Some minutes down the road I come across the expected gas station, right on cue. I’m just about due for gas and there it is, in the middle of nowhere this time. A big, brightly-lit Exxon station offering ample shelter. The mini-mart is closed but the pumps are accessible by credit or debit card. This is a true oasis.

Gas, bright lighting, ample rain shelter, paper towels, and not a soul around. What more could I ask for! I end up staying here for a good twenty minutes as I re-arrange clothing, drink some water, munch on an energy bar, apply chain lube, and generally take stock. Sometimes the pleasures of life can be quite simple.

At this point, I decide to wear my over-mitts differently. Though the Triple Digit mitts are intended to be worn over the sleeve, being on a sport bike my arms are angled downward a little more. I suspect that this probably allows water to slide down my forearm and under the gauntlet, even with the elastic pulled tight. So I pull the gauntlet high over my jacket sleeve and then, wearing the mitts, put on my rain shell.

However, wearing these loose, nylon covers, over a pair of leather riding gloves makes it a little more tedious to zip up my rain shell and close Velcro tabs and such. Ah well.

By the time I get to Manistique, the skies have really opened up. It is now approx. 5am as I pull into a multi-service station (can we really call them gas stations anymore?) and add some gas (even though I don’t need much). I walk inside and head straight to the washroom to use the electric hand dryer. This is the real purpose for my stop. I spend the next 10 minutes drying and warming my gloves, my jacket liner, my helmet liner, and generally anything else that can be warmed or dried.

I finally come out and fill a big cup of my favourite hot beverage. This is a huge gas station with an accompanying huge mini-mart. I’m the only customer there. Otherwise the place is deserted. I stand there, slowly sipping as I look out through the floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows that overlook Lake Michigan.

What I see is ludicrous. It’s really pouring now, much worse than it has been all night. I burst out laughing!

Where is all this water coming from? And how could it be raining still harder? How is that possible? This is now the worst sustained hard rain I've ever experienced. Again I wonder if this has anything to do with Hurricane Lili that has hit Louisiana this past week.

The woman attendant had been vacuuming and I strike up a conversation with her. She reminds me that we are just on the edge of Lake Michigan and, though this rain is a little unusual, the weather can be quite extreme at this time of year. Well, I knew that. But still!

I ask her when this monsoon started. She replies that it has rained all night but that it really intensified at 3am. She first became aware of snow and then freezing rain and said that it had just lately turned back to rain, as temperatures seemed to be warming some. She mentions that the forecast for the Upper Peninsula is calling for probable snow flurries during the day.

So, in light of this new information, it seems that I had made the right decision to remain on rte 2 southbound. This may have lengthened my trip somewhat and exposed me to more rain but also to slightly warmer temperature. Being faced with snow and freezing rain further north would have resulted in a totally different experience.

As I stand there reflecting on this between hot sips, I’m reminded of the phrase that "the Lord does move in mysterious ways". Two things come to mind:

1. Had I correctly perceived the map back in Duluth – I normally perceive maps correctly – I would have taken the turn-off northbound for route 28 at Wakefield. This would have been a quite shorter route, no doubt, but a much more unpleasant ride. With the temperature several degrees cooler and the precipitation, I would probably have met with snow or freezing rain.
2. From my personal experience (or at least, as they apply to me), I’ve observed that co-incidences are not random, purposeless events. As I look back over time, I notice that many coincidences have had purpose. A coincidence is an event that occurs at the intersection of time and space. If one of the two parties arrives at that space at a different time, the coincidence does not occur. Had I not met Rae-Lynn in Iron River and then mulled her advice and descriptions over and over while analysing conditions, I would have either taken the turn-off at Crystal Springs or back-tracked to then head north. Given what I knew now, another mistake.

So, my young woman friend back in Iron River, Michigan was correct. Thanks Rae-Lynn, wherever you are!

Bruno
Montreal, Canada