96: kidney check, hitsman, rural lgbtq, uncle henry, invisible silos, sanitary mattresses, a break at the pole, the nowhere sign, the parents return, hell no, casting, the queen's birthplace, rockin' the beard, feed me, good dogs too, quandary - My Midlife Crisis - CycleBlaze
96: kidney check, hitsman, rural lgbtq, uncle henry, invisible silos, sanitary mattresses, a break at the pole, the nowhere sign, the parents return, hell no, casting, the queen's birthplace, rockin' the beard, feed me, good dogs too, quandary
Bridgeport to Bay City
Upon awakening after a solid eight and a half hours, I looked around to ensure I wasn't in a bathtub filled with ice (I wasn't), and that I didn't have a scar where my kidney used to be (I didn't).
Thus, with the day getting off to such a grand start, I packed up, checking one final time for flank sutures and, finding none, pedaled down the road to a coffee shop for breakfast before starting my ride in earnest.
another terrible business practice.... if you're going to be a hit man, you don't want to advertise on a barn.
Jon AylingOh that looks surreal - it looks like it's not done rendering in a computer game! (I maybe play too many computer games). Reply to this comment 5 months ago
Mark BinghamTo Jon AylingWhen I saw it, my brain took a minute to figure out what I was even looking at - it looked surreal in real life, too, not just because it’s a two-dimensional image. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
George (Buddy) HallIt's the pole tag - it's the identity marker of the pole - it's how the power companies keep up with their infrastructure - if you have to maintain many hundreds or even thousands of these poles, you need a way to identify each pole so the work crew knows which one to replace or whatever. A hypothetical example of break room talk at the power company; "Pole 1579328 is due for replacement in 2 years, but it's a favorite of the starlings and has received an excessive amount of bird crap and appears to be deteriorating faster than normal, so we may need to replace it this fall." Reply to this comment 5 months ago
Although she grew up in the Detroit suburbs, Madonna, the "Queen of Pop," was born in Bay City. She described it as “a little smelly town,” so she’s not celebrated here quite as much as she might’ve been. (Except for a half block that smelled like burning rubber, the town smelled like fresh lake breeze to me) The red brick building in the background was Mercy Hospital, the actual location where she was born. It closed in 1977 and after renovation was repurposed into a senior living apartment complex known as The Bradley House.
In the 1800s, Water Street was notorious for its saloons, brothels, and chaos during the "lumberjack era." As a result, the area where I had lunch was called Hell's Half Mile. Now it's a historical district where lumberjacks still reside, but they work at pita restaurants.
This guy is barely able to contain his manly beard.
I'm camping at a State Park tonight so, even though they were full, I got an "emergency campsite." I was charged $20.00 for the site by the summer worker and later, after I'd set up my tent, the Park Ranger came up and, embarrassed, asked me for another $15.00 because my site has electricity (that I won't be using). FYI, states that have a "No Turn Away" policy include Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.
The campground was crawling with people, crowded and loud: music playing, parents yelling at their kids, dogs barking, babies crying, and TVs blaring... but the shower was nice. And I took my towel.
At my campsite there was neither wi-fi nor cell service, so I went to the small pavilion by the front office and sat at the picnic table where I could log on to the wi-fi.
There was a woman, Gail, sitting at the adjacent table, working on some type of crafts project, and after about an hour she struck up a conversation. We chatted for a while, and she eventually she let me know that she needed to go to the grocery store, and asked me if I wanted anything.
This happens on occasion, and it puts me in a quandary: If I say yes, she'll buy me a sandwich, or whatever I ask for, then refuse payment. To me, it's an unstated offer of "Do I want some free food?" Should I say yes or no?
This is what I've decided: people are nice, and it makes them feel good to be able to help someone out. When talking with people, I always try to put myself in their shoes, and I'd ask the same thing. Of course, I'll still offer to pay.... so I said yes.
You know, to be nice.
While she was gone I chatted with her husband, Tim. (Tim and Gail are the Campground Hosts, hired by the State Park to help out. Tonight at dusk they're showing an outdoor children's movie with free popcorn, and the crafts she was working on are for the Park.) They live in possibly the largest RV I've ever seen, a self-sufficient Island On Wheels which contains not only eighteen bedrooms and as many bathrooms, but a game room, a fifteen-lane bowling alley, a rugby pitch, and a gymnasium. He shared what he paid for it new and I was astonished. I would certainly have guessed three times that much, and at least six figures.
Tim is a veteran who appreciates the great care he's received from the VA, and we talked some about how that's all been changing over the past few years now that it's becoming privatized.
Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km) Total: 2,542 miles (4,091 km)
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marilyn swettWe found that the streets in Bay City were some of the roughest and worst maintained streets we had ever biked. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
