A fall ride and walk.

It would have been a frosty ride to church this morning, so we took the car.  When we came out of church it was still chilly, with a brisk wind.  Decided we were going to ride anyway.  It was supposed to warm up to 60 later.

Came home, changed into our biking gear, packed a picnic lunch,  including a thermos of hot chocolate,

checked the tires on the trike, added air, and headed out.  This is our back driveway and where our rides from home begin.

Our front driveway is pretty steep, so we feel much safer going down the back drive.

This is the top of our driveway, looking at our neighbors house.

What a pretty day for a ride.  The colors are not at their peak yet, but are still very pretty.

 Even the pine trees are changing color and dropping some needles.

The self milking barn is coming along.  it now has a roof, and there is a little side building, about the size of a one stall garage that is at the front of the property.  No idea what that will be used for.  Perhaps they intend to heat the self milking barn with a wood burning furnace and that is the building the furnace and the wood will go in.  Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I could tell that Tony was felling better than he had on our last ride.  My stoker had some power today.  I sure appreciate his strong legs when it comes to hills.  We didn't use our mountain drive nearly as much as we had on our last ride.   We decided we would only ride 16 miles today.  Tony didn't want to push it too much, we want to get out and ride several times this week, the weather is supposed to be great.  In reality, I think he wanted to be home to hear the Tigers in the play offs.

We had our lunch on the benches by the church.  It was a nice break.  Then we headed home.

Went by 2 wild apple trees that were full of apples, so we stopped and picked some.  Ate a few on the way home.  They were very tasty.

We didn't take Button with us today, so when we got home we decided to take him for a walk.  He was a very happy fellow to go.  We walked our regular 2 mile course.

Starting off on the hill from our house then circling around by the lake.  Tony was listening to the  baseball play offs on his radio, so he and Button stayed put when I walked down to the lake to take some pictures.

  I find it amusing that on the way down the steps there is a sign that says "No Motorcycles."  I guess someone must have taken a motor cycle down to the beach once or twice, so the Property Owners Association thought they needed a sign.  It is sure up high on the tree.  I wonder if a motorcycle rider would even see it.  Perhaps they do, I've never seen one on the beach with his cycle.

From there we headed home.  I was taking a few pictures, when I spotted this big wasp nest in a tree.

I'm surprised that the strong winds we had didn't blow it down.

Took a few more pictures as we headed towards home.   We are so blessed to live in such a pretty place, close to the lake and with such pretty scenery and wild life all around us.  It was a good day to be outdoors.  I hope to get some more pictures as the colors continue to turn.   We rode 16 miles today and walked 2 miles.

Work today, ride tomorrow

We have had a rainy, rainy week, so no riding for us.  It's probably just as well.  What Tony thought was a pulled muscle, ended up being an infection.  He was in quite a bit of pain, finally gave in, and went to see our family Dr.  She put him on an antibiotic.  That in itself is a scary thing.  Tony doesn't do well on antibiotics, or any other pharmaceutical drug, which is a big reason why we choose to do natural medicine as much as we can.  Tony had already been on a variety of natural things for 3 weeks, so reluctantly, he agreed to take the prescription meds our  Dr. recommended.   When he got on the scale, he was happy to see that he had gained 4 pounds.  Not sure if it was from the shakes he has been drinking or from inactivity.  I hope that he can hold onto the weight he gained.

He is now on day 3 and feeling better. In fact, as I write this, he is downstairs, lifting weights.  That is a sure sign he is on the road to recovery.

Meanwhile, I have been trying to get our reverse osmosis  (RO) water system working properly.  We had some problems with a leak at the base of the faucet earlier this summer. Ended up with a flood twice.

 Called a plumber, the guy that came was puzzled by it, after working on it for about and hour, he admitted he wasn't sure if it was fixed or not, and that he really wasn't a plumber.  Hmm..the place I called was called "Mr. Plumber," and I asked for a plumber.  Why did they send me this guy?  Since he wasn't sure he fixed it, (I think he was pretty sure he hadn't fixed it, he knew very little about RO systems.) he didn't bill us for his time.  The leak returned in 2 days.

