8/19 - 8/21 Van Buren State Park

We had a grand time with Sarah, and as we said goodbye to her, we allowed as how it would feel good to get back to bicycling and simple eating. We splurged royally in Chicago, had a wonderful time, and decided to get back to basics.

Our next campsite was at Van Buren State Park. It was nicely set up, however I got pretty aggravated by the amount of campfires smoke from our fellow campers. Sore eyes and throat each morning made me ready to leave. It turns out I was also coming down with a cold.

While there we did the unavoidable required laundry, and got to ride the Van Buren Trail. Some was paved, some was hard-packed limestone. The riding was great and the trikes got dusty. We ducked into South Haven to explore. This is a tourist town with a boating area, so it attracted people. At South Haven, the Van Buren trail ends and the Kal-Haven (Kalamazoo-Haven) trail begins. We rode the Kal-Haven on to Grand Junction, and then did the return route. Trail had the typical tree covering and very few other riders. A lovely 36 mile day.

We also decided that if we should return, it would be fun to do the entire run to Kalamazoo on the Kal-Haven. We also missed the southern end of the Van Buren trail to Hartford. Sorry folks, not many pictures... We'll do better next time.