Day 73: Yale, MI to St. Clair, MI

Aug 17 blog

33 miles

3,039 miles so far

As the forecast was for high winds from the south and stormy weather in the afternoon, we decided to get an early start and headed out around 6:30am. With only 33 miles to St. Clair, we hoped to be there by late morning.

Today was an exciting day, because we got to meet Mack’s (Meghan’s fiancé) parents, Janet and Jerry Johnson, who happen to live in St. Clair. In fact, they live right on River Road, the very road we were riding on through St. Clair. Our plans were to get settled at the St. Clair Inn where we would spend the night, take care of a few errands, and the join them for dinner at their home on the river.

We were so excited when we realized that after about 10 miles on roads, our route took us onto a nice rail trail which was not only beautiful, but also protected us from the wind!

Just north of St. Clair we were back on the roads and had to fight a pretty stiff headwind along the river. The river is a beautiful blue color and in sight across the river is Ontario, Canada.

Guess who we ran into on the path as we made our way toward the St. Clair Inn? Janet, Jerry, their son, Owen, and their dog, Hazel, out for their morning walk! What a nice surprise and fun way to finally meet.

We checked in to the St. Clair Inn which is a historic, Tudor style inn that has been beautifully renovated. We spent the afternoon running a few errands and planning logistics for the coming week. As predicted, the winds picked up and it began to rain. Thankfully, Janet and Jerry were kind enough to pick us up and return us back to our hotel later that evening. We enjoyed a wonderful grilled salmon dinner at their beautiful home overlooking the St. Clair River. We also got to meet Mack’s sister, Renee, and to enjoy three flavors of ice cream from Hippy Dippy Ice Cream (imported from Wisconsin) where Renee works.

What a special day!

The welcome trail.. respite from the wind