I rolled out of my hotel room around 5am and pedaled through the quiet streets of Milwaukee. The city was peaceful at that hour, with the sunrise just starting to light up the skyline. Milwaukee is sometimes called the “City of Festivals” thanks to its packed summer calendar of events, including Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival. My destination was the Lake Express ferry terminal, where I boarded the high-speed ferry across Lake Michigan. The ride was smooth and relaxing, a fun way to see the lake and cover some serious distance. After docking in Muskegon, I grabbed coffee in town and headed out on the Musketawa Trail. The trail follows an old rail corridor between Muskegon and Marne and was one of Michigan’s first long-distance rail trails. It’s flat, shaded, and makes for some very peaceful riding… until construction detours get involved. Unfortunately, the last ten miles were closed, but I pressed on down the trail anyway and ended up fording a couple streams and navigating some rough patches. I guess those “trail closed” signs were there for a reason. 🤣 With storms rolling in behind me, I pushed into the south side of Grand Rapids. There weren’t any good camping options nearby and rain was forecast through the night, so I grabbed a room and called it. Out east, camping has gotten more difficult. With less public land, I need to do more planning than I’m used to. Tomorrow looks clearer and I’m looking forward to putting more miles down through Michigan.