Day 18 - still among the Yoopers

August 26, 2021

I awoke to a dense fog across the lake although in the campground itself it seemed clear.  

For my breakfast I ate some leftover Pad Thai from last night’s dinner and then went through the ritual of packing up.  Once everything was secured, I rode the dirt road the mile and a half back to Highway 2 and headed west.  I only went a few miles before I turned north on Highway 77.  The fog was pretty dense through this forest and farmland and it both amazed and troubled me how few cars coming in the opposite direction made use of their headlights.  As the sun came up and tried to burn through the fog it created a nice morning scene.

I had decided to get off Hwy 2 and go north not only because it was boring but I wanted to get closer to the shore or Lake Superior and, hopefully find less traffic, not that the vehicle count was really that busy.  I got to Highway 38 and followed the shore all the way to Marquette with lots of scenic pullouts.

The signs attempted to route me around Maquette but I decided to cruise through the town and check it out.  I am glad that I did, otherwise I’d have missed this encounter with a beautiful Volvo PV544 parked in front of a house there.  I believe it to be an early 1960s model due to the B18 badge on the grill.  I have a 1959 model with the B16 engine.  

I drove a round downtown a bit and was really taken by both the architecture, the hills, and the cleanliness.  I circled back and went down a street that was full of coffee shops, art galleries, and as such, quite trendy, but the appearance of a large structure up ahead drew me to it.  I was in luck as it allowed me to get another photo of my bike parked in front of a county courthouse and this one is a beauty.  

The sign adjacent to it provided some history and a Hollywood connection.  I’ve seen that movie too.

As I went around the block to find my way back to the highway I saw this church, well, more than a church, a cathedral, that dominated the hill it was perched on.  Another great piece of architecture.

I got back on the road and I have to say that while the scenery is great, as in lots of trees and occasional glimpses of water, the road itself is straight with very few curves.  With the meager flow of traffic doing about 67 miles per hour, it’s a good way to rack up the miles but, motorcycling-wise, not the most exciting.

I did encounter a little gem of hope at one of my gas stops.  It was another station with those annoying video ads blaring over the sound of anything else, but the station had added a piece of important information, lacking at all the others.

I can’t wait to try out that secret button at the next station that launches its audible assault.

I stopped in Ironwood for lunch and started my daily search for a stopping point by looking for campgrounds up ahead.  

I decided to stay just east of Duluth/Superior in a Wisconsin state park: Amnicon Falls.  While state parks usually lack advanced plumbing options found in private campgrounds, they tend to be quieter and have better options for hiking.  This one looked good and I booked the site online.

When I got on my way, it started to drizzle, but only for a few miles.  By the time I found the site and got parked, the drizzle turned into a light rain, but I got my tent pitched and my gear inside before anything became too wet.  While I waited for it to clear, I enjoyed a beer I’d picked up a few miles back and wrote a blog entry.

The rain finally stopped and I cooked up a meal and got out my Rand-McNally atlas and planned my few remaining days ahead.

Today’s ride was 347 miles and I noticed that I’d traveled about 5,390 miles so far on this adventure.

Day 17 - into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

 August 25, 2021

It rained during the night and that’s a nice sound when it is hitting the rain fly on the tent, especially when everything is staying dry inside.  It seemed that every time I woke up there was the sound of raindrops but when I got up around 6am it had stopped.  I got my running gear on and decided to run down to the pond that is part of this camping site’s property.  The whole place feels really vacant with only 2-3 other vehicles around since, as I mentioned in another post, this is the type of place that people haul their RVs to “for the season” and, most likely, only come to stay on weekends.

I ran down the dirt path/road to the pond and could see that the owner had mowed a grassy path around the whole thing.  I went to the left and ran to the end where it narrows and then around to the other side of the pond.  The pond is very mossy and I could hear the occasional splash: frogs, fish?  When I got near the end of my lap I came across a muddy area.  It had two wheel tracks through it and I figured by staying in the center I would have good footing.  Wrong!  I made a forward motion to carry me over it as I planted my left foot down and it immediately sank and my momentum moved me forward and the bog sucked the shoe off my foot.  I stepped back into the mud with my stocking and, with some difficulty, pulled my shoe out.  I always wear two pairs of socks so it was no problem to pull off the outer one and re-shoe that foot and get going again.  I took an uphill trail that took me on a loop around the end of the property and back to the pond where I did an out-and-back to the mud hole before returning to the camping area.

After a cool-down and a shower, I started the packing process, something that I am getting quite proficient at doing.  I had to make some changes as to where things go to keep my wet and muddy shoes and socks away from the dry stuff but eventually got the bike loaded and was ready to move on.

