Day 19, Whitehall to Grand Haven

It was a cool, sunny day, and while the winds were against us, they were only 5-10 miles an hour. This route hugged the coast of White Lake, then Lake Michigan. Leaving Whitehall, South Shore drive was beautiful: each home along this route had something to offer, many of them were spectacular. Sooner or later we're going to have to rebuild our house, and we were using the houses we passed to compare against ideas we'd discussed before.

South Shore turned into Scenic drive, which lived up to its name. While there wasn't a shoulder on most of it, it was quiet and we were able to ride side by side talking. Duck Lake was particularly beautiful.



Not every lawn ornament would work at our house.




I saw this trailer in the parking lot of the Super 8. This Super 8 had nothing but a bed and a location to recommend it. It astounded me that someone would go to the expense and effort to have a rig like this, and then stay pay $50 for a motel. There was a nice trailer campground along the trail about 5 miles from the motel. I took this picture to remind myself that you still pay for motels when you have a nice trailer.



We followed a recumbent to the bike trail as we left scenic drive and rode through North Muskegon. The houses in this area were fun to look at, and talk about.

I have a little trouble with bridges. I have what is sometimes called -- inaccurately -- an irrational fear of heights. It's really a reasonable fear of falling. So I don't do well on bridges. The bike trail around Muskegon Lake was ALL bridges. Nice, wide, well guarded sides, and I rode cautiously, but I wasn't too stressed.



Until I crossed the bridge in Grand Haven, that is.



The coast in Muskegon State Park had so many no parking signs it detracted from the stunning natural beauty of the area.


After Muskegon it was a straight shot, more or less, down Lincoln/Lake Harbor/185th to Grand Haven. There was a sidepath along the road, which was sometimes useable, but the overhangs from trees and occasional sudden loss of pavement made the road a much more effective place to ride.

We could not figure out how to get on the bike path across the bridge in Grand Haven -- we even checked at a gas station. However, there was a sidewalk, so we rode on that (if you want to call what I was doing riding), across the bridge. Beacon Road (31) is very busy with narrow right lanes, but bicycles are allowed on the sidewalk, so we stayed on the sidewalk until we got to our hotel.

We left early from Whitehall so I could work in the afternoon, and we arrived with plenty of time. We stopped at Pannera Bread Company and bought lunch and dinner there. I think we had our best meal(s) of the trip there.

We followed the planned route (except at the end, in Grand Haven), 45 miles, 774 total.