Leaving Scott’s house early, we rode along the waterfront park, then onto US2/41 toward Escanaba. The shoulder was good until we got to the city limits, where it was four-lane, no shoulder, so we rode for a mile or so on the rough sidewalk. We stopped for groceries, then wove our way through shopping center parking lots close enough to brave the main road for a couple of blocks, where US2/41 turned right and Michigan 35 continued straight.

We thought the “scenic route” along M-35 would be relatively traffic-free, but it turned out that, because it is shorter and there is only one “town,” it is the main truck route south. There was a good shoulder until we reached the Menominee County line, where it shrank to barely as wide as our trailer track. We also entered the Central Time Zone here.

A stop at a roadside turnout with an artesian well was all too brief, as we were immediately swarmed with mosquitoes, the product of a combination of rain and hot, muggy days in the last two weeks. We pedaled furiously for more than a mile before the last of the swarm fell away.

We arrived at Cedar River early, because of the time zone change: the Lighthouse Pub, the only food in town other than the gas station down the road, had just opened, so we had a leisurely lunch (bar food) before checking into the only motel along the 60-mile stretch. The Riverview Inn did not have a view of the river because of heavy brush behind the unit, and, like almost every commercial establishment in the U.P., was for sale. The owner said she stayed open through deer season. Since it was not deer season, we were the only customers. The only WiFi was a community paid subscription service, too weak to be reliable, so we took our computer back across the street to the Pub for free WiFi, but ended up consuming huge quantities of fried bar food in the process.

We retired early, but I awoke about 4:00am and found I could now get good enough signal to fork over $3.00 for slow internet access from the room. Once again, breakfast was from our stash of emergency supplies (the gas station had nothing we could eat).