The ferry arrived in Milwaukee just as the sun was setting. As we hadn’t yet arranged for a place to spend the night, we debated skipping the city altogether and riding 20 miles south to find a camping spot. A light rain started to fall, so after sending some futile last-minute CouchSurfing requests, we booked a room at the Ramada Inn downtown.
We showered at the hotel, and, having just spent several hours on a ferry instead of on bikes, were feeling energetic and ready to experience some Milwaukee nightlife. I found a great thread on the Milwaukee sub-reddit and made a list of everything we should check out during our stay. One bar on the list, The Safe House, was just around the corner.
The Safe House is a spy-themed bar. There’s a doorman to whom you whisper the password; a bookcase then opens to grant access to the bar. If you don’t know the password, you must suffer a hazing ritual; to your further embarassment, a live video feed of the entranceway is broadcast on every TV in the bar.
Inside is essentially a playground for adults. All the drinks are spy-themed, and many come with souvenir pint glasses (Erin took home the Spy’s Demise glass). There are secret rooms, crazy mirrors, and telephone booths into which you can enter codes to play recordings. One of several bars is tended by a magician, who we watched perform card tricks, swallow a balloon, and generally entertain the audience.
Upstairs was a couple enjoying some drinks by themselves. They overheard us talking about our trip and we made introductions and small talk. They were Milwaukee natives, yet were also first-timers at The Safe House. We decided to all go out for dinner (and more drinks), having just arrived at the bar after the kitchen closed for the night. Unfortunately, we were in too much of a hurry to find the secret exit.
We walked over a small bridge to Rock Bottom Brewery with our new friends, Tony and Allyssa. The food and conversation were both great. Apparently, they didn’t get many opportunities to hang out with other couples, so they greatly enjoyed our company. We checked out a few more downtown bars until I showed my hand by ordering a gin & tonic. This usually means I’ve had enough to drink for the night, so Tony dropped us off at the hotel.
Judging by the list we made of things to do in Milwaukee, it was clear we’d be staying at least another day. So while Tony and Allyssa were at work, we checked off the items on our list.
We relaxed in the grass along the coast, near the science center and other attractions. Then we made our way south, checking out the Pabst mansion, touring the Lakefront brewery, and grabbing a bite to eat at Alterra Coffee on the way.
As the sun went down, we hopped from bar to bar on Kinnikinnic Avenue, where some of the more hip establishments are located. Eventually, Tony got home from work and invited us to stay for the night. When Allyssa joined us, we enjoyed more drinks and some dinner at Cafe Centraal, which was supposedly named the most bike-friendly restaurant/bar in Milwaukee.
To conclude the night, we drove to a more residential area where Tony remembered finding a speakeasy called At Random. We eventually arrived, and were the only patrons there to keep the older couple running the place busy. The drink list was similar to that of the Velvet Tango Room, but the atmosphere was terribly dated (and obviously, the Velvet Tango Room wouldn’t have been empty). I took it easy (due in part to the $10 cocktails) and ordered a large drink that included ice cream.
On the way out of town in the morning, we rode over to an Einstein Bros. Bagels for breakfast. Conveniently, Allyssa was working there at the time, and Tony also stopped in for a visit. We enjoyed a good breakfast, said our goodbyes, and hopped on the highway heading south…
Some quick data while I work on writing the backlog of our trip…
We made some changes to our route in Ann Arbor. Our plan was to pass through Kalamazoo, Michigan and Gary, Indiana on our way to Chicago. But we looked into taking a ferry across Lake Michigan when we heard that Gary might be a bit hazardous to our health and morale. So after enjoying the Lake Folk show and spending the night in Ann Arbor, we headed out for Lansing and Grand Rapids.
We set up camp in the wilderness of the Pinckney State Recreation Area. The isolated areas were all overgrown, so our only option was to clear a spot in a covered circle of trees and bushes.
We didn’t get much sleep that night. It was hot, the road was very close, and we encountered our first critter. In the middle of the night, Erin spotted the silhouette of something big passing by. It started sniffing and snorting when it detected us, but luckily didn’t feel the need to further challenge these terrified campers or browse our food selection.
The next day, we sent out some CouchSurfing requests to various folks living northwest of Lansing. We saw some nice parts of the city as we passed through, but our only stop was for some groceries at a Meijer, where we learned that our new CouchSurfing hosts were just a few miles down the road.
