Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Our Route

Before we left on this journey, we planned our stops, calculated our routes, figured out how many miles we needed to ride each day, and planned some more. But it turned out that when we were actually on the road, our routes seemed to change at least a little every day! Our stopping cities changed a few times. Some days were longer than we planned for, some were shorter. Here are our originally planned stops, followed by our actual stops and mileages.

Planned:
1. Emma, IN - Chesterton, IN (89 miles)
2. Chesterton, IN - Waukegan, IL (95 miles)
3. Waukegan, IL - West Bend, WI (92 miles)
4. West Bend, WI - New London, WI (80 miles)
5. New London, WI - Wausau, WI (71 miles)
6. Wausau, WI - Bloomer, WI (103 miles)
7. Bloomer, WI - Solon Springs, WI (97 miles)
8. Solon Springs, WI - Floodwood, MN (89 miles)
9. Floodwood, MN - Chisholm, MN (50 miles)
10. Chisholm, MN - Littlefork, MN (89 miles)
11. Littlefork, MN - International Falls, MN (16 miles)
12. International Falls, MN - Dryden, ON (118 miles)
13. Dryden, ON - Sioux Lookout, ON (61 miles)


Actual:
Day 1: Emma, IN – Chesterton, IN (90 miles) Econo Lodge

Day 2: Chesterton, IN - Highland Park, IL (79 miles) Courtyard by Marriot
This was the day I couldn't make it to our scheduled destination, and we stopped early. After this, we split the next scheduled day into two days for a little bit of a break. All of our hotels where we had reservations were very accommodating when we asked to change the dates! We managed to snag Courtyard's last room, which seemed to to be the very last room in the entire area; they were very nice and gave us a discount.

Day 3: Highland Park, IL - Oak Creek, WI (58.79 miles) Value Inn

Day 4: Oak Creek, WI – West Bend, WI (52.4 miles) Country Inn & Suites
Our first donated hotel, and it was the nicest one so far! The room was very nice, and the staff was so helpful. We had been using the laundry facilities to wash our biking clothes every night. When I asked about a guest laundry there, they didn't have one, but the lady at the front desk offered to wash our clothes for us in their washer! She was a brave one- our clothes were always quite sweaty and smelly by the end of the day. Nevin hit up the hot tub to help his aching muscles. We ordered in Domino's Pizza for dinner- gluten free for me, and a regular one for Nevin... and we were both sick the next morning. No more Domino's for us!

Day 5: West Bend, WI - New London, WI (89.6 miles) AmericInn
Another donated room. So nice!

Day 6: New London, WI – Wausau, WI (81.5 miles) Hampton Inn
Donated. Beautiful hotel and room! I think this was the nicest one we stayed in on the whole trip. I was craving Applebee's while biking this day, and what do you know, there was one right next to the hotel! So once showers were over and laundry was in the washer, I walked over there to fetch dinner while Nevin ordered in pizza. That was the best steak, rice, chips, and dip ever! I made use of the hot tub here; my sore muscles loved that.

Day 7: Wausau, WI – Bloomer, WI (106.54 miles) Bloomer Inn & Suites
Donated. A hotel has never looked so beautiful as one looks when you've ridden 106.5 miles on a bike. A place to lay your head down and rest.

Day 8: Bloomer, WI – Minong, WI (78.77 miles) Wild River Trail Inn

Day 9: Rest day in Minong... After breakfast, we stayed at the hotel and slept most of the day.

Day 10: Minong, WI – Virginia, MN (74.45 miles biked, 50 miles in truck) Pine View Inn
This was the day of the three flat tires.

Day 11: Virginia, MN – Fort Frances, ON (101.28 miles) Super 8
A big day, a late night, and a donated hotel room! Lovely.

Day 12: Fort Frances, ON – boat launch at Vedette Lake, ON (48.69 miles) camping with Galen and Edith

Day 13: Vedette Lake, ON – Dryden, ON (72.64 miles) Best Western
Another donated room! A delicious dinner from the hotel restaurant, and the most comfortable beds in the world.

Day 14: Dryden, ON – Sioux Lookout, ON (60.81 miles) Galen and Edith’s house!
Two weeks later, we're HERE. With family to greet us, and the knowledge that we don't have to get up and keep biking tomorrow. The best feeling ever!





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