Round Lake Michigan - Rest Day

Relaxing, reading and restoring in St. Ignace

The original online journal entry:

Yellow Flower.
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Mackinaw Bridge.
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Actual Date: 2005-07-16
Uploaded: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:07:12 -040
Distance: 0.00 km

Today is the kind of rest day that I've been waiting for. Let me describe it for you.

It started with 12 solid, incredibly peaceful hours of sleep.

When I eventually did roll out of the hammock I enjoyed a VERY long hot shower, did my laundry and then spent most of the rest of the day reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham from start to finsh. It's an excellent book. I am lucky that the campground I am at has a book lending library that allows you to borrow or trade a book during your stay.

A neat thing about this campground is that I stayed here, in the same campsite, during my Round Lake Huron tour last year. When I eventually go around Lake Superior the tour will start in Cadillac allowing me to once again visit St. Ignace and link all five tours through the common great lake theme, war of 1812 (Erie/Ontario/Huron) and St. Ignace (Huron/Michigan/Superior).

I noticied today the incredibly funny tan lines that I have developed. Farmer tan arms and legs, shimano sandal tan and the white glove look for my hands.

I also spent some time today taking pictures. It was nice to just wander around aimlessly taking pictures as the mood struck me.

While at the beach taking pictures I managed to befriend a dog that loved fetching a stick. I think I threw it around 50 times and he always came back for more. Very well mannered and behaved he was.

Supper consisted of a great steak dinner with a fresh salad, fully loaded baked potato, some vegetables and a strawberry crumble for desert. Mmmmm!

Someone parasailing.
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A picture of the shoreline.
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Tomorrow I start on the road west. Forecast is calling for the hottest day of the year for this area but this has been the forecast everyday since Chicago. The road is reported to have mild hills and winds are generally from the west.

Scenery is expected to be gorgeous and with the extra time margin I've gained I should be able to spend a bit more time soaking up the tour.

My batteries are fully charged and I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike. Tomorrow should be a great day.

Once again I am planning to get up at 04:30 to take advantage of whatever cool air is available and if I am really lucky maybe see another amazing dawn like the one on the first day of my tour!

Off to bed.

~Jamie N

Post tour comments about this day:

A very friendly dog!
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A soon to be setting sun.
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There really isn't very much to add to the online journal entry. I needed a rest day and this turned out to be more of a rest day then almost any other rest day on any tour. The only other rest day that came close was my first rest day of my Round Lake Erie tour when I also lazed around and read a book.

Looking back I think I enjoyed taking some pictures, playing fetch with that wonderful dog for an hour and meeting some of the very friendly locals.

The rest of the day was about perfect for my needs too. Lounging around reading a book was such a change from my daily routine at either home or while riding the distances that it was a great break.

As it turned out this was my only rest day of the tour. St. Ignace was a great place for a day like this simply because I absolutely love the area. I am looking forward to my return there one day.

Pretty flowers!
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