Day 22 A change

Our camp at Bay City State Park is 1.5 miles off route (when you are traveling by bike, the closer accommodations are to the route, the better.) & there are a few amenities between the park and the route. But, before we get back on route & begin churning out the miles in earnest, we make a ... Breakfast stop! This is unprecedented. I usually get to inhale something before departure. Gay usually eats nothing . Fred gets up before dawn to eat as to not delay our start. Don't get me wrong. I don't anticipate a sit down breakfast each morning, but this is refreshing. Coffee, pancakes, bacon, eggs, juice. The works for me. Gay had the same but he's not a coffee drinker. I think Fred had corned beef hash. Ok. Now I'm ready to ride.
We take a few miles of roads then we get on the "Pere Marquette Rail Trail". Rail trails are old usually abandoned railways that have been converted to multiuse trails. This is a notable one. It's long. (An understatement) It was probably 50 miles long! No turns. No hills. Just a cool trail. It occasionally crosses over well marked roads and driveways.
The pavement is excellent. A few restrooms are found along the way. The scenery was, well, sweet. Small green trees lined much of the way. We did get a few scenic glances. The entire way was relaxing and a pleasant change from the roads.
Well , as it turned out, 20 miles to go, we made a stop into a grocery store. Our packs emerged fuller and heavier. I was anticipating more flat terrain to the end. Boy was I wrong. The last 20 miles, that we thought would only be 14 miles were rolling little hills. They weren't a big deal just not what we were expecting. We ended up taking 2 or more breaks than we might normally. Oh well. We deal with it.
Destination: Lake George, MI

We arrive with 71 miles on the odometer, but only 69 on route.
1,263 total so far.
I'm pretty tired and sleep will come quickly tonight. So, take care.
A nod to my New Zealand friends. Fred is a good man. And one speed, as noted. :)
Cheers.