The goal today is to get to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  I set the app to head me north on the non-highway route and off I went.  Although, with a full tank, my bike has a range of over 330-miles, when I get to about a half talk, I get gas.  For one thing, it gives me a break and, for another, I get to have a different gas station experience.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post how much I dislike gas pumps that have the LCD video screens blaring commercials as I pump.  Putting a highly flammable and explosive product in a container mounted over a hot engine is nothing to be taken lightly and I really don’t like the distraction of someone screaming at me about buying one thing or another that I don’t need.  Add to that, there are usually a half-dozen pumps doing the same thing and they are not in synch, delivering a cacophony of noise.  There should be a law.  And, here’s the latest in gas pump technology: a full screen LCD panel for controlling the whole experience.

And, yes, it ran commercials while I was filling up.

BTW, my bike continues to get 55 miles to the galling and it is designed to run on regular.

I went through lots of small towns as I’ve been doing for the past couple weeks.  In Perry, MI I stopped for this photo.

The next door neighbor had this sign.

Along the way I stopped to take some pictures of what the road was like.

One of the best things about these backroads is getting to drive through so many small and medium-sized towns.  Occasionally one strikes my interest and I file it away for future research.  Chelsea, MI was one of those places.  As I entered the town I passed the Chrysler Proving Grounds, certainly a nod to that state’s history with the automotive industry, but it was the warm feeling I got riding through the downtown and all the beautiful and well-kept older homes that really grabbed me.  It really does appear to be a nice place to live.

After that the routing app somehow switched me to Hwy 33, which turned out well because not only was the speed limit the same, there was virtually no traffic.

I finally got close enough to get my first view of Lake Huron.

The big event occurred just a few miles up the road.  The Mackina Bridge, AKA Big Mac, connects the bulk of Michigan to what is referred to as its Upper Peninsula.  It is famous for its length, about 5-miles, as well as the conditions on the bridge while crossing.  I heard that they actually escort batches of cars across in the winter.  I’d done some homework and noted that there are 2-lanes in each direction with the left lane made up, mostly, of the dreaded steel grating, an anxiety-producing ride for motorcycles.  Add to that the ever-present crosswinds and we have what was refereed to back in my younger day as an “E-ticket ride.”  (At Disneyland you’d buy a ticket book and it came with tickets that ranged from “A” through “E.”  “A” tickets were for riding the trolley down Main Street and other benign experiences and the “E” tickets were for the good stuff like Matterhorn roller coaster.)

I rode along the highway and stopped for gas before making the crossing.  I pulled out of the station and before I could psyche myself up, I ended up on the on ramp to the bridge.  There is a pretty long uphill approach and I could feel the crosswinds as I gained elevation.  The speed limit is 45 mpg and I stuck in 4-gear to give me speed as well as some control.  I ducked down behind the windshield a bit to make less of a sail and that helped.  

I had gone to the bridge’s website and it indicated that the conditions were good for crossing, as in “no construction.”  That was a lie.  I planned to stay in the steel-grating-free right lane all the way across but as I neared the first big support column, they had that lane blocked off for some reason and over on the grating I went.  The trick is to loosen the grip on the handlebars and just let the bike do its thing.  It wiggles and wobbles but I have to trust the physics that tell me that it’s going to keep upright even with the crosswind.  As I passed behind the first column, it blocked the wind, giving me a respite, but it returned with a gust that shifted the bike over a foot or so.  About the time I reached the summit, the right lane reopened and I swerved to its safety.  Now it was all downhill to the toll booth.  That piece of fun was only $4.

 

I rode to the bridge viewing area to take a photo.

Five Harley riders showed up and we had a nice chat.  They were on a 1-week tour from central Pennsylvania, something they do together once every year.

I headed west on US 2 and got clear of the whole Mackinac thing before I thought to pull over to check out camping options in the area.  There weren’t any as everything was full up, even for tenters like me.  I decided that, since I still had lots of sun, to ride on for an hour to get away from the tourist area and check online again.  My cell service got sketchy but I found that Milakokia State Park had 35 primitive tent sites. The RV crowd avoids places like this so I pulled in and found it mostly empty, grabbed a site on the lake and called it a day.

And a view of the lake.

392 miles.

Day 16 - to central Michigan

August 24, 2021

I got the bike loaded up while Dan worked on rebuilding his new Grom, a Honda motorcycle, a small one.  I logged a route and it was going to take me through Steubenville so I’d try to see a mural or two.  I headed out about 8:30, stopped for gas, and rolled along without incident.  I entered West Virginia and stayed in that state for about 15 miles before crossing a bridge into Ohio and the city of Steubenville.

The bridge was one of those with nothing but iron grating to ride on and it was, admittedly, a bit disconcerting, but the trick is to keep the speed steady, loosing the grip, and understand that the bike will continue to go forward due to the gyroscopic action of the wheels and the rake of the front end.  Here the bridge after I’d crossed it.

