T1 Day 39 (Kayla)

7/15/23: Mercer to Conover 

This morning we woke to a soggy campground and mist rolling over the lake. The scene had the mysteriously spooky beauty that a morning after rain creates. The rain that had begun yesterday evening had unfortunately continued throughout the night, and quite hard at times. Luckily we all stayed dry, but our tents and bike bags had not. I hoped we could wait to let things dry but the smoke in the sky was preventing the sun shining through and drying our belongings. By 8:30 we just decided to pack up our wet things and set off. After about 6 miles we joined with a beautiful bike path that we would follow for the better part of the day. The trail winded through dense pine forest, which made me feel like we were getting closer to home. It took tight turns and mini rollers that were a fun change of pace from the long wide roads we were used to. It made us feel like we had arrived at the amusement park of cycling, something akin to a racetrack. Since it was Saturday there were plenty of cyclists out on the path, probably the most we had seen all trip! I had fun thinking about what a different experience they were having from us, on vacation on their morning bike ride with their rented e-bikes. Quite the contrast to us, just passing through, smelly, covered in bike greased, our packs full of wet gear, wolfing down calorie after calorie, over 2,000 miles in to a nearly 4,000 mile journey. 

About halfway into our day we stopped in the town of Boulder junction to pick up some more groceries, since somehow it seems like we always need to buy more food. We also decided to stop in at the local coffee shop. This is a new classy thing for us and a bit of an upgrade from the grocery store deli section or gas stations that we more commonly select as our recharge spots. At the coffee shop we all tried “lotus energy drinks” which tasted great (like Italian soda) but didn’t seem give me any more energy, which was a bit of a disappointment. Our lunch creation today was potato salad sandwiches with tomato, avocado and Wisconsin cheese (of course). Keelin decided to level up hers by adding potato chips, and from there a conversation about the best preparation of potatoes ensued. There were some votes for hash browns, home fries, and of course French fries, curly fries and waffle fries, and a hot take about scalloped potatoes. 

After leaving Boulder jct the bike path ended and we took country road K into Conover. It was a hilly route and I was feeling lightheaded (in case you’re wondering, half a liter of water is NOT enough water to drink in a day and I would not recommend), so I was glad we were only biking 58 miles. We rolled into the campground a little after 4p, giving us plenty of time to relax and check out the the lake. Liz even took a dip while keelin and I waded up to our ankles. I insisted we check out the swings next, only to find out that swinging is a lot more nauseating than I remember. I guess that’s what getting old feels like. As we were making dinner (mashed potato corn chowder for keelin, potato curry with rice for me, and a sort of lentil chili for liz) we heard the classic tune that turns any kids (or cross-country cyclists) head, the ice cream truck!! But it was not an ice cream truck, it was the camp host, who had come to collect our payment. It was quite the let down and after dinner we couldn’t shake the craving for dessert. So, when the camp host made another round Liz decided to ask if he was selling any ice cream. He clearly felt for us poor cyclists because he went back to this trailer and returned with his stash of emergency low blood sugar snacks! (he’s diabetic) Of course that immediately seemed like a bad idea, to take a diabetics rescue snacks, but he assured us he had a second supply, so we graciously accepted the bag of chocolates and gummies! Maybe Wisconsin isn’t so bad after all… unfortunately we won’t be staying much longer to find out, tomorrow we cross into the upper peninsula of Michigan!