Trever and Natalee were excited to host us—their first CouchSurfers—at their apartment in Grand Ledge. We went out to dinner at Cancun Mexican Grill, where I ordered what turned out to be the most impressive looking Mexican dish I’ve ever seen (and very tasty, too). We talked about our new route and the ferry, and our hosts recommended we check out Grand Haven—apparently, the place where everyone in Michigan wants to be. After dinner, Trever and Natalee took us to the rock ledges that gave Grand Ledge its name. It was a long and tricky walk in the dark, so the many bike headlights we brought came in handy.
We said our goodbyes in the morning and began the 55-mile ride to Grand Rapids. Erin was experiencing pain in her Achilles tendon by lunch time, so we applied some ointment and bandages and tried to take it easy. The sun was just going down as we rolled into Grand Rapids, so we started calling motels and contacting CouchSurfers from a park downtown, with no immediate success. Across the street was a restaurant with great reviews called One Trick Pony. We decided to mull over our lodging situation over dinner.
I ordered the pecan-crusted salmon at One Trick Pony, which was the best meal I’d had on the trip so far. When it came time for dessert, the waitress gave it to us on the house, on account of the exciting adventure we were on! To make the evening even better, I got a call from a CouchSurfer less than an hour after contacting her. Ama said she’d be happy to host us at her duplex a few minutes from downtown, despite being tired and overworked during our visit.
Before leaving the restaurant, I noticed that a lot of people were checking into a place called the Lyon Street Water Slide on foursquare. This struck me as a bit strange, since it was getting pretty late. So I asked around, and learned that there was indeed a water slide set up on a nearby street. In fact, the entire downhill portion of the road was closed off just for this special two-day event, and people were waiting for up to five hours for a free ride! Interesting…
When it came time to leave in the morning, it became apparent that Erin’s tendons needed a day of rest. So, while we were visiting the water slide just to take a peek, we made the decision to take the day off and get in line!
As expected, the slide—rather, the line for it—took up most of our day. We ended up waiting about four hours for a ride, but it was worth the wait. Others seemed to agree, since it appeared that nearly everyone in Grand Rapids was there. It was a slow day followed by a relaxing evening.
In the morning we left for Grand Haven, figuring we’d kill some time before the ferry left from Muskegon. When we rolled across the bridge into town, it became apparent why Trever and Natalee had spoken highly of it. There were beautiful beaches and boardwalks, and clean, bike-friendly streets. A sign informed us that Grand Haven is known as “Coast Guard City, USA.” It felt a lot like Newport, Rhode Island, where I grew up.
Figuring it would be appropriate to order some seafood for lunch, we sat down outdoors at The Grand, a nice downtown restaurant. Our waiter, Gavin, was incredibly friendly and talkative. He was very interested in our trip and excited to tell us all about Grand Haven—he even recommended staying overnight, so we’d have time to absorb more of the city.
Still planning to catch the ferry that night, we spent the afternoon at the beach swimming and building sand castles. Lake Michigan is so big that it was nearly indistinguishable from a beach on the ocean.
While walking back to our bikes, we noticed that the beach had camping spots for tents and trailers, and it appeared to be quite a popular activity that night. For the low price of $29, we couldn’t pass it up. So we took Gavin’s advice and spent the night, setting up our tent right on the beach. We showered and then rode our bikes to the closest movie theater to catch Piranha 3D, which is just what you’d expect. The theater employees let us in for free with no reason given.
In the morning we got the best breakfast Grand Haven has to offer at the Morning Star Cafe. A quick stop at the bike shop around the corner and we were ready for our last ride in Michigan.
It didn’t take us long to reach Muskegon, but it did take a little too much effort to find the Lake Express ferry. The tickets were also far too expensive, but at this point we had no choice. As the only cyclists, we got to board first, followed by the cars. We settled in next to a power outlet so we could charge our phones, then explored the deck as the ferry left the harbor.
Upon departing the harbor at an average pace, it soon became apparent why the Lake Express is called a high-speed ferry. That thing really moves! Standing on the deck is only reasonable for a few minutes before the wind becomes so strong that it’s hard to move. We took some pictures and returned to our seats until our arrival in Milwaukee…
Friends and family met us at Lakewood Park on Sunday to send us off—two days later than we originally planned.
We finally hit the road a little after 3pm, but stopped at Century Cycles in Rocky River for some last minute supplies.
The ride to Oberlin was slow, but we made it. It took us quite a few miles to get used to the weight of the bikes—each carrying about 50 pounds.