A week later our daughter, son in law and family were visiting.  Our son in law finally managed to track the problem down.  It was an issue that had to do with where the system drained. He got it resolved, no more leaks.  I was happy.

After we returned from our trip to WA, the leak returned as well.  Since then I have had the cold water in the kitchen shut off.  I did some reading about our system and decided that what might be causing the problem was the fact that the membrane and 2 filters likely needed replacing.  Drove 30 miles to a store that had them in stock, came home and proceeded to change them.  They are are quick twist filters, so fairly easy to do, except, I couldn't get the hose out of the membrane.  I called the store, they offered a few suggestions, but it still wouldn't budge.  Tony finally called a friend of ours who came over and showed me how to get it off.  It was a challenge that involved 2 needle nose pliers.  One to push down some little thing that holds the hose in, and the other to pull the hose out with.  Of course the hose isn't even mentioned in the instruction manual or on the DVD that came with the system.

New membrane and filters in, now to purge and pressurize the system.

 Back to the manual, pretty easy to follow instructions.  Get the water out of the line by turning on the kitchen faucet, then shut it off and the  RO tank will begin to fill with water.  It started out making a noise that sounded like the end cycle of a pot of coffee brewing.  I shut it off, and did it all over again, same thing.  Well, I guess that must be what it sounds like when it is pressurizing.  The pressurizing time was 2 hours.  After an hour of hearing the "coffee brewing," I gave in an made a pot of decaf.  It was now 8:30 PM.  At  9PM, I turned the RO faucet on.  The instructions said to leave the faucet on for 24 hours.  The brewing noise continued, but hey, at least I had a cup of coffee, so life wasn't all bad.

After 20 minutes the stream of water stopped and I noticed that the leak at the top of the faucet had returned.  With a sigh, I turned the cold water back off, and decided to work on it tomorrow, which is now today.   As long as I was by the sink, I put my coffee cup in the dishwasher.

Temps today will be in the 50's and it is  still windy, probably not the best day to ride anyway.  The colors are beautiful.  Hoping to get out tomorrow and take some pics.

Yesterday it was so windy along the lake shore in Chicago that they had to close the bike trail on lake shore drive down. Huge waves were knocking cyclist and runners down.  There are several video on the link.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/video/#!/news/local/Huge-Waves-Knock-Down-LSD-Bikers--Runners/130845438

However, today there is some sun in Michigan.  Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 60's and sunny, so after church, we'll come home, and take a little picnic lunch and a color tour ride.

I spent most of the day trying figure out the RO system leak.  Started off by checking the pressure in the tank.  It was a 7 pounds, just like it should be.

 Pretty sure  the leak  had to do with the drain line.  After much effort, I finally got the drain line loose from the drain.   It was dirty.  In order to flush it out, I needed to remove it from the faucet,but of course, I couldn't get it loose.  Nothing in the instructions telling me how to do it.  I called a friend of ours to see if he might know how to get  it loose, and he offered to come and help me.   I took him up on the offer immediately. He and I spent all afternoon working on it.  We got the line loose, cleaned it out, and reassembled the stuff that goes inside the faucet.  It still leaked.  Took it apart again, and changed the O rings, still leaking.  Took it apart again, trimmed each hose just a little incase they weren't fitting just right.  It is still leaking.   Added a washer, so the screw holding it all together would fit better,  still leaking.  He, Tony and I,  had some good laughs while we worked on it, but it is still leaking.

  RO system is under a 3 year warranty, there is obviously something wrong inside the faucet housing.  I will call the company on Monday.   I want no more leaking.  I also want to be able to have the cold water turned on in the kitchen.


 I would have rather been riding.   Oh yeah, the fleas the dog got while we were on vacation, laid some eggs before they died , a new generation has arrived to do battle with.

