7/30 - Farwell – Frankenmuth - Day 45
 

The theme for the day was: "All Smiles to Frankenmuth".

As we woke up this morning the skies were clear and blue. All the rain from yesterday was gone. We were heading southeast about ninety miles to Michigan's Little Bavaria" ( http://www.frankenmuth.org/ ). Following breakfast, we were on the road by 7:15. The sun was shining and must have been in the lower 70's. The route included a wonderful bike path for about twenty-four miles.

The bike path is a converted railroad bed. These types of bike paths are called "Rails to Trails" ( http://www.railstotrails.org ). They make use of the right of ways of old railroad tracks that are no longer used. The paths are usually flat and mostly straight. Perfect for bikes. The trails are paved and usually have restrooms along side of the path as well. I would love to see more of them.

After we left the bike path, we returned to the road. The roads today were in great shape as well. It was only a matter of time until several of us started to pick up the pace all the way to the picnic stop in at the 57-mile mark. Joe's cyclometer indicated that our average was 19.9 MPH. Pretty fast for us. After lunch we had only about 30 miles to go. The temperature had been creeping up and must have been in the low to mid 80's. The sky was now filling up with big white puffy clouds. Not really threatening rain, but maybe a warning for this evening.

We are mostly camping on this trip. When we get to the evening's destination (usually a school) we set up our tents. Someone pointed out last night that we are typically spending only 3 hours or so in doors each day. I guess he's correct. About the only time we're inside is to eat or to go to the bathroom. The rest of the time, we're on our bikes or sleeping.

We hit the town of Frankenmuth by 3:15. Had an ice cream cone and now I'm in the local library writing up the logs for the day. Now it's off the Frankenmuth High School to put up the tent and get ready for dinner a 5:30. Talk about a structured day!