Day 55 Frankfort, MI - Wolf Lake, MI

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Jo Day 55:  Woke up to a stunning orange sunrise at the crowded Betsie River Camp Site, Frankfort, MI, and started the morning with coffee (gulp, ahhh) and $1.09 pistachio nut muffins (what a deal).  Kevin, Alan and John took off for their 86 mile day.  Janut, Bob and I drove to "Gravity Hill" (on Putney Road just south of Joyfield Road) where Janut drove down the hill, stopped, put the van in neutral, took her foot off the brake, and proceeded to roll backwards UP the hill ... what a fun optical illusion!  We did that a few times while the locals drove by smiling at us "tourists".  Our next stop was the Arcadia Scenic Turnout, where the view of Lake Michigan looks more like an ocean...especially with all the different hues of blue.  We stopped at a little beach in Manistee, MI (on Lake Michigan) and soaked up the sun.  It was a beautiful day and Bob was allowed to frolic on the beach with us, so we took advantage of that.  We looked for Petoskey stones, but no luck, however we did collect some more interesting looking rocks.  We're not sure what we are going to do with all these rocks, but we must have them.  We caught up to the boys and ate dinner at Club 37.  Our camp site tonight is on the lawn in front of Alan & John's motel room at the Day Star Motel in Wolf Lake, MI...it's a friendly place...right on the busy highway. By Jo
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Kevin Day 55 Frankfort to Wolf Lake, MI. 86 miles. Another big day, and we have left Lake Michigan.  Leaving Frankfort, we were immediately met with some good sized climbs-they reminded me of riding along the Oregon Coast in length and steepness, with occasional views of the water, in this case Lake Michigan, not the Pacific, although the lake looks like the ocean! Some nice sandy beaches, and some highway viewpoints were nice rest stops.  We had our second breakfast in the town of Onekama at the M22 Cafe.  Michigan state highway 22 apparently has some cult status, and all kinds of things are named M22. This makes the road signs attractive to some, and there's a problem with people stealing them, so the DOT is slowly replacing them with signs that just say 22, in hopes that people will leave them alone.  We took a break at TJ's Pub in downtown Manistee, which looked like a Hollywood movie set-really nice and busy downtown area for a Saturday. Soon after Manistee we finally made the turn heading east and left the lake behind.  Now we will cross the mitt and the thumb of Michigan through rural farmland.  A dinner stop at Club 37, and tonight's stop in Wolf Lake. Tomorrow is planned to be a shorter,sub 60 mile day.