There weren’t many people on campus at the time, so we just picked up some Chinese food and started scouting out a good spot to set up for the night. We settled on a hidden clearing next to a chapel and unloaded our gear.
That turned out to be a terrible idea. For one thing, the bells tolled every hour—even at 2am. And the benches around the corner turned out to be a popular late-night hangout for students looking to drink on the down-low. After the second rowdy group left, I gave in and looked up the closest motel. At 3am, we quickly packed it up and rode to the motel in the dark of the night. This turned out to be my favorite few miles of riding so far. The air was cool, there was absolutely nobody on the road, and we could only see as far as the reach of our headlights.
After showers and breakfast at the motel on Monday, we left for Fremont, Ohio.
Unfortunately, we didn’t discover the North Coast Inland Trail until we arrived in Fremont, so the ride could have been faster and easier than it was. While looking for a place to camp, we found the trail and met a new friend: John, a 26-year-old mechanical engineer contracting on a project in Fremont. After sending us off with suggested camping locations, he caught up to us and offered his place for the night. We gladly accepted and ended up having a great time.
The next morning we hopped on the trail and enjoyed another day of perfect weather. We ran into Elmore Cycle & Fitness along the trail and stopped in for some tune-ups on Erin’s bike. The head mechanic, Mike, was interested in the gear we chose to pack and eagerly offered some helpful advice (such as picking up 12oz of heat antifreeze at a gas station to replace the 32oz of denatured alcohol we’re carrying for cooking). Mike posts photos of passing tourers and his ultralight setups on his Flickr stream (photos of us coming soon).
We eventually reached and promptly exited Toledo, which had terrible roads for cycling and the worst drivers. Everyone had some stupid comment for us—none of them demonstrating any knowledge of the actual rules of the road, of course. So we rode until we reached Temperance, Michigan, and found the perfect stealth camping spot behind some trees.
This morning was the earliest we’ve started yet, waking up at 7:00 to make breakfast and pack up, and hitting the road by 9:00. After 15 miles, we took a short break in Dundee, which was home to every imaginable fast-food chain on just a half-mile stretch, but also a cute and clean downtown area.
The remainder of the trip was spent riding directly north on some very sparsely populated roads, singing songs and taking pictures along the way to cure our boredom.
We rolled into Ann Arbor a little after 1pm and met up with our friends, Erin and Bryan (funny, right?) at their apartment. We’re about to leave for the bar to see their band Lake Folk perform. We’ll be taking advantage of these comfy couches tonight and leaving for Kalamazoo after lunch tomorrow!
Over the next few days, I’ll be posting all the gear Erin and I are bringing on our bike trip to Seattle. I’m a determined comparison shopper and bargain hunter, so every last item here was meticulously researched, and we got great deals on almost everything. Maybe these posts will save you some time if you’re planning a similar adventure!
Today’s post: our camping gear.
We’ll be spending our nights in The North Face’s Big Fat Frog 2-person tent:
One of the highest rated tents on REI, I bought it there during their big sale earlier this summer, and saved some money by purchasing the footprint from Rock/Creek.
Since our bodies will likely be aching after riding for hours every day, we each have our own REI Trekker 1.75 self-inflating sleeping pad. To save on weight and space, we’re only bringing one sleeping bag, replacing the other with a Cocooon ripstop silk liner. We can always share the sleeping bag if necessary, so I’m betting that this tradeoff is going to be worthwhile.
We’ll be cooking our meals on the road with the Mini Trianga 28-T backpacking stove:
This tiny stove burns denatured alcohol and comes with a pot and pan. While we’ll mostly be using this just to boil water, I’m looking forward to learning how to cook meals as quickly and efficiently as possible with this limited equipment. CampSaver.com had the best deal on this stove.
And why bring along some normal household utensils when we can use the Guyot Designs MicroBites and the Snow Peak titanium spork? If there’s an everyday item that has a fancy backpacking equivalent, I had to have it. :)
For campsite lighting we have the Black Diamond Orbit lantern and the Mammut TR1 headlamp:
Both are super bright. Unfortunately, Steve’s dog chewed up the lantern, which does in fact resemble a dog toy. It still works fine - a testament to its durability, at least. Oregon Mountain Community had the best deal on the headlamp.
Other miscellanous items…
Think I’m missing something? Help me out in the comments!
In my next post, I’ll write about the most important gear - our bikes and accessories.