THE MITTEN

We had such a nice time in Clare last night and this morning. Our friends, Laurel and Doug were in absolutely the finest form, and kept us entertained and encouraged. I remember when I first met them, they were telling me about Michigan and where they were from---Laurel held up her right hand, palm out to me and began pointing to various places on the palm of her hand and barking out city names. I had no idea what she was referencing with her hand like that. I was thirty-eight years old before I found out that Michigan is shaped like a mitten! Plus the U.P., of which I was also totally unaware. When I was a seventh grader in Texas, we took an entire year to study Texas history. We didn't have any time left over to talk about any "other states", although occasionally the "war of northern aggression" was discussed with a vague reference to some "yankee states" which all together seemed to be the size of the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex. SO, I was aware that Italy was shaped like a boot, but I missed out on the mitten-shaped Michigan. And, today, we began making our journey across the "thumb"!

The Hotel Doherty in Clare is such a lovely hotel---it's been a family business for many generations, and it's currently run by a pair of brothers around our age, Jim and Dean Doherty---two of the nicest guys ever. But, everyone in the "mitten" has been nice to us. A few days ago we were sitting outside a bait shop, eating power bars and cooling off when a car rolled up and a woman popped out with a stack of the Grand Rapids Press newspapers. She's the one who puts them in the paper machines. She took the top copy off her stack and treated us to it, and we started telling her about our trip. Her name is Sherry, and she was so fired up for us! She gave us a map of Northern Michigan, which not only had a considerable money value, but was something we desperately needed. And, she gave us some crucial info about the town we were headed towards---where to stay, and what to do. Mostly, though, she gave us a big dose of enthusiasm.

Our ride today was like a page out of a book---the first thirty miles were on a first class recreational trail, and the next 25 were on a straight shot through some gorgeous farm country. We took a lunch break in Midland, which is the home of DOW CHEMICAL, and which has a lot of civic pride. The Dows have pumped a lot of money into various projects in town, including an outstanding garden. The weather is getting brutal, though. Very high temperatures and extreme humidity created a sauna, especially on the fresh asphalt. We are in BAY CITY for the night---I wondered if "BAY CITY MICHIGAN" was somehow connected to the pop band of the '70s, the BAY CITY ROLLERS, and Laurel confirmed that the band, which was Scottish, threw a dart at a map of the USA to get an "American" name, and the dart hit close to Bay City. I inadvertently think about the BAY CITY ROLLERS more than a person might imagine, because every morning and every night after Kami brushes her teeth, she taps her toothbrush on the sink to the rhythm of "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT", which, after all these years, still makes me laugh. Tomorrow we're headed towards Caro, and then check our options.