Finding Strength in My Home State

After a day of rest I felt...... Terrible. I woke up feeling recharged and ready to pound out a few miles. My plan was make it to Sagola, about 35 miles away. After my Achilles started rearing its ugly head at mile 2 I was beginning to think Sagola was out of the question. I gingerly pushed on for about 5 miles before I had to stop and make something happen. My uneven, awkward pedal strokes to keep the pressure off of the Achilles on my right foot and the Anterior Tendon (top of my foot/shin) of my left, was,.... I don't know,.....pissing me off actually. 

Then, it all got better and I made it 59 miles to a wonderful, warm, sunny county campground outside of Hardwood. How'd this happen? I lowered my seat a 1/4 inch, Ha! That's it, just dropping my seat a minute fraction of an inch straightened things out. Now, that didn't miraculously cure my tendons, they hurt like hell actually, but not when I'm pedaling. I just might finish the last 185 miles afterall. 

This was my best stop yet. A campground on beautifully serene Michigan waters. A small lake called Stromberg, I believe, wrapped in wildlife, sun and warmth. First order of business was to lay next to the lake and do absolutely nothing except soak in the calm. I then set up camp and made a meal. The sunset was going to be incredible and I didn't want to miss it by fumbling around with gear or food. I really hate eating in the outdoors, it has a way of distracting you from why you're there. 

The temperature and air were refreshing and I stayed out until well after twilight before climbing in the sack. Just as I was starting to go through the days images, I hear a larger than squirrel size animal approaching . There are quite a few dry leaves from autumn still blowing around, and you hear every little footstep, but these were definitely more interesting. I hurried out of my tent with a light and immediately found two beady eyes staring at me in bewilderment. It then slowly turned around and flared out its quills, basically flying the middle finger in porcupine gesture. And it climbed up the nearest tree calmly. Which happened to be only a couple of feet from my shelter, and it happened to swoop every so slightly over me. If this fella' fell, it would be like hellraiser from Mars shot directly into my humble abode. Hmm, well I wasn't going to climb up and retrieve the fella', and he seemed perfectly content perched about. I went to bed with the long comforting sounds of the Loon. 

Wildlife count for the trip thus far:

3 porcupines

2 bald eagles

2 Loons

1 fox

2 elk, a bull and a cow, huge!

100 or more whitetail 

1 musky

A few mergansers

and 1 (sort of) black bear 

Also fairly certain I heard the pack of wolves that live near Clam Lake. This list would probably be longer, but I tend to zone out a few hours of each day.