Family Time

To Milwaukee & Waukesha, Wisconsin -- Sat-Sun, May 20-21 -- 60 miles, 11.5 mph, 1350 ft

The last couple days have been filled with hugs, laughter, games, and brief but treasured family time. It was nice to see so many of the extended family. Being here on Saturday and Sunday gave us a chance to maximize the visiting. It was, in fact, just over a year ago that we were here last May, full of anticipation before heading out on our world tour.

On Saturday, we got an early start from Ben and Lydia’s. They made sure we were well fed as we pedaled away to catch or 10:15 ferry from Muskegon to Milwaukee. It's always fun to ride up into the boat along with all the cars. The ferry ride was relaxing -- Dex and Kylie watched Pets, Meg took a nap, and I caught up on the blog. No fewer than three different people stopped by to ask about our trip, having seen us riding on with our bikes. We tend to stand out.

Securely strapped to the wall

Watching the movie -- "conscious sedation" 

So long, Michigan

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, a steady and cold rain began as soon as we docked. With only ten miles to go, we set off undaunted. Turns out that navigating by phone in the rain doesn't work so well. A wet touch screen is pretty much useless, and, once the phone was stuffed into the handle bar bag, I could neither see nor hear it to navigate through Milwaukee. Meg’s brother, Bob, met up with us on his bike a few miles into town and then guided us safely back to his place. We felt like wet rats by the time we arrived, but we were there.

Dex and Kylie were super excited to see their cousins, and, best of all, play games. Dex had been missing his Hex Bugs so he, Kylie, Max, and Charlotte invented a game and played for hours.

Charlotte, Max, Dex, and Kylie... and lots of hex bugs

Nephew Nemo and wife Stephanie

Sister Sunflower ,Beth

Eight player Cribbage

The two short biking days with family, also gave me a chance to do some preventative bike maintenance. With Bob’s help, the bikes were set up with new tires, chains, and a shift cable or two.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Bob and Nephew Nemo, happily accompanied us the 32 miles to Waukesha and the house where Meg grew up, now owned by her sister, Anne, and hubby, Rick. They were waiting for us at the end of the drive as we rolled up. Hugs, kisses, and smiles all around.

Hello Uncle Rick!

Dex and Aunt Anne

No one who has seen our blog is want for details of our trip. Nevertheless, Anne was genuinely anxious to see pictures. For the second day in a row, we waded through a slide show encompassing the first eleven months of our travels!  Meg's family were fantastic guinea pigs and showed an incredible amount of stamina. For future showings, we'll have to see if we can whittle the number down to the low hundreds!