 Yep, I'll be glad to get out and ride tomorrow.

New tires.

After our tire problems last weekend, we ordered 3 new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires.  They are supposed to be a very good tire, people who use them typically, don't get many flats.  Yep, those are the ones we need for sure.  I was excited when we came home form work Thursday and found that they had arrived.

I had read that they fit very tight on the rim and can be challenging to put on, but  on Friday, I decided to give it a try.  Tony helped me put the trike up on the trailer, so the tire would be at a good height to work with.

 Button was nearby, ready to help, if called upon.

I had watched a You Tube video that showed a guy using a toe strap to hold  the tire on the rim, while he slowly worked the bead on the tire onto the rim.  I didn't have a toe strap, so decided I would use some rope.

It did keep the part I put on from coming off, but didn't make the last 6 inches any easier to get on, they were taut against the tire, behind and in front of the rim.   I tried using the tire lever to ease it on bit by bit, but had no success, it might have worked for the guy on You tube, but it sure didn't work for me.  Tony tried to muscle it one, but couldn't get it on either.  He called the local bike shop, they suggested letting some air out of the tube, said it would go on easy then.  Easy by whose definition?  Not by ours.  They  said if we couldn't get it on ,we could bring it in, and that is exactly what we decided to do.

 Of course the guy who did it made it look easy, but basically, he still had to muscle it on.  This all leaves me a bit concerned about how I will ever get these new tires off or on, if we do have a flat.  I think there is a special tool I can buy that makes the whole process easier, so I think I'll check into that.

The trip to the  bike shop made our day pretty hectic, we had a 90 minute drive to a surprise birthday party for our daughter later in the day.  We got home, unloaded the trike, got cleaned up and were on our way by 4:30.  The party started at 6:30, so we got there with 10 minutes to spare.  We came back home afterwards.

Sunny skies this morning, so we were eager to get out and try out the new tires.  Our local bike shop is knowledgeable about bikes, but they don't know much about trikes.  Typically, bike tires are inflated to about 45 pounds.  Our old tires called for 90 PSI, our local bike shop told us the new tires needed about 45 pounds of air.  That is about half of what we have been riding with, when I questioned them, they told me that 45 was what that tire called for.   I didn't understand how that could work. so I posted on BROL (Bent Rider Online) which is a forum for recumbent riders.  Most responders felt that the tires needed more pressure than 45 PSI, so before we went riding we called Terra Trike in Grand Rapids and asked them how much air to put in.  They checked with their bike mechanics and told us to use 95 PSI, so that is what we did.  The tires did fine and the pressure seemed about right.   I was glad we didn't ride with only 45 PSI, we would have been working way to hard to get going and  to keep the trike moving.

We wanted to try the tires on both hills and on the trail, so we headed to LeRoy.  On our way in  we were riding up a medium sized hill, when I heard a noise from behind us, I asked Tony what he was doing, "Just pedaling," came the reply.  Then an Amish fellow on a recumbent bike pulled up next to us, he was the noise i had been hearing.   He rode next to us for awhile, but it was in spurts, since he had to drop behind us when cars passed, and we would pull ahead of him going down hill.  He would catch back up when we went uphill.  He was quite curious about our trike and we had many questions about a nifty little trailer he was pulling.  He told us it was made in Napanee IN.  It could hold up to 125 lbs, but was pretty light and easy to pull.  It was made of aluminum.   We rode together for several miles, then he turned off and headed to the store, we went onto the White Pine Trail.  WE have quite a few Amish i our area and see them out on bikes or in buggies when we are out riding, but this is the first chance we had to ride with one.  It was a neat experience. It was interesting to talk to him.  Wish I could have taken a picture, but Amish folks don't like to have their picture taken, so I didn't ask.  Here is a link to the trailer he was pulling.  It was pretty cool.
 http://www.bicyclecart.com/
 On the trail, we could see that the fall color season is starting.  Rode through a pretty section where the sumac was bright red.  It was so pretty.  Soon the woods  all around us will be lit up with color.  Looking forward to getting some pictures then.

