You know you've been "on holiday" too long when you watch both 'The Terminator' and 'Rambo' movies til way late in the morning, wake up rubbing your red eyes looking at an empty 40 oz. beer bottle and half-eaten bag of licorice on the bedside table. But, national birthdays wait for noone, not even tired bikers...
Today was 90 more miles of very scenic Rte. 2, most under ideal weather conditions, from Manistique to St. Ignace, which concluded my tour of the upper peninsula (UP) of Michigan. But I was not alone: traffic was double from yesterday, and the constant whir and whistle in my left year wore down my patience by days end. Bad thoughts came into my head. I swore and practised what my friend Jerry taught me "Bad air out, good air in"... In huge numbers on the roadway today were fire trucks, doing double duty as parade participants and late night wardens of firework displays.
Seems that the Cornish miners, when they settled the UP in the 1800s from the Cornwall area of the United Kingdom, brought with them the pasty (pass-tee), a dough wrapped meat and potato meal-in-one, and this traditional meal spread throughout the region and down to today. In fact the roads are lined with Pasty shops. So tonite's in-motel dinner consists of 2 large pasties with coleslaw and pickle, washed down with 2 Fosters Ales, and finished off with 5 choco-chip cookies (comps from the Quality Inn's staff), all the while being entertained by time trials of the Tour de France. (I have had occasion of late, as I cycle all alone across some long expanse of road, to dream of being on a solo breakaway... You know, a guy thing...)
With my senses overloaded from today's events and the pleasure gland satiated, we forego the fireworks event in town and opt for some actual sleep. Happy birthday, USA!!!
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