Friday, Friday, Friday. What a day. Woke up in a drooping, wet tent at around 7:30 because my alarm didn’t go off, but that was ok. Got out of bed with Lenny and worked on packing up and getting the other guys ready. We went inside for breakfast with Anne and Steve, who had offered the night before. It was delicious – steel cut oats, bacon, grapes, and coffee. We talked about biking – Anne and Steve do an annual trip through Iowa with a tour bus and everything where there’s places to stop and eat along the way. It sounded fantastic.
Packed up the rest of our stuff and got on the road towards the Red Arrow Highway. We got a little turned around, but ended up where we needed to be. We stopped at a grocery store and picked up some macaroni salads, granola, yogurt, and some discounted pastries. I got to check my email and realized that I had more time than I thought on the Peace Corps application – yay!
We traveled against high winds and it looked like it would rain any second, which it luckily didn’t. We took a couple snack breaks and ate lunch in a graveyard in Lawrence Michigan. I got to have a NVC conversation with my friend Mishu for about 20 minutes and the guys got to take naps from their late nights earlier.
While riding along toward Warren Dunes, which was to be our destination for the day, Lee’s crank started grinding. We had to stop and check it out – the casing on the ball bearings was shot. Without delay, Lenny was on the job and I was standby. We took apart the crank and Stef and I ran down to the local hardware store to grab some new ball bearings. With some grease, q-tips, and a rag, we repacked the bearings no problem.
However, we had to shorten our trip and decided we’d look for a place in St. Joseph. Riding along, we arrived in Benton Harbor just in time for an art walk, which we had no idea was going on. We were a bit hesitant to stop, since we had no place to stay, but with the mention of free Kool-aid and crackers, our minds were turned. As we locked up our bikes, I remember spotting a young lady with beautiful blond hair on the roof of an apartment building across the street taking pictures.
We walked along – drinking wine and having fine snacks. I remember being really moved by charcoal images of empty rooms in an old, broken down house. The artist even came up and started talking to me and we had a great conversation about the symbolism of the piece. Down the street, we saw some beautiful textiles and I had the best Gelato ever. Before we knew it, it was 8:30 and we needed to start looking for a park to camp in.
As we unlocked our bikes, the beautiful girl from the roof showed up to talk with us. She asked where we were going and how we were going to get there and sleep and then proceeded to offer us a place to sleep in her apartment. We accepted gratefully and locked up our bikes again. As we did, the whole town seemed to show up to talk with us – again, we were strangers in a new town and there were plenty of people who were curious about our adventure.
We took some crackers and Kool-aid to go as we headed back to Candice’s place for a night on the town. She brought her friends along and we enjoyed a night of fresh brews at the local brewery. We played a giant game of Jenga and had a merry time. I spoke with her friend Pat and realized that he had been nominated for the state of Michigan for the same program I was trying to get into for the Peace Corps. Small world!
All the while, I began to notice something about this town and Candice. That night, Pat had described her as a “gem.” And I imagined it to be so, a gem in this small town on a lake in Michigan. Her curly blond hair and beautifully deep green eyes were only the beginning – she had charisma, she was showing us around, and she was working to help get this area back in order economically. Like the town’s Polyanna. I felt like an onlooker all night as she glided around bar and bonfire.
We rode our bikes to the bonfire after the brewery. I always enjoy riding my bike at night – especially with friends on the way to a party. I’ll need to do that more when I get home.
I spent most of the time at the bonfire looking into the fire. I had a seat next to this nice gentleman who was a corn farmer and we chatted about farming and sexuality. Since I was too shy to approach Candice myself, she came up to me all brave and ready to talk and we got into the subject of education and the job market which we did not see eye to eye on. I think I’m going to start sending her emails though to try to separate some of the facts from fiction. I like an opinionated woman, one I can learn from.
This whole question of education and job markets - It’s important to me. I went on this trip instead of finding a job. There’s something about getting a job that seems so last century. I want to believe we are in a new age now – an age of making our own careers and jobs and rebuilding society rather than patching it up. I'd like to see a new paradigm arise out of this time of pharmaceuticals and economic recession.
We came back to the apartment and played with Candice's Ipad a little bit before going to sleep. We weren't at Warren Dunes and we definitely weren't going to make it to Chicago for the weekend, but we had found a beautiful little gem in Benton Harbor :). Thank you!
Michael
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