We rode past one of the apple trees I had taken a picture of when it was in bloom, it has many apples now, quite a few were on the ground already.

As we rode on big clouds started to roll in.  The sky was so blue, the clouds were so big, it was quite a contrast.  I could hear the wind rustling the dried corn stalks as we rode past the cornfields.   I love the sounds and smells of fall.  I love the crispness of the air, it seems to magnify the fall smells.

When we were coming up the hill we saw 2 turkeys come out of the trees and cross the
 road.  I was kind of far away to take a picture, but here are my attempts.  In the first picture one turkey is starting across the road.

  In the next one, if you look closely you can see the 2 turkeys heading into the grass.

Some color in the trees on 155th Ave., which is where we saw the turkey's.  Once we get up the big hill there, we know we have just one more  big hill  to climb before home.

The clouds turned kind of dark just before we got home, we thought we might get rained on, but we didn't.  Shortly after we got home, the sun was shining again.

When we were in the bike shop the guy who put the tires on,  commented on how dirty our bike chains were ,which is true, they are terrible.

 I switched to Boeshield T-9 early in the summer and really like it a lot.    It is a wax rather than an oil based lubricant, and needs to be applied about every 300 miles.

 The instructions say to spray the Boesheild on,, let it dry and then wipe it off, so that is what I have been doing.  I didn't know I was supposed to clean my chains  too, well I knew chains needed to be cleaned but had no idea how to do it, or how often.   In fact, I didn't even know how to clean a chain.  I admit I haven't done it because I thought I would have to take the chains off  and when I put them back on, I might not route them properly.   As always, the bike shop was very helpful and told me what I needed to clean the chain.  There is a kit that can be used without taking the chains off.  It's called a  Chain Bright kit, which is a little box with a sponge and brushes inside that line up with the chain on the bike, or in our case, the trike.

The box is filled with chain cleaner,  and clamped onto the chain, and the chain is  rotated around about 10 times.  I had hardly started to turn the chain in this picture, but already you can see how dirty the cleaner is getting.

Our trike has a total of 10 feet of chain, so it took quite awhile to get 10 revolutions done.  Then I took a cloth and held the chain, while turning the pedals, cleaning the chain even more. After about 30 minutes, I had the back chain done.  One down, one to go.

I had a hard time knowing where to put the chain cleaning box on the front chain.  Our trike has a short boom on it, if I clamped the box on the front part of the chain, the pedal hit it when it came around, stopping the whole process.  I finally decided to clamp the box on the chain where it was behind my seta.  it was still a tight space, but it got the job done.  I was amazed at how well the chain cleaning box worked.  The chain was visibly cleaner, and the cleaner inside the box was filthy.   I was going to take a picture of it, but my hand were so dirty, I didn't want to touch the camera, so you'll have to take my word  on it.

You can see by the picture, that the chains were much cleaner when I was done.

Once the chain was clean, it had to be lubed, so out came the Boeshield.  I use the spray, which does a good job, but I have yet to find a way to do it, without ending up with quite a bit of Boesheild on the frame of the trike.  Today was no exception.  Once the trike was lubed, I waited the required time, then wiped the chain off again.  When I was done, I had 2 sparkly clean chains, and one very dirty trike.

Got the bucket ready and gave the trike a good washing.  Now it's all ready to go on a new adventure, new tires, clean chains and all.

Big Mac Shoreline Bike Tour Part 2

Here is part 2 of our Big Mac Shoreline ride.

After lunch in Cross Village, we were on our way.  Had some nice views of Lake Michigan.

 Rode past an interesting "Duck Crossing " sign and stop light.  The stop light wasn't on, the sign was  behind a fence, no ducks in sight, but it made a cute picture.

