Hank – We left the big city and got on less traveled roads until we hit state highway 50. We stopped at a gas station/convenience store for a cold drink and short break. While there I heard a loud noise coming down the highway. A pickup truck with a shredded tire pulled into the parking lot. The driver got out, looked at his tire, walked towards the Subway restaurant next door putting on his Subway apron, presumably going to work. I think he made it in time.

Today’s ride took us to Vermontville. We were on state highways most of the way, which meant we had a shoulder of some type. Some were smooth and roomy and some were not. We stopped in Freeport and ate at Smelk’s Diner. It’s a nice, quiet, and well kept place. Freeport was the halfway mark for the day.

Arriving in Vermontville, we found a small town where everything was closed except for one restaurant/bar. Well, it is Sunday, after all. I had a beer and Kathy had a Mike’s Hard Lemonade. Then we rode to the puzzlingly named Adventure Awaits Campground. The manager told us to grab any campsite we wanted and she would catch up to us to complete the registration and collect the $25. After showers we rode back into town for drinks and dinner. Back at the campsite we haven’t seen the manager yet. I hope she doesn’t wake us up from our sleep. Maybe that’s part of the adventure awaiting us.

Vermontville gets its name courtesy of a minister from Vermont who came here and thought it would be a great place to start a town. He built the First Congregational Church, which is on the National Historical Registry.

Tomorrow we ride to Leslie. We’re skirting around Lansing since I had no luck with WarmShowers hosts there. We do have one scheduled for Ann Arbor on Tuesday. We have two defective sleeping pads to return to REI there. Kathy and I talked about how crazy it is in the big cities and how much more we enjoy the small towns so we might skip Detroit.

Kathy – So the hills are back. We spent most of our 52 miles today climbing. It was a bit toasty too at 90+ degrees. Thankful for not much humidity. Our ride was pretty uneventful. We were happy to land in the this quaint little town. Had a nice dinner and back at the campground to take it easy before calling it a night.