To Green Bay

June 10, 2021

We went to bed last night swearing we would get an earlier start today. Rachael was up at 5 drinking her cold coffee she’d saved from the night before, and I was up minutes after. We ate in the room again, on a tasty meal of instant oatmeal and figs. Somehow though we still failed to get out early, and weren’t on the road until after 7:30 - a bit worse than we did yesterday, actually. And, like each of the past four days, it was sunny, in the low seventies already, and would reach 90 by midday.

I awoke in the middle of the night feeling hot and flushed, and anxious about my health. I think it’s only because we turned the A/C off before going to bed though, and the room was overheated until I got up and turned it on again. By morning I felt fine, and ready to ride.

It’s an easy ride today - 47 miles sounds pretty light compared to yesterday’s 63, and only minimal climbing is involved. The first 30 miles were quite pleasant, and it didn’t get uncomfortably hot until about 11 - the time we would have arrived in Green Bay if we’d left at 6. We have only ourselves to blame.

We arrived in Green Bay at noon, too early to check into our hotel, so we headed straight to the Creamery, a waterfront diner Rachael had scoped out thinking they’d have ice cream and it would just hit the spot. It’s a nice place, with outdoor seating that I’m sure would be delightful if it were ten or fifteen degrees cooler. Instead, we had lunch indoors - three pitchers of ice water, a huge serving of corned beef hash and eggs (S), and a grilled panini with bacon, chicken, spinach, and gruyere cheese, with a side salad (R). Good, and very filling; so it wasn’t a huge disappointment for Rachael that they didn’t actually have ice cream.

After that we went back to the room for several hours and then went out again for dinner at Hagemeister Park, another waterside joint that looks like it often draws a big crowd. Today many folks are sitting outside chugging their beers and frying, but we’re much more comfortable and the view is nearly as good on the other side of the glass.

After dinner we consider a walk along the waterfront, but it still feels too hot for comfort. Tomorrow we’ll reach Lake Michigan and should finally escape the heat - the high there today was 70, a full 20 degrees cooler. We can hardly wait.