East. Day 55.

August 2, 2016

Brandon to Bowlus, Minnesota

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The giant Chippewa County Park sign as I exited camp reminded me of the Chippewa Correctional Facility in the UP of Michigan. I was the Leader Dogs for the Blind (LBD) volunteer puppy counselor for the inmate raisers there.

Taking this trip meant I was AWOL from my duties for three months. While I was gone, my friend and fellow counselor Tammy, with whom I traveled to Chippewa once a month (and "her" prison in Baraga), took other prison puppy counselors with her to help. It was a good opportunity for them to gain experience and perspective.

The start of the program at Chippewa was serendipitous. At the time, I published a blog about raising puppies for LDB and wrote a post about their prison puppy program in Iowa. A couple in the UP, who raised a puppy who ended up a Leader Dog Dad (and father to one of my pups, Dutch) read my story. Coincidently, Paula and Dave were also volunteers in a ministry program at Chippewa. They questioned why puppies weren't in a Michigan prison and went to work getting the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) and LDB together.

Tammy became Chippewa's counselor and I came along to help. I made a new blog, "puppies inside." While not officially affiliated with either LDB or the MDOC, both permitted me to photograph and write about the win-win initiative. When the program expanded to other prisons and Tammy became the puppy counselor in Baraga--on the far west side of the UP--I took over her role at Chippewa.

It was an amazing experience, but it's a bit telling I haven't thought much about it all this time pedaling. Perhaps the position wasn't for me. What will I do when I got home?

Ah, well. No time to worry, I had miles to ride.

Touring the Chippewa Correctional Facility in 2013. L to R: Rob (MDOC), Deb (LDB), Tammy, me, Paula, Dave.

At the bike path trailhead in Freeport, where I last saw a recumbent rider frantically scraping tar off his tires, I took a break. City Hall was open across the street. Water and a restroom, yay! When I returned to my bike, a young teenage girl and two young boys sat at the picnic table slurping ice cream cones. One of the boys played Pokemon Go, a smartphone game I knew nothing about. He showed me. I still knew nothing.

Somewhere along the trial, small motivational signs marked every half-mile. They reminded me of the old Burma Shave ads. Do you remember? Did you know the original ads originated in Minnesota in 1926? And continued throughout most of the country until the early 1960s.

Before Albany, I turned left to take the Lake Wobegon Spur to its terminus in Bowlus. I made good time. When I crossed the covered bridge into Holdingford, I exited the trail to find a hardware store. I was tired of patching the worn fabric on my seat with electrical tape. The horn of my cushy saddle looked obscene.

Hardware stores in small towns carry everything. I found a two-pack of microfiber kitchen towels and two sizes of Zip Ties. tonight would be reupholster time.

In the wooden-floored, narrow-aisled store, two older women and a younger woman stopped to ask, "Is that your bike out there?" They were eager to hear my story. "We just had lunch across the street at Rudolph's Redneck Roost," one of the older women said. "My daughter and her husband just bought it and we came up to try it."

They wished me luck when I paid for my seat supplies and left. I guessed they had a pretty nice lunch, including some liquids.

Bowlus trailhead and campsite.

From my B'76 journal:

8/2/76

Here I am at another rest day – Berea, KY. The group is still split up. Tom, Yuichi, and I rode here yesterday as did Brad and Big Dave. Bob and Steve stayed in Harrodsburg to hear from Little Dave. The tandem stayed in Bardstown for the play and then they were going ahead to Springfield. They were supposed to meet us here in Berea but there weren’t here yesterday.

A B'76 Bike Inn. 1976.

Tomodachis crossing a steel bridge. 1976.