I was itching to get rolling and decided not to tour the town and see all the murals they are known for but did see a few as I negotiated my west out of town.

I think it was Highway 212 that I was on for some time and it was lots of fun.  Somewhere along the way I encountered an earthen dam and shot some photos.

And this is about where the happy and fun story ends.  Nothing bad happened but I spent about 100 miles and many hours negotiating way around the outskirts of Toledo and it was awful.  Picture a place in your town where all the box stores congregate along with all the chain restaurants and other see-them-everywhere places and you’ll get an idea of what I dealt with.  For hours.  And it was 95 degrees. A few postings ago I said something about riding and not wanting to do anything else.  Today was where I wanted to be somewhere else.  Not only am I now riding alone again, it was intense and boring at the same time.

When I got the the junction of Michigan 52 and US 12, I pulled over and checked my app for camping.  Sure enough there was one about 5 miles to the west and I went for it.  It’s a private campground, primarily for seasonal RVs which means that almost no one is here since they mostly come to it on the weekends.  I got a nice site and, after getting my tent set up, I went back down the road and picked up a couple Michigan IPAs.

It was a 300-mile day.

Day 15 - in Pittsburgh

August 23, 2021

Dan had a doctor’s appointment in downtown Pittsburgh and it was only a few blocks from the REI where I wanted to go to pick up some more food for my return trip so I went with him.  While he was with the doctor I walk on the Allegheny bike path, the one that goes all the way to Maryland.  Right next to the medical office is the Pittsburgh Steelers training facility.  I walked past that but since I don’t know anything about football (it is football, isn’t it?) I didn’t know what to do except take a few pictures.

The bike path along the river is pretty nice.

I walked up to the next busy intersection and found that it was the junction of Hot Metal Street and Water Street.  That produces steam, right?  There is a bridge, the Hot Metal Bridge, that goes across the river and I am told that they used to move hot metal from a plant nearby to a rolling mill down by the river, hence the name.  The bridge now is split between vehicle use and pedestrians.  Here’s the intersection of those streets.

When Dan was done with his appointment, it was still a bit before REI opened so he took me on a tour and we went down to Mill 19 where the hot metal was rolled.  Of course, that industry is long gone but the mill has been repurposed and is part of a big redevelopment plan.  They gutted out everything but the riveted steel structure and, within it, have been building office spaces.  The roof is full of solar panels.  The building is REALLY long.  On one end they left and repainted the overhead cranes.

I could look at rusted, riveted steel structure all day.

We made it to REI and I stocked up on more of the Backpackers Pantry meals.  Not only is their selection of vegetarian options great, the price is pretty good, about $8 for two servings.

I told Dan I’d take him out for breakfast and he just had to pick so we went to The Pub Chip Shop and got egg sandwiches and these potato tatty things to go that were really good.  We ate them back at his place and then it was on to put new tires on my bike.

My tires, especially the front, were looking a bit worn and I didn’t want to chance it all the way back to Montana so I had gonet online to Revzilla and ordered both a front and rear tire, Michelins, and had them shipped to Dan’s.  He has a motorcycle tire changing machine which does the hard part of the job.  We pulled the rear wheel without incident, a new experience for both of us since this bike has a shaft drive rather than a chain.  The front wheel was just as easy.  Next up is to deflate the tires, use the machine to break the bead, and then up on the machine to remove the tire from the rim followed by mounting the new tire.  We aired them up and then checked their balance on his static balancer.  They were right on.

New shoes and ready to roll.

For our last dinner together I wanted to go out, something I never do in Billings due to the limited vegetarian options, and he chose Noodleheads.  All I can say is that this was the best Thai food I have had in years.  I had the See Yew and it could become an addiction.  The prices are excellent.  Pretty much everything is just $10.  Service was very friendly and fast.  

After we ate, Dan took me on another tour of Pittsburgh.  I wanted to see the North Side and we drove around there a bit.  By chance, we passed one of the locations the Mattress Factory, an art gallery I am familiar with from my art classes at MSUB.

Then we drove around other places and I just grabbed photos through the windshield.  Pittsburgh is such an interesting city, historically, geographically, and culturally.  I find it fascinating.

There are lots of bridges and tunnels in this city.  We ended up our tour a brewery that I’d been to a couple of years ago when my wife and I went to Pittsburgh and ran their half marathon with Dan.  That was a great time and the brewery, tonight, was good as well.  Pretty quiet because it’s a Monday and most other places are closed.

That was it for the day.  I sort of got things packed up.  I’d done all my laundry so I am heading out with clean clothes, enough to get me back to Billings.  We just hung out for a while and then called it a night.