More Bike Paths (August 2, 2012)

Oh, what joy to ride and not have to deal with traffic.  Another day of primarily riding bike paths made the 23 mile flat ride from Waukesha to Milwaukee an easy ride.

When I was a kid growing up in Iowa, my favorite professional baseball team was the Milwaukee Braves ... Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, et al. Today we finished the ride into Milwaukee on the Hank Aaron Multi-use path ... the little boy in me rejoiced.

We decided to make a short day of riding, which allowed an afternoon of walking around downtown Milwaukee.  Kim worked her magic in booking hotel rooms, so we are in the downtown Hilton for the price of a low cost motel out on the fringes ... crazy.  Pure opulence and luxury up here on the 15th floor.  Beats the hell out of camping.

Spent the afternoon walking around downtown Milwaukee, and enjoying the architecture of buildings old and new.  The adjacent picture is the Milwaukee Art Museum building which is beautifully located on the waterfront.  I am afraid the picture does not do the structure justice ... the affect of this structure is stunning after walking through the claustrophobic grays, browns and faded whites of the downtown buildings.  Having lived my entire life in the southwest, I have not been exposed to the overwhelming beauty of stately structures built in the 1890s to 1920s.  These older structures are magnificent to observe, but limited time did not allow for the indepth study necessary to really take-in the ornate detailing presented. I spent a glorious afternoon craning my neck and taking not-so-good pictures ("Say buddy, been off the farm long?")

Tomorrow we board the Lake Express ferry for a two and a half hour trip across Lake Michigan, landing in Muskegon, MI.  Hope to see Debbie and Bob Powers on Saturday ... they live in Grand Haven during the summer and Tucson during the winter.  Bob has provided some route information for getting across Michigan to Toledo which should prove to make for good riding.

So tomorrow we go a-boating on a lake bigger than some states. Won't be long before we are to the Atlantic.