June 30 To the limit

Dear Mom,
As I write from cycling summer camp, I wanted to tell you thanks for all the good advice you gave me growing up. Stuff like "Always clean your plate" and "Whatever is worth doing, is even better in excess". I'll always remember you telling me I was never really happy unless I was slightly uncomfortable. And thanks for that first bike, you remember the StingRay with one gear and the gold leaf seat? Look what it's led to!
Your type "A" son Gary

Last night, the nice librarian at the Park Falls Public Library told me of a big construction project on SR 70 east of town that I surely wanted to miss, and in fact traffic was being rerouted north in part. This was going to be a long day! In a gentle misty rain, I head further north along SR 182 up to Manitowish before starting the long tour of county roads eastward, truly in nowhere's-ville lake country for 70+ miles (that's 5" of my map!), taking me thru such hamlets as Boulder Junction, Star Lake, Conover, Phelps and Nelma. All very isolated, all very beautiful in their greenery, all very wet in their veil of mist. At times today I felt like the broccoli in the QFC produce department getting the hourly dampening. The communities were diverse: Boulder Junction was a "Looky Lou"tourist destination with an arts and crafts market and many SUVs scurrying about, Star Lake had a good share of trophy homes sitting proudly on secluded lakes separated by a roller coaster of small hills, Conover was a trailer park, Phelps' downtown was a complete mud puddle while undergoing replacement of all its roads and I don't remember Nelma because I was too tired.
At long last after 12 hours, I reach the main road again and run the last few miles to the Michigan border. I am SO damp from the on and off rain and from sweating all day, and SO tired. It was SO nice to see the AmericInn sign in Iron River that I almost forgot everything else. That is, til I saw that my tripmeter said 120 miles today!!
Dinner was enormous and washed down with an entire bottle of a fine Pinot Noire. And yes Mom, I cleaned my plate, cycled and ate to excess and was uncomfortably happy all day...
Love you and thanks. You are here with me...