The Viola Grace Expedition was the idea of my brother Jerry Strain. We talked about making a plan together shortly after the death of our father. Our mother, Viola Grace Strain was excited about the idea. With the winter coming on, we set the date for the following summer. Our mother’s health was not very good, especially with the recent death of our father and she passed before our expedition. So Jerry thought to dedicate our expedition to our loving mother, Viola Grace Strain.

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes in North America. It is the only one of the five that is located entirely within the United States. It is slightly smaller than the US state of West Virginia. It is bounded by four US states of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois; in order of our travel. Lake Michigan’s surface area is 58,000 square kilometers (22,400 square miles) making the fifth largest lake in the world.

This writing tries to capture what an 8.5 day bicycle trip around the scenic Lake Michigan would be like for two brothers in the summer’s heat in July. It covers some of the physical and mental parts as well as some silly stories about the people we met and the places we visited. In the 8.5 days we travelled 889 miles or 1,431 kilometers.

Click on the link below to read about our adventure.
The Viola Grace Expedition