After a brief drizzle and the hill on the way to US 2, we headed for Gulliver, where we made a Gatorade stop and chatted briefly with a fiber optic cable crew before turning westward once more toward Manistique, the first “real” town since leaving St. Ignace. Outside Manistique, we stopped at the local airport to check the weather radar, as thunderstorms had been predicted. We also spotted a cow sculpture and scarecrow in a field–local folk art.

We also saw two bike tourists headed east as we came into town. We lunched on hot pasties (the first one we bought at St. Ignace and ate at Epoufette had been frozen and thawed in our panniers) at the huge Jack’s supermarket. We came out to a steady drizzle, which abated somewhat as we turned north on Michigan 94 and then west on county road 442, following the Adventure Cycling map. Leaving town, we saw another bike tourist headed east. The county road climbed gradually eight miles to a corner gas station/fishing supply store, where we replenished our Gatorade and water supply before tackling the ever steeper hills ahead.

Finally, we reached the summit just north of Cooks, and zoomed through the tiny town, unfortunately breaking a spoke as we cross the railroad tracks. Only a few miles from our destination, we continued on, after bending the loose end out of the way. A stop at a roadside rest let the rain catch up with us, but we also got reassurance from the attendent that we were near our destination, the Big Bay Getaway Motel, the only and last motel for 25 miles. No restaurants, either. We dined on leftover fruit and muffins from breakfast, an apple we had picked up in Naubinway the day before, and the last of the cheese sticks we had carried in our panniers since our stay at Shanty Creek more than a week ago. For breakfast, we reserved a couple of bagels we bought at Jack’s in Manistique, to eat with peanut butter or Nutella we had also carried for the last week and have used for emergency breakfast from time to time.

The next day will be short, as we need to wait for the rain to pass and replace the broken spoke, which involves removing the rear wheel, tire, and tube. There is no telephone service for either of our phones here, and Internet access is only available, when it works at all, at the office at the small mom & pop motel on the beach, where they supplement income from the few travelers who stop with day care. Phones and Internet went out shortly after we arrived.