Day 2: Indiana Dunes to Covert

The quick facts: 

New friends: airstream lady
Meals: dehydrated pasta dinner on the beach while watching the sunset
Miles: 68
Ice cream: slushies and icecream at the Dairy Korner
Route:

The story

We woke up dry! We made pour over coffee and rehydrated blueberry baked oatmeal for breakfast.

We ventured back to the Calumet Trail and found a lovely paved trail. Lovely until about 1/4 mile in when it turned to a two-track gravel trail littered with puddles, and in some cases, small ponds. This felt like our first real adventure. A little puddle hopping is fun, right? Not so much for Brian with his low-riding Burley Nomad. Or for Ashley, when the weight of her bike landed her smack in a puddle concealed by wetlands grass. Our first two miles left us with wet feet and raisin toes for the remainder of the day. Here are a few snaps of the dry stretch.

We decided the trail was not our friend and looked for Beverly Road, Beverly would take us in the right direction. However, Beverly was closed. Yet another detour!

We meandered and explored our options. We could take the highway which felt a little too fast and dangerous, or we could take the scenic route. The scenic route was the best choice. Also, it was really hot, so I opted to wear my 'singlet' over a sports bra. What's the point of a shirt?

We cruised along the lakeshore and it felt like the Caribbean. Huge beach house, lovely views of Lake Michigan. We even rolled through a town called Long Beach. LBM doesn't quite have the same ring...  But look, I mean, c'mon. The view...

We crossed into Michigan (pretty sure high fives were involved). Much of our ride was on Lakeshore Drive.

Eventually we stopped at the Dairy Korner in St. Joseph to cool off and enjoy slushies and icecream with Ashley's cousin and her adorable and friendly children. They were really impressed with our bells. Brian doesn't have a bell, but his sound effects were on point.

Soon, we our route put us on Blue Star Highway. Fast, but we had a decent shoulder. Still, we we kicked it a little faster.

It wasn't much further to Covert, and along the way found the only open establishment--an Italian restaurant and liquor store. We purchased two orders of cheesy breadsticks, with extra parmesan and red pepper flakes, and some cold beverages, and biked the last few miles to Covert campground. Covert is known as one of the first racially integrated towns. This article provides the history. Upon entering the campground, we felt like a minority is so many ways. We were the only ones on bikes, among the few tent-camping, our skin is white, and we didn't bring along our entire living room (movie screen and all). The host knew we were coming on bikes and said they reserved a special site for us, so special that we couldn't find it at first. Upon a second look, we found our site up a hill and around a bend--we had our own oasis in woods.

We snacked on cheesy bread with extra pepper flakes while setting up camp. Ben showed off his slingshot skillz. Then we trekked to the beach for a swim and to catch the sunset.

Look at that glow! We rehydrated a pasta dinner Brian and I made, a classic tomato sauce loaded with veggies. It really doesn't get much better than cooking dinner on the sandy beach while watching the sun set over Lake Michigan.

We met a lady camping in an airstream. She said she usually stays for three months, but ever since they raised the prices, she only stays for two. New friend, the airstream lady, she's found a gem in West Michigan.

We had some after dinner sweet treats, including some homemade bars. Pictured is the Banana Bound Bar. Vegan, baked, and dehydrated, this batch of bars would last until the end of our trip. Thanks to Engineered Explorations for the tips and expert recipes!

Tired from a long, hot day, we had a small fire and an early night.

Day 1: Chicago to Indiana Dunes

The quick facts

New friends: Half acre friends

Meals: dehydrated lentil curry, couscous
Miles: ~61
Ice cream: does beer count?
Campground: Indiana Dunes State Park
The route:

The story

We woke up in our hostel room. We ate free breakfast in the cafeteria (picture toast, peanut butter, cold cereal). We planned to stop for lunch at 3 Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana, so we let the sub par breakfast go. And we weren't thinking about the heat advisory. Nope, not concerned. After finagling our bikes out of the bike room (a storage closet), we ventured to find the lakeshore path. Folks were setting up for an event in Grant Park, so we zigzagged around the park and finally found the path.

We prioritized finding the perfect backdrop to take a photo of our start.

And again further outside the city (and less in the way of other cyclists).

We estimate that 80-90% of our ride was on bike paths. Pretty amazing, considering we were all pretty nervous about Gary. No one has anything nice to say about Gary. 

We encountered a bike race event south of the city. And enjoyed the paths (lovely paths!) almost the entire way to lunch. As we approached Munster, a storm was chasing us. The skies opened up on us as we were pulling into 3 Floyds. A welcomed cool down (remember that heat advisory!), and we were soaked through.