The terrain became hiller after Cross Village.  There was quite a stretch of uneven road surface, with some new sections and some rough sections.  I almost lost control when we came around a curve and down a hill and unexpectedly hit an especially rough area.  We were going about 22 MPH,  and  were pulled toward the center line.  When I put the brake on lightly, and tried to steer back towards the side of the road, the trike began to fishtail.  I managed to keep it under control, but it was kind of scary.  In talking with our riding partners later, we found out they had experienced problems with their single trikes on that section of road as well.  Wish there had been some warning that it was coming up, at least we could have been prepared for it.  Couldn't help but wonder how others felt about it.

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis know by now, that a barn picture will likely appear.  Your wait is over, here is the barn we saw.  On the side of it the words "  Plain Old Farm" appeared.

A bit further on we cam across an interesting stone house.  There was a stone out building as well.  The property is for sale.  Any takers?

The road looked level, but we found ourselves using a lower gear and going slower, so it must have been a very slight uphill grade.  Our friends later told us that they had a long stretch of riding in lower gears in this area as well.  In spite of using  our lower gears, we kept going slower and slower.  I stopped to check and see if there was a problem, and found we had a flat tire. 

 It was the same tube that I had changed before we left home.  Got the trike flipped over and realized that when we had our rims drilled for Schrader valves, I had forgotten to switch the portable air pump on the trike to one that had a Schrader head.  Somehow I had lost my  course map and didn't have the SAG phone number, (support and aid group) number.  Fortunately, 2 riders came by who had it, so I called Sag for help. 

 On the whole course we had only seen a SAG  twice.  They seemed to be as scarce as the route markings on the road.  We called and after about 15 minutes, Greg appeared.  I had my tire part way off, he finished taking it off.  I had the new tube out and ready to go.  As he worked, I explained my dilemma about having the wrong pump.

  He got the tube out an started to put the new tube in.  In my bike maintenance class I learned that when changing a tire, to always check the inside of the tire and the rim for any sharp objects or protrusions that may have caused the flat.   I could see that Greg wasn't going to do that, so I casually mentioned that I usually do a quick check to see what might have caused the flat, so I don't get another, a few miles down the road.  By this time Greg was putting air in the tire with his portable compressor.  His reply was, "Well, it must be OK, I don't hear any air hissing out."  I was quite concerned by his response and said, "Hope we don't have another flat, a few miles down the road.   Greg must have taken my remark seriously, he followed us for about 5 miles.  We were riding at around 18 MPH most of that time.  Finally,  Greg pulled around us and went on his way.  A few minutes after that, we began to slow down.  I knew without checking what the problem was...another flat.

  We were 2 and 1/4 miles from the finish, I had no more spares, so once again, I called SAG.     I also called our friends, jeff and Kiersten,  to let them know what was going on.  After a 25 minute wait, Dawn, driving the SAG truck came. On the ride back, I told her I wasn't surprised by the second flat, because Greg hadn't checked the tire and rim for sharp objects.  I mentioned that I didn't think he did too much cycling.  She told me that he was a farmer, used to changing tractor tires, and that in fact, none of the people who put the tour together were cyclist.  

 Tony stayed with the trike and she gave me a ride back to the complex to get the car and trailer, taking a different route then the bikes were on.

  Jeff helped me get the trailer hooked up and followed me back to the trike.  I don't have  great sense of direction and I was kind of  turned around because Dawn had taken a different route back.  I missed a turn.   I realized Jeff and Kiersten were no longer behind me, but had to keep going until I could find a place to turn around with the trailer.  I called Jeff and he told me what turn I had missed.  On the way back, I met Dawn, who assured me I was going the right way.  I finally made it back to Tony and the trike.  Jeff and Kiersten were already there.  We got the trike loaded up and headed back to the motel.  

After a shower and a little bit of rest, we headed out for supper.  None of us had any problem putting away plenty of Pizza.

