There is Sunshine in My Soul Today...

But, pretty much nowhere else. It rained again on us---almost the entire day. We did have a few intermittent clear spells, but then the rain would start up again. To our left there was a tiny patch of clear sky trying to poke thru, but ahead of us and to the right of us were black clouds. Lake Michigan was on our left all day, but we didn't acutally see it very much because of the fog. I needed windshield wipers on my glasses. At one point, I was telling Joy just to follow the sound of my voice. (It was a joke, but not that far from the truth.)

Today's ride: Mackinaw City to Manistique---88 miles. We had to be shuttled across the Mackinac Bridge in the Michigan Coast Riders van. They only allow cyclists to actually ride across the bridge a couple of times a year. Here we are, giddy to start a new day.
Joy, JB and Loren in the front seat. Jeanne and Mike in the back.



The 5-mile long Mackinac Bridge looks like the Golden Gate Bridge. It connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, and bridges the Mackinac Staits which connect Lake Huron with Lake Michigan.

And yes, it was already raining.

A popular food item in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) is a pasty. Rhymes with nasty, I've yet to try one. They look to me like a cross between a chicken pot pie and a turnover, but drier. Any kind of meat can be used and a variety of vegetables. (I even saw a sign advertising bison pasties.) My postcard says pasties "taste best with ketchup and margarine or gravy on the side." I, also, saw a sign for "pasty pizza." Maybe we'll consider adding that to the Pier 49 menu....um, probably not.

Joy and I looking for a potty...and a diet coke.

When in this part of the country, be sure not to miss the Smelt Fest.

The Yoopers (folks who live in the U.P.) are very friendly.

Do you think this looks like a columbine? That was our best guess.

The rain really is getting ridiculous. To pass the time while riding, Joy and I were singing any song we could think of with rain or clouds or sunshine in the title. Some of our Top 40: "Sunshine on my Shoulders" by John Denver; "Singin' in the Rain", of course; and "Blue Skies Shinin' on Me, Nothin' but Blue Skies Do I See"---we were beginning to hallucinate. Can you think of any others to add to our medley?

I, even, remembered a poem by Shel Silverstein that ends with "So pardon the wild, crazy thing I just said, I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head."

After dinner, the skies had cleared a bit and it was really quite pleasant for a walk along the beach.