West to East Across the Mitten State

Lowell, Michigan

June 8, 2021 - P. J. Hoffmaster State Park to Kate and Chip's house in Ada, Michigan- 50.3 miles

The road to a friend's house is never long.  - Danish Proverb  even if the last part is up a steep, winding bike trail through the woods ending at the highest point above the Grand River.  Today's ride was 50.3 miles with 2100' elevation climb.  And, it was hot.  The temperature was in the high 80's.    

We left the campground  riding in fog and mist and 100% humidity as the day warmed quickly.  We decided that we would just find a place for coffee and breakfast along the route.  

The first 35 miles were beautiful as we passed by blueberry fields, century farms, and little towns.   As we followed our mapped route  we ended up on a road called Three Mile Road NW.  It was very heavily trafficked with fast moving buses, fire trucks, tractor trailers and trucks towing all sorts of things.  There was no way to safely ride on this road.  We walked along the side through the grass for about two miles passing important looking industries doing injection molding and manufacturing  things I have never heard of.  Eventually, we find a way off this road and find our way through some residential streets and into Grand Rapids.  

Our friends live in Ada, Michigan, north and east of Grand Rapids and we were able to follow some bike paths to get to their neighborhood.  Kate had texted to warn us that their home was up a big hill.  She isn't wrong.  We climbed the steep winding way to her house where we are staying the night.  We will catch up with Chip and Kate and meet their little daughter, Irene.  We also meet Kate's parents (loyal blog followers )  

blueberries stretch out for miles

Spring Lake has a breakfast place with some really fancy pastries.  They also have homemade granola which is delicious.

These people just pull their yachts up to the door.  The bike path goes right by the marina.

We don't have any photos from Grand Rapids or from that crazy busy road.  The heat and the road conditions kept us focused on just riding and getting to our destination.  

After showering and resting a little we head into Ada where we meet Kate's parents for dinner.  The downtown has been recently revitalized.  Chip is an architect and his firm has had a big role in the redevelopment of the downtown space.  It is a really inviting community gathering place.  http://adamichigan.org/village 

After dinner in town Irene gets some playground time with Daddy.

Irene is super cute and a very personable almost-two-year-old.

June 9, 2021 Chip and Kate's house to St. John's Michigan - 55.4 miles

We follow some pleasant bike trails all the way to Lowell.  It is all down hill from the Clark's house!  Since I love fiber arts I take a quick look at http://www.abilityweavers.com/  There are eleven looms in the store all waiting for the artists to arrive.  They aren't technically open yet , but Beryl shows me around.  

The King Milling Company has been in Lowell, Michigan since 1890.  The grain elevators are huge.  http://kingflour.com/

The temperature is climbing to 90 degrees and the sun is intense.  We are following the Fred Meijer Grand River Valley Trail which is nice and shady.  The surface is mostly crushed limetone with paved surfaces a mile or two out of every trail town.   We have a long way to go on the trail.  We are racing against the thunderstorms.

Gone is the shady tree-lined part of the trail.  We are riding through a lush agricultural region now. 

This is the historic train station in Fowler.  We are now on the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawasee trail

We manage to stay dry although there are storms popping up all around us.  At 3:30 pm we roll into the town of St. John's.  We are staying in a small hotel so we can stay dry and be in air conditioning and also get an early start tomorrow.  We are hoping to be home on Friday night.