Traverse City!!! We loved Michigan, did a grand tour of the state last year as part of our cross country (the great lakes detour from Wisconsin to Ohio meanders all across the state). In fact, we rode through Traverse City July 5th, last year! Can't wait to get back to Michigan, to tour the whole UP some day.
I share many of the same thoughts that have already been shared (and enjoyed reading those thoughts greatly.). Boredom wasn't really a thing for us, though we had a couple of mind-numbing days in Montana cycling against headwinds all day for many days in a row, on terrible roads with tarred cracks that just about drove us nuts. But the little blue-tooth speaker we had saved the day, listening to music or podcasts to distract us.
We averaged 60 mile days, with a short of 20 miles (horrendous headwinds and thunder/lightening storms in ND) and a long of 90 (July 6th, from Suttons Bay to Manistee!). Typically rode 6-8 hours a day, with many breaks and detours. Easily took 2 hours in the morning to get up, pack up, stretch, make breakfast, review route, check weather, etc (we camped every night). Easily 2-3 hours in camp in the evening with laundry, bike maintenance, cooking, route planning, travel journal, showers, etc. We often felt there just was not enough hours in the day to do it all!
Any time you stop, people will want to talk, and ask their 20 questions. So if you are inclined to be ambassadors for cycling, expect up to an hour a day talking to people! For us, we didn't do much sight seeing, because we felt that being on our bikes seeing things WAS our sight seeing.
We brought instruments to play (Uke and recorder) and enjoyed them in the evenings when we had time. Also played cribbage the whole way, with a tiny travel cribbage board.
My partner has a great philosophy about touring that helped me switch gears from being a road biker to a tourer. He says that touring is like backpacking, where slow and steady is the goal, compared to road riding or running a half-marathon, where speed and distance are critical. Our primary goal each day was to get safely to the next place to camp, not to clock any particular miles or get into town at any particular time. Our goals were often changed due to weather, our own wellness, changes in road conditions, etc.
I will add that when you are traveling with a significant other, it is helpful to divide up the chores of daily living and check in with each other along the way to see if adjustments need to be made. It is nice to know exactly what one needs to do in the evening when the brain and body are toast, and it helps to avoid assumptions that can lead to miscommunication. My guy did all the cooking, I set up camp each night, we both did laundry... But he carried the tent and all the cooking supplies on his bike, so his packing up in the morning took longer. After we recognized this, I started packing up his sleeping bag/mat and the tent in the morning while he cooked and then packed up all the cooking and food stuff. It was also important for us to both have input into our goal and route each day, and to both be aware of what was happening weather-wise so we could make joint decisions instead of defaulting to one person leading with little input from the other.
Hope you have a great mini-tour and that it leads to many more adventures!
Emily