking here a couple weeks ago and the businesses and public buildings are in lockdown.  

bridge to Canada at Port Huron

the rocky beach on Huron's shore right next to our campsite

Day 2: Lakeport State Park to Harbor Beach -50 miles

shoreline at Lakeport State Park - lots of cool rocks

The wind is blowing at 10 - 15 miles an hour all day.  Toward us, of course.  Somehow we manage to just keep riding and enjoy the day even though it is physically pretty tiring.  I am looking forward to staying indoors tonight.  Two nights in the upper 30's is enough.  I was warm enough in my sleeping bag but I am craving some creature comfort now.  

We pass through the town of Lexington where there is a pickle factory.  The sign says that four generations of the same family have been making these pickles since the 1800's.  The town smells like you might imagine.

St. Denis Catholic Church has a cool shape and two beautiful steeples

Lake Huron is never far away.  We are mainly following the M-25 which is also called Lakeshore road.

Toward the end of the day we ride with one rainstorm off to the west and another out over Lake Huron.  We don't ever get very wet, but sleet and/or raindrops are often pelting us.  We find the Hotel Huron which is a little family run roadside motel with ten rooms all with their own entrance doors.  It has heat and is relatively clean so we decide to stay for the night.  It is 48 degrees at 4:00 pm and   I think that is the high temperature for today.

we are heading around the "thumb coast"