Travel On a Bicycle Built for Two: Day Fifty Six - Phelps, Wisconsin to Crystal Falls, Michigan

Day 56

July 11th

Saturday

54 Miles
Phelps, Wisconsin to Crystal Falls, Michigan

An early start at six hoping to beat some of today's heat. High humidity and sunshine makes for a hot day starting around 10 am.

We had several large hills early in the day then the route leveled out until we reached Michigan. In Michigan the hills were longer and steeper and the back roads pretty rough. We broke a spoke on a trailer wheel.

We took a wrong turn, up a long hill. Three Pekingese dogs chased us. Since we were climbing they had no problem catching us, then they didn't know what to do so they ran a long with us for a short while. Thankfully there was no traffic and they were never in danger before going back in their yard.

Once back on the correct route we rode through farm land with hay bales and forest. We passed several lakes that were busy with fishermen and families enjoying water sports. The forest were thick with foliage and tall trees, the floor covered with soft grass and ferns. The way the sun was shining from straight above, the forest looked like what you would imagine a forest to look like in a fairytale.

We stopped for a break in Caspian, a small town built on a hill. Their water tower had a smiley face on it.

When we arrived in Crystal Falls we decided to camp at the Paint River Campground. It was a nice campground with shade, showers and clean facilities for $15. The only drawback was mosquitoes, ticks, and lots of bugs in general. As Ronnie keeps saying, "we are camping".

Crystal Falls was built on a steep hill above the Paint River. There were a lot of remarkable homes built in the late 1800's that had been updated. At the top of the hill overlooking Main Street stood a grand City Hall with a clock tower that rang bells that could be heard for miles on the hour and half hour. We ate a very good sandwich with lots of veggies on homemade bread at a very busy, locally owned Sommer's Deli.