The next day, Kiersten and Jeff , along with other riders, were signed up to ride  across the Mackinaw  bridge.  

The Mighty Mac,  or Big Mac, as we Michiganders like to refer to it, is the third longest suspension bridge in the world.  It was surpassed by the Akashi Kalkyo Bridge in Japan in 1998, however at 5 miles long, it is still the largest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere, surpassing even the famous Golden Gate Bridge.    The bridge was completed in 1957, making it possible for for the people of Michigan and those visiting our  state to go across the straits of Mackinaw, that divide the upper and lower peninsulas, without taking a ferry.  It is a sight to behold and something that has greatly contributed to the tourism of the area.  

The day we arrived in Mackinaw City, the antique tractor show had taken place.  It ended with a crossing of the bridge by the antique tractors.  The evening the  Big Mac Shoreline tour ended,  the bridge  was crossed by a huge number of semi trucks that had come from the Big Truck show in St Ignace, in the Upper Peninsula.   Many people were lined up in Mackinaw city to see the trucks come through. 

I don't even like to drive the bridge.  The open grates in the center of the bridge kind of freak me out when I am driving across it.  I can't imagine riding over them and seeing the water below.  Needless to say we didn't sign up to ride the bridge. 

Jeff and Kiersten had to be at the meeting point for the ride across as 6:30 AM the next day, so we made an early night of it, and headed to our rooms.  Tony and I were going to go in the hot tub, but once we got in the room and relaxed on the bed,  we found ourselves lacking the motivation to walk to the other building to do it.

Talked to our friends after they crossed the bridge, and they said there was nothing to it.  The grates were covered up with mats from DelMac Bike tour. which also includes a ride across the bridge Most likely because the grating causes problems for bicycles going across, so they couldn't even see the water.  The trikes were down low enough, that all they really saw was the railing.  If I had known that was the situation, I may have been brave enough to ride the bridge.

In summing the weekend up, I would say that over all, it was a great ride. We had good riding weather, an interesting course, some challenging terrain, and good time spent with friends.  

In looking back, I can see that the event was not put together by any cycling group.  The registration folks weren't too excited about the ride, the course markings were only at the turns, with miles of isolation in between that had us and other cyclist asking of we were on the right route.  Sag presence was very low and not done by folks who were  very knowledgeable about cycling.  The course was beautiful, with many picturesque views.  I would say that the main purpose of this tour is to bring tourist dollars into the community and it does do that. Not sure if we would do this tour again.  There was a total of 300 riders for the tour.  I think most of them did the 25 mile loop.  The tour is done in the spring as well. 

Several lessons learned by Tony and I in this experience as well.  First and foremost I will be checking the rim and the tries for any protrusions  or rough spots.   3 flats in 2 days on the same side tells us that something is going on, and I need to get to the bottom of it.  I am tired of flat tires.  Secondly, I am changing the air pump on the trike out to one that does Scrhader valves.  I have also decided to carry a can of CO2, which will make it easier to pump up a flat tire. Although we use  Schwalbe Marathon tires, we aren't happy with the way they have been wearing.  We have under 2000 miles on the set we have, and they need replacing.   I have already ordered a new set of Marathon Plus tires for the trike.  Cyclist say they get far less flats with them and they last longer.  They should be here by Thursday, so I can get them on and we can ride this weekend.  

Big Mac Shoreline ride 2011

Got up to a chilly morning, pretty sunrise over lake Michigan.

  Temps were in the 40's, but the weatherman had promised warmer temps and some sunshine later in the day, so we put on our layers, loaded up the gear in the car and headed out to breakfast with our riding friends, Kiersten and Jeff..  Had a good breakfast, a bit overpriced, but hey, what can we expect in a tourist town?

Got to the starting place plenty early to check tires, unload the trikes,  take a few pics, and get set to ride.  I think it was about 9AM when we started. We were glad we had gloves and hats.  another cyclist took a picture of the 4 of us before we started riding.  From left to right, Tony,Pam, Kiersten and Jeff, ready to roll. Trikes are in the background.