The blue dot is us, smack in the middle of the storm.

Wet and hungry, we waited out the storm, enjoyed a Zombie Dust, and chattered our teeth in the air conditioned brewery. They had to mop when we left.

We made our way to the Oak savanna trail that would take us to Indiana Dunes. Along the way, we met some cyclists who were headed to the same campground. Some guys who were old college friends and this was their annual adventure. We called them our new friends. We celebrated my longest ride to date while cruising through some of the most beautiful trails (Northern Indiana, who knew!).

We arrived at Indiana Dunes State Park campground and they had room for us. Thankfully. As we rode to our site, we heard cheers from our new friends, yes those guys we met on the bike path! We set up camp and headed to the beach. 

Brian, Ashley, and I hung out at the beach for a bit, while Ben ventured to find refreshing beverages. On our walk back to the campsite, we ran into our new friends! They offered us "coffee" which we gladly accepted. The "coffee" turned out to be a signature brew from Half Acre. One of the fellas is a founder of the brewery. 

We rehydrated lentil curry and cooked couscous over the camp stove and enjoyed some cold ones. The mosquitos were the worst thanks to our lovely wooded campsite. The radar showed a storm approaching and we could feel the temperature cooling down and the wind rustling the trees. We waited up until the first few drops of rain, then hit the tents.

Day one done!

The Departure

Who has time for blogging while they're adventuring? Not us! We'll attempt to write a post for each day of our trip. You can expect to read about our route, the number of miles we biked, where we camped, what kind of ice cream we had, and who we met along the way (aka new friends). Here's an account of our departure day.

The Departure 

After work, we loaded up Ashley and Ben's car with all four bikes (thanks to Ben's homemade roof rack and a borrowed trunk rack for three) and all our gear. It all fit, with plenty of room to spare. Ashley picked up Chipotle burritos that we ate in the car.

We drove to the Milwaukee Intermodal Station to catch the Hiawatha.

The conductor folks loaded our bikes into the special train car and we made our way to Chicago, with some special snacks (rumchata minis and dark chocolate!)

We arrived at Union Station and biked to the hostel. After storing our bikes and scoping our room, we ventured out to find some dogs and cold treats. Shake Shack supplied the Shack-cago dog (r) and we yum-yummed in Millennium Park. Tired and planning for an early and hot day of riding, we made our way back to the hostel and crashed. Ben and Ashley shared the twin sized top bunk. A testament to their love. :)

Stats:

Miles biked: 0
Where we camped: Hostel International Chicago
Ice cream: Shake Shack chocolate malt (Stephanie), Vanilla shack (Ashley)
New friends: train conductor!

Two days in!

Day 2. In bulleted list because there's just too much to enjoy.

*biking through a few miles of giant puddles (Ashley fell in a bog!)
*took a detour that gave us an amazing stretch of lake front that equaled Caribbean sights
*cruised down a few too many miles of 12/red arrow/blue star highway
*stopped to share ice cream and slushies with Ashley's cousins
*rang our bells as the kids waved us goodbye
*arrived at our essentially private campsite in a magical forest
*frisbee game in Lake Michigan
*sunset and camp stove rehydrated pasta dinner on the beach

So many photos on our Instagram: www.instagram.com/wewentaround

Camping Map

Here's a map of our camping stops. A detailed map of our intended route can be found here.

Test Ride!

Brian and I (Stephanie) did a test ride this weekend. We loaded up our bikes and biked ~30 miles to Blue Mounds State Park. Arriving just before dark, we got the very last bike/hike in site available (not surprising considering the holiday weekend). We cooked over Brian's trusty Whisper Light International stove, shared a few PBRs and crashed hard. Woke up the next day, packed up, and headed back. We made a stop for lunch at The Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb, and got back in time for Ben and Ashley's pig roast. Priorities! 


To follow my training rides, check out my Strava.

I'm riding my new Trek 520 disc, loaded with just two panniers and my sleeping pad bungeed down. Brian is riding his carbon Giant and hauling the Burley Nomad (it was his idea) and he loves how it compares to a panel loading backpack. His organizational side is very pleased. We made some minor adjustments to our bikes and made a list of additional gear and items to pack. I'm planning to add fenders and a front handlebar bag. Brian is planning to pack a tire pump and a sun umbrella, among other items to make sure we're prepared and comfortable. I've learned that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right? Except we're taking it 600 miles... ;)

~Stephanie