Welcome to the escarpment.

We left Chicago July 26 and came up and around Lake Michigan through the state of Michigan. I have to say I was surprised how pretty Michigan is.We travelled along the West side of the lake finally crossing into 'The Soo' (Sault St. Marie), on the 27th.

We saw some interesting things but mostly it was just really pretty countryside and lakes/rivers. We did get the opportunity to go into Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. VERY COOL. At first we were thinking emm.. its ok but then we came across a very cool Dune. Straight down all the way to the water. It was so steep it was actually a bit daunting until you go over the lip. 

Lake Michigan at the bottom and the water was warm. 

This man was growing out of the sand. 

You sweat on the way down. I hate to imagine the number of coronaries that happen here. 

It was nice to come back into Canada. It was not so nice to fill the tank. The drive along the north side of Huron was amazing. We blasted through Sault St. Marie as there is really nothing to see in 'The Soo'. That was taught to me via my good friend Mike that only tourists call the it Soo Saint Marie. The drive was super pretty. As night fell where to sleep came into play though . We ended up pulling off onto some side road that showed a lake. It ended up that the lake was all private owned. A nice lady though let us sleep in her driveway. We have however discovered the extremely unpleasant mosquitoes.

Manitoulin Island

We crossed onto Manitoulin Island the morning of the 28 under pleasant skies. Manitoulin has got to be one of the prettiest islands I have ever visited. Those who know me know that I am usually pretty tough to please. This place is great. Go here if you ever have the chance. 

The view from the port where you catch to ferry to Bruce penninsula. 

 We scored a fresh whole lake trout on the island by some folks who decided the four salmon he caught was sufficient so he gave us his lake trout.

The next day we took the ferry to Tobermey and the Bruce Penninsula. Still stunning topography. We are confused about something with this area of the continent though. Does the Mid-West have a problem with fudge dependancy? Every town we have landed in has no less than at least one fudge house. Not candy... fudge. Its always fudge. Its weird.

Once we arrived back into the Bruce we decided to check out some of the trails on the mtbthebruce.com website. lol.. the trails were nothing to write home about. but the signage is awesome.

Note that the trails are essentially that one lone line. Although there are checkpoints. 

Today we tried riding again in a different area outside the town of Walkerton. You might remember Walkerton because of this. They rallied. The town is really nice.
Final stop for the next couple days is none other than Mike's parent's cottage on Wasaga Beach. Its so nice to get a couple days to recharge the batteries for the next whirlwind up and across Toronto, Montreal and Quebec city.