Michigan Aug 2012 Day 4&5

The next morning we woke up to the sound of birds singing and the the water lapping on the shores of Anderson Lake. The sun was shining and we looked forward to riding. The tents were still wet from the previous night's rain, so we had to pack them wet.
The plan was to make our way to Wilderness State Park, near Mackinaw City. It's located on the Northern end of the Michigan West coast. After you cross the Mackinac Bridge from North to South, you hang a right and you're there.
We were hoping to get there early in the afternoon to give the tents some time to dry out in the sun. So Wilderness State Park route loaded into the GPS, and we were off.
We were going to ride down highway 2 on the Northern shore of Lake Michigan, called the Lake Michigan Scenic Highway, and then cross the Mackinac Bridge onto the main land. The GPS took us down some back roads to get to Hwy2.
At one point we were turned onto a gravel road. I stopped and asked Denise if she is up for doing some dirt with a loaded bike. It looked like a well groomed dirt road, and she said let's do it. We were riding along at about 60km/h enjoying the wild bushed area, when all of a sudden we hits sand. It was about 20cm deep, and the bikes were fish tailing all over the road. We both stayed on the gas (when in doubt, gas it) and made it thru.We stopped, and were all a bit shaken up. If we dropped the bikes, we would not have been able to pick them up filly loaded. And my leg was still hurting from the injury on the first day.
This is what people look like after they did a bit of unexpected sand riding.

We had 2 options. Turn around, and go back thru the sand, or keep going another 3km until we hit asphalt again. We all decided to keep going. We hit about another 5 or 6 patches of sand like that one, but this time we were ready. We would slow down to about 40km/h just before the sand, and then just give her gas and accelerate thru it.

Once we got to Hwy 2 along the shores of Lake Michigan, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. It's hard to believe it's a fresh water lake. Looks like the ocean to me.

And here is my riding buddies enjoying the views.

We had to cross the Mackinac bridge next. The bridge is 8km long, and is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. With the high winds we experienced on the bridge crossing into the US, we were all a bit nervous. Although the crossing was very windy, traffic moved well and we did not have to stop on the bridge at any point. Dominique was still nervous but we made it across.
After the bridge it was a short distance to Wilderness State Park on a fast and twisty section of road. Lots of fun on a bike.

We got to the gate and booked a camp site for 2 nights. Time to relax, and spend some time of the bikes, soaking in the sun on the beach.

We set up camp, and had a wonderful beach vacation.

Relaxing in our camp site.

Going to a near by store to buy some food and wine.

Sun set over Lake Michigan.

We met some great people during our stay at Wilderness State Park. Shortly after we arrived, people came over to our camp site, and introduced themselves. They wanted to know where we are from, where we are going, and told us of sites to see during our travel in their wonderful state. Americans are wonderful hosts, and love to share about attractions in their country with you. I guess that comes with being a proud and patriotic people.
On our second night there, we went over to our neighbors for some drinks. 3 Brothers. 2 from Detroit MI, and one from Baltimore ML. They had some interesting stories to tell about sport, politics and crime in the good old US of A.

Dominique also made friends and it seemed like she had a wonderful time mixing with friends her own age again, after spending so much time in the presence of her parents.

On the morning of our fifth day of travel, we packed up our camp, and we are off to explore the West coast of Michigan.