Much of the first few hours were spent riding  in the shade, which made it seem colder than it was.  Then, we came upon this tall giraffe in a yard.  It was early,  looked like no one was stirring in the house, no dog, so I went and took a picture of the giraffe.  There was a smaller giraffe nearby, he was closer to the house, didn't get a picture of him,   I sure wondered what the story was behind the giraffes in the yard. Did a sculptor live here and this is his or her work?   It is not something one expects to find, when riding down a country road.

We were glad when we got to ride in some unshaded spots, gave us a chance be warmed by the sun.  Here is a pic of Jeff and Kiersten riding in front of us.

The course started out with, was flat terrain, we rode past some forests, swampy areas, and this old school house, that someone had remodeled and made their home, complete with  double, satellite TV.  The set up seemed so contradictory, I stopped to take a picture.

Further along, there was an old log cabin that was falling down.  The remains of the chimney and fireplace were still, proudly standing.

The weather was a nice mix of sun and clouds, with a light breeze.  We were glad there wasn't a cold wind, that can make riding pretty miserable.  Stopped and took a little break with Jeff and Kiersten, lamenting the problems that recumbent riders can sometimes have with numb feet.  I didn't have that issue today, because we didn't have a lot of steep hills.  There are many theories out there as to the causes of numb feet.  A big contributer, can be shoes that are too tight, which is why I wear biking sandals.  I have wide feet, and find I can get a looser fit with sandals. I prefer Lake sandals.  The ones I like best are no longer made, so I'm not sure what I'll do when they wear out.  When the weather turns cold, I wear smart wool socks with my sandals, and sometimes a pair of my homemade wool socks on top of the smart wools.  Today was only a one layer sock day for Tony and I.

 Clipless pedals can also have an impact on the riders  feet.   I found I got some relief when I switched from Shimano clipless, to egg beaters pedals.  I'm not sure who came up with the name clipless pedals, the pedals have a recessed place where the clip or cleat on the biking shoe locks on.   It seems to me that since the rider is clipping in, that they should be called "clip pedals," but no one asked me before they named them.  It's probably just as well, that they didn't.

We stopped in Cross village at the Leggs Inn for lunch.  The Legs Inn is a restaurant run by a Polish family, so they offer quite a few polish items on the menu.   Tony and I both had a tasty vegetable crepe, that had a name we couldn't pronounce very well.

Stanley Smolak, a native of Poland,  who immigrated in 1887, created the unique atmosphere of Leggs Inn.  He spent a lot of time roaming the woods and forests of the area, and delighted in what he saw, especially the wind and rain worn roots of trees, and remainders of trees washed up on the shores of Lake Michigan..  He carved them into furniture, saying that "Mother Nature was his inspiration."  Here is a picture of our friend Kiersten sitting behind a desk, made from part of a big log.  Some of Smolak's art stands on each side of the entrance to the dining area.  There are far to many pieces of it to take pictures of.

Behind the Inn, on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, are beautiful gardens, as well as an outdoor dining area.

This 90 year old family business, is now owned and operated by the 3rd generation of the Smolak family



Cross Village was once a thriving lumber and fishing town.  It is located on the NW tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.  It has a history with strong ties to the Ottawa Indians.  Early historical records show that  before his death in 1675, Father Marquette, who was loved by the native Indian population of the area, planted a huge white cross on a bluff, overlooking Lake Michigan.  There is a replica of the cross that stands in that same spot today,  it is said to be visible far out into the lake.  this is how the name "Cross Village" was given to this settlement.

As we headed out of Cross Village we rode past this stone church, I didn't write the name of it down, and could not locate any history of it.

I'll conclude this blog entry with Cross Village, and add more about our Big Mac Shoreline Tour in my next blog entry.  Stay tuned, for more.