number severn

Hi all, I’m writing this blog in a motel room in Port Huron, Michigan. It’s the logical crossing point into Canada if I want to shortcut the ‘rust belt’ states to get to New England. I’ll cross the border tomorrow and hopefully get less hassle than I did the other day. Guess I’d better shave tonight…
This is definitely not one of the better rooms I’ve stayed in during any of my travels. For $70 I got a room with a bullet hole in the window (no kidding); it’s in the outer pane so I presume the inner one must have shattered and been replaced and they didn’t bother with the rest of the window. I’m facing a strip-mall type of shopping center so I guess that’s where it originated. I’ll be laying low tonight!
I do have a WiFi connection that came with the room so I’m going to post this straightaway when I’m done. If you missed it, I posted this morning ‘from the shores of the Gitche Gumee’. I actually saw WiFi advertised on a marquee for a Bob’s Big Boy (remember those? We used to have them in California) so I whipped into their parking lot – I’d just had breakfast – and posted that blog from their parking lot.
I fell asleep in my tent last night on the shore of Lake Michigan listening to the coyotes ‘singing’. I guess there has been a huge population explosion in the Upper Peninsula. Lots of ‘evidence’ of them on the lakeshore. It brought back some fond memories of camping in the desert; I’ve always found their yipping and howling to be kind of peaceful. Don’t know whether the Michigan locals agree…of course, back here they have an even more lovely sound: the loon. Now THAT puts me to sleep quickly!
In service to my goal of watching the 49ers on Monday night football (they lost), I drove about 300 miles down the Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shorelines and then took the interstate for about 100 miles across to Port Huron. (I’ve been avoiding the interstate but I was running out of time to make kickoff.) Not too much opportunity to hike, but I did manage to stop at one point along the shoreline and put in about 4.5 miles in just less than an hour and a half. One portion of my route took me into a forested area that was part of a state park. The sign said hunting and trapping WAS allowed, which made me a bit nervous, but after I verified that Dick Chaney wasn’t around I decided to go for it. I don’t think we allow hunting in any of the California state parks…different culture, I guess.
On a travel note, I’m averaging just over 53 miles per gallon in the 5600 miles I’ve put in so far. Pretty happy with the car; it’s a good road car. I stopped off at a 10-minute oil change place today as a reward for it treating me so nicely!
Anyway, that’s about it for now…have a great day!