Big Rapids.

We didn’t leave camp until 10 30. That was a bit later then I was hoping for since we had a 55+ mile day planned. But the weather was perfect and I enjoyed the relaxed morning. The road was great for the first 10 miles. After that the shoulder disappeared. Traffic was pretty sparse but everyone seemed in a hurry. It was the first time in Michigan that I was not completely at ease being on a road. The scenery was beautiful though. With the small farms, rolling hills, and evergreen forests I felt like I was really in the North. It reminded me of Vermont but with a lot smaller hills.

A small convenience store at a crossroads was a pleasant surprise. It seemed like we were miles from anywhere. I was hoping for a can of iced coffee and we stopped. There wasn’t any coffee so I settled on a Dr Pepper.Rose got a Arizona Tea. Sitting on the bench out front enjoying our break I realized Michigan is one of the states that has a deposit on soda cans. A can was worth 10 cents. I pointed this out to Rose and we started talking about how many hundreds of cans we pass along the road every day. That got us excited and after a quick Google search we learned of reverse vending machines. Put a can in and get a cash voucher! Up to $25 per person per day. This was incredible. We thought what a great way to add some fat to the bones of our scrawny budget! We rooted through our panniers searching for a bag to start our new money making pick up cans venture. We joked at how low our overhead was. All we needed was a plastic bag. We had no plastic bag but Rose found a medium sized stuff sack. We were ready to make money. We finished our drinks and Rose took them both back in for the deposit. She returned with only one dime. Arizona cans did not have a deposit. Hmm, we had a lot to learn. Back on the road Rose spotted the first can turned around and put it in the stuff sack hanging from her handle bars. Cans to Cabbage Inc. was now in business! By the time she caught up with me I had 2 cans for the bag. At the top of a hill I waited for Rose to catch up. There was a total of 11 cans so $1.10 in just under 3 miles. My enthusiasm for our can collecting was starting to wain. I pointed out that the goals of collecting cans and cycling any distance were at odds with each other. We had been 47 minutes to ride not even three miles! Roughly 3mph. We didn’t usually spot a can until it was right beside us then stopping, turning around riding back to it, parking the bike and then grabbing the can all took considerable time. After doing the math on our speed I promptly put in my resignation, effective immediately, and gave my half of the can collecting partnernership to Rose. I strongly encouraged her to quit the enterprise as well. Rose is not one to give up easily though, especially not on an idea she likes. Call it stubborn, tenacious, or pertinacious, it is one of the many reasons I love her. But often times I have to take the stick out of her hand that she is using to beat the proverbial dead horse. Today was no exception and she wanted to continue picking up cans. Her stuff sack was half full , I thought she was about done so didnt argue about it. We agreed that I wouldn’t wait for her every time she stopped and then we got back on the road. About an hour later I was sitting on a guard rail waiting for her and could not believe my eyes when she rolled up. She had replaced the little stuff sack with a grain bag she found. Not a little feed sack but big one that holds 100 pounds of grain! We were almost to the White Pine Rail Trail so the can collecting was done for the day. We needed to go to Walmart for stove fuel and that is where Rose was going to turn her feed sack of cans in. Walmart was in the town of Big Rapids about 10 miles away pretty close to the trail.

We hadn’t had our second breakfast yet and it was already 2 o’clock. As soon as we were far enough along on the trail to not hear the road we stopped to eat. Rose had made pasta at the WS host in Hart. It was good. It was a large portion each it filled a quart ziplock. I’m a really fast eater and my ziplock bag was empty while Rose’s was still over half full. That gave me time to stretch out for a little nap. We were just getting ready to get back on our bikes when we saw 2 cyclist in the distance. As they came to a stop I was surprised I recognized one of them. Jeff from Ohio. I had met him on the C&O canal 3 years ago. I had been on a weekend ride and was just doing a two night out and back. We had been doing the same amount of miles and stayed at the same campsite. The following day we rode into Harper’s Ferry and had cheeseburgers. Jeff’s memory was better then mine because he jumped off his bike and said are you Matt Stevenson. We had a nice long chat. Jeff was cycling with his friend Matt. They were doing the White Pine Trail from Grand Rapids to Cadillac and then back.

Back on our bikes we headed down the trail. At Walmart, Rose threw her feed sack of cans over her shoulder Santa style and in we went. I just wanted to see the reverse vending machines and how they worked. Rose had gathered 50 some cans. At ten cents each that’s 5 dollars! I thought that was great and we talked about maybe designating one day a week to can collecting. A day were we didn’t have many miles to bike. Any way back at the machines we were disappointed to learn that if they could not read the cans barcode they were rejected. Unfortunately there were lots of rejects. Rose did make $2.10 though. We might still plan a day a week to collect cans. It seems a shame to pass them by. We both hate litter for one thing and another they are worth a dime.

After depositing the cans I went back outside to the bikes. I called and talked to my mom while Rose shopped. In the evenings it’s so easy to get caught up in our trip, all the little things like weather, maps, routes, miles and food. I often put off things that are even more important like calling Mom and Dad. I was happy for the down time and really enjoyed our conversation.

Walmart had fuel canisters thankfully. We got three of them a loaf of bread and some cans of coffee for morning. By the time we got back on the trail it was getting pretty late. It was after 6. We started looking for a place to stealth camp. I was being picky about it. I really wanted to find a spot with a picnic table or at the very least a bench. Me and Rosie had found an awesome mushroom earlier. I giant puffball!

I really wanted a table so I could have a nice area to prepare it. We kept riding and soon we saw Gray’s River Bluff Campground. A site was $15. We hated to spend the money but with it being so late and needing a table we decided it was worth it.

Slices of sautéed mushroom and Mac n cheese was dinner. It was just regular macaroni and cheese but Rose doctored it up with chicken and lots of mushroom. It was delicious.

We are along the Kalamazoo River 6 or 7 miles south of Big Rapids. The town got its name from when loggers used to float logs down to the saw mill. There is a long series of rapids here.