SLIPPERY SATURDAY ENROUTE TO SISTER BAY

Joan's View

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up. As usual, we chatted with some inquiring minds outside the front entrance. Among the friendly people were a group of Harley enthusiasts loading up their bike for adventures of their own.

CHERRIES!

Less than a mile down the road, we had to make an sudden stop because a sign read, "CHERRIES." It was a farm where Carolyn, the sweet owner, was just cleaning some more freshly picked cherries. Her cherries were somewhat different, kind of like the ones we used to pick at Gran's.

Uh-oh

Skid mark

We continued on our route and waved to our Harley friends as they passed us. We rode highway until we got closer to the water, and then traveled on an S curve road along the lake shore. The sign showed, "S curve", but little did we know it would S back and forth 30 plus times. Lots of great houses & cottages though, many creative and oh so unique on that road. After many miles of S-ing, we came upon a barrier, and the "road" morphed into gravel. Uh-oh! We got off & Tony escorted the bike around the barrier (note Tony went thru it again?). Hoping that it was a short distance on this new road, we continued on. It felt more like we were mountain biking bouncing on the bumps, and then suddenly we hit a sand trap and "whoosh," skidded to a stop. Tony pushed the bike until we could safely ride again. More bouncing later, we came upon restrooms and realized that we were in a - you guessed it - state park. There the "road" (trail actually), forked into several directions so Tony walked ahead to investigate. He came back saying that there was only one way to go since the alternate path went straight to dunes on the lake. We bounced along the road/trail again until we joyfully saw the ranger station and pavement. By now our bike was speckled with sand, and sand is bad, especially bad on gears. Tony gave the bike a mini bath using a water bottle.

Tony in the trees looking for a road

Bike bath

Back on pavement, we rode amidst some intermittent rain until we came upon the perfect sign!

Isn't Wisconsin Wonderful?

As we entered Sister Bay, we found this fun deli where you could build your own sandwich and they had great gluten free bread. We ate outside and made more friends along with this friendly fellow who was sitting in his car. 😆I guess he gets extra friendly if you have food. Haha.

It was only a short distance after that to our home for the next two nights. Tony did a little more bike washing before we showered and walked to mass at Stella Marris. We enjoyed dinner only a block farther at Lure, which is a restaurant in a former church. The booths were made out of old pews.

Tony's View

 Had a couple craft beers at the deli. They were only $2.50 each, so I couldn't stop at just one. The first beer was an IPA, the second beer to the left is a Kolsch Style Ale, very similar to the style we made with Fr. Peter. It seems to be a good beer for cycling by the picture.
I was really surprised today when we ended up on the State Park trails with hikers. Once again my navigation got us into another adventure. Now I know that this big tandem bicycle isn't that good for mountain biking. When going though the sand, the bike came to an unanticipated stop because of all the weight. It was scary and tough to keep control. All wrecks are scary but more scary when you dump Joan on the front.
Looking forward to the day off tomorrow to do laundry, wash and oil chains, and just rest.