This morning was quiet, despite staying at a large county campground that appeared to have no fewer than 100 other campers. Shortly after waking up, I had a dehydrated meal and began packing up camp. I was on the road again not long after 7:00am. Backroads took me toward Muskegon, and not long after reaching the outskirts of town, I was greeted by a path that wound along Muskegon Lake. Once I was closer to town, I was stopped at a crossing and a gentleman struck up a conversation with me. It turns out he is a priest, and is familiar with Dixon, IL as (I believe) a seminarian he was familiar with had been at a church in Dixon. We had a pleasant time chatting, and went our respective ways, but before parting Fr. Bill had recommended a coffee shop at my request. I had slept well the night prior, but I just didn't feel like I had my usual get-up-and-go. Perhaps piling up the miles was starting to take its toll on me? Surely, coffee would address this. After getting coffee at a quite shop in downtown, I rode back toward Muskegon Lake to take in USS LST 393, which is a World War II tank-landing ship that now functions as a historical exhibit/museum. While the ship was open for tours, the coffee had kicked in, and I was ready for some pedaling. I took backroads further south toward Grand Haven, but prior to riding through Grand Haven, I rode through a small town named Ferrysburg. I noticed a, "Turkey Crossing" sign and moments later along the side of the road heard the unmistakable, signature gobbling of turkeys. A dozen turkeys were foraging and trotting along through the yards of several homes along Dogwood Drive. Riding through Grand Haven required getting on a few busy roads, but these were short spurts. After crossing the US-31 bridge, I opted to take a less traveled route further into town. The road seemed a little beat up, but it was nothing that I hadn't ridden on before. That was until I made a turn, and saw standing water covering the road ahead of me for a length that appeared to be 30 yards or so. I stopped to survey whether or not I should proceed further. Much like driving through standing (or moving) water, riding through standing water is ill-advised. Fortunately, based on where the water was, I could tell where the crest of the road was. I also had the benefit of approximating how deep the water was when a few vehicles crept by and through the waters. I judged that traversing the waters was feasible, and after another car crept through the water I followed. At its deepest, while riding on/near the crest of the road, the waters were about a foot and a half deep, as the pedals of the bike were easily submerged while riding through.
I continued southward toward Holland. While there was a connector path that paralleled the road, staying on the smoother pavement of the road was an easy choice. The path seemed like it was due for resurfacing, as there were consistent, jarring bumps every 12 feet or so. When riding through Holland, the route took me by a recycling center that had some interesting junk/scrap art. From here, I continued winding southward along backroads toward Saugatuck. Shortly after arriving in Saugatuck, I noticed there was a unique ferry that crossed the Kalamazoo river: a chain ferry. To my recollection, I don't ever recall having ridden on a chain ferry before, the ferry ride lopped about two miles of riding on the planned route, $2.00 was inexpensive for a one-way trip, and the ferry was soon to depart: ferry ride, it was. After doing some research, it wasn't surprising to learn that I hadn't ridden on a chain ferry before: the chain ferry in Saugatuck, named Diane, is the only remaining hand cranked chain ferry of its kind remaining in the United States. The operator cranked away, forcing the chains to clank as the ferry proceeded 250 feet toward the opposite rivershore. Once across the river, I continued on 19 miles toward South Haven. A majority of the route between Saugatuck and South Haven was along the Blue Start Highway, which predates the interstate that it parallels. Its relegation as a secondary route, versus the interstate, made it ideal for cycling on as traffic volume was low along the entire route to South Haven. Once in town, I stopped for dinner at Clementines, which had a old timey saloon vibe, and true to this vibe had a decent selection of beer. Two back-to-back days of 85 miles of riding depletes carbohydrates, and I like replenishing those through a variety of sources.
After dinner, it was a short six mile ride along the Blue Star Highway to Van Buren State Park where I would camp for the evening. After setting up camp, I showered and felt more human again. It shouldn't go without saying: on a trip like this not all campgrounds have showers, and it doesn't take long to get a wicked malodor going. When a shower is available, I almost always take advantage of it. Two more days of riding were between me and Dixon, and the final day of riding was going to be a short 50-ish miles. These realities made falling asleep easy.
