Today’s ride was Havenly. Hugging the western Michigan coast, 64 miles from Haven to Haven. A little slice of haven. All haven, no hail (and clear skies). For haven’s sake, that’s probably enough haven puns.

70 degrees and westerly winds on departure from Grand Haven. The severe storms from yesterday gave way to clearing skies, leaving behind some wet spots and scattered twigs and branches. A southerly route along Lakeshore Drive – or ‘Lack-a-Shore Drive’, as the GPS voice likes to say. Lack-a-Shore is actually more apt, as the view was primarily that of beautiful tree-covered sand dunes. Every once in awhile, you could catch a glimpse of the Lake Michigan shore line.

The ride went thru the splendid harbor town of Holland and then into the town of Saugatuck, where the Kalamazoo river winds its way into Lake Michigan. I had planned to take the famed ‘Saugatuck Chain Ferry’ across the river, but alas, the ferry was closed today. According to the owner, all the ferry operators went back to school… presumably to learn a trade other than ‘chain-ferry operator’. Operating since 1857, the Saugatuck ferry is the last of its kind in the United States – a hand-cranked conveyance that utilizes a sunken chain and special gearing to get from one side of the river to the other. The unanticipated chain-ferry labor shortage caused a two mile detour for me.

Jax took advantage of the lack of ferry traffic to take a paddleboard excursion on the slow-moving Kalamazoo. Now that’s a modern chain-free way to cross a river.

The ride wrapped up in South Haven, where we celebrated the day with a sandy beach stroll and a beautiful sunset… a havenly day!

And so it begins… again. A 9:30 arrival in Muskegon Michigan on-board the Lake Express, after a 6am departure from Milwaukee. A strong south wind whipped up 5 foot swells atop Lake Michigan, swaying our morning ferry boat ride back and forth. Land-lubber passengers appreciated free Dramamine, while the vehicles one deck below appreciated a sturdy parking brake. Two wheels on solid ground felt amazingly stable.

A breezy 20 mile warmup ride was the agenda for today, including a leisurely stroll through Pete Marquette Park where Jax broke out the paddleboard and added a windy Lake Michigan to her conquered bodies of water.

A Low 70s day with high humidity and soggy roads, thanks to overnight storms from the previous night. Our prior two days of car travel from Denver to Milwaukee were ominously stormy, as heavy rain seemed to follow us from west to east. Darkening skies on this day seemed to be further taunting me.

Journeying Southward, the same wind that rocked the ferry boat was gaining intensity, to the tune of 15-20mph, turning today’s stroll into a headwind battle. Although the tree-lined coastal dunes provided some welcome shelter and swaying scenery.

Eventually, the winds unleashed some drenching thunderstorms. Thankfully, today’s ride was a short and I made it to our Grand Haven Holiday Inn before the skies unleashed. And as I write this blog from a warm and dry hotel room, the wind is dying and the skies are clearing. Maybe this really is a Grand Haven after all.