A new day--a new state!

Day 40: Iron River, WI to Ironwood, MI--70 miles

We polished off Wisconsin today! It tried to get us--but we presevered.

We had to eat breakfast at the restaurant that rejected us last night because it was the only place open in the morning. It was actually good food and good service, so we were happier leaving Iron River than when we arrived. The waitress asked if we wanted Bloody Mary's because she had served about 10 of them already this morning...wow! We passed on that--figuring our ride would be enough of a challenge without alcohol dehydration.

We headed out into a healthy headwind (oh, where are the prevailing westerlies???). The terrain was hilly like the day before--just one hill after another. We found a little "pothole" pond at the bottom of each hill before we headed up the other side. I guess the terrain is what makes all those ponds happen... So we climbed and descended over and over again--and it made our mph go to way down.

The scenery really was beautiful today--lots of green trees and ponds in the morning until we arrived beside Lake Superior near Ashland. We found a bike path to ride on, and were right beside the water for a bit! Fun! Ashland is a really nice town right on the lake--very resorty--and we wished we had been able to stay for the night. Lots of things were closed for Sunday, but they have a very nice historic downtown area and lots of fun shops. Another place on our list of places to return to...

We wasted a coupld of miles and some time searching for a computer in Ashland. No luck there--because it was Sunday and the only two places were closed. So we headed out of town to see if we could have better luck in Ironwood, MI--our destination.

Once we left Ashland, we started seeing lots of dairy farms--I guess the source of all that Wisconsin cheese! They were really neat to look at, and we had lots of time to do so as we were still climbing and descending on a regular basis. We went through the Bad River Indian Reservation and up a huge hill called Birch Hill. We had been warned about this one, and it turns out the warning was real!

Unfortunately, we didn't get a complementary downhill--we just mostly climbed for the rest of the afternoon. We did, however, get some spectacular views of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands off the coast. I had a little melt-down at about 65 miles. I was DONE with this ride, but we weren't to town yet. I had done my Old Rum imitation, but it left me 5 miles short. In addition it had started sprinkling, which was another problem! I got over myself in about 3 miles when we got to the Michigan state line! I cheered up considerably when we reached town, and then became downright happy when we found a motel with a COMPUTER!

We are staying at the Budget Host Inn here, and it is one of the best motels we have found yet. Very clean with nice hosts. They gave us a bigger room because we have the bikes, and we will luxuriate with a couch and extra space until tomorrow. This is a great little place, and I encourage you to stay here if you're ever in Ironwood! We found some good dinner (and David reveled in Sierra Nevada beer) at Romeo's in town and then came back to blog away!

The next 5 or 6 days will find us in the Upper Peninsula (UP for short). We have about 300 miles to cover before we head into Canada. Due to the iron ore in the ground here, I hear that cell phone coverage will be spotty! Hopefully, we'll be able to find some computers along the way...