Motorcycle Trip 2007: Lake Superior

Day 9: N. Muskegon, MI, to Goshen, IN

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:53:00 +0000

July 15, 2007

161 day miles; 1,766 total trip miles

Home at last, after 1,766 miles.

Dale and I slept in this morning until 8:00 am - Johann slept longer. We were really tired last night.

Breakfast was several bagels at a nice bagel shop, and then we headed for Indiana. We stopped at Fiddler's Hearth (a great Irish pub/restaurant) in South Bend for brunch and were home by 2:30 pm. We were tired and sore, but thoroughly elated with our wonderful trip.

Next year: Route 66, Chicago, IL, to Los Angeles, CA!!

Day 8: Manitowoc, WI, to N. Muskegon, MI

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:52:00 +0000

July 14, 2007
67 day miles; 1,605 total trip miles

After a hearty breakfast at Perkin's Pancake House, we packed our bags and headed to the ferry. The boarding process takes about an hour - they have to pack in cars, buses, RV's, motorcycles and bicycles. There was a BMW motorcycle rally in Wisconsin, so there was a long line of motorcycles waiting to get on the boat.

The SS Badger was built in 1953 and originally used to transport train cars across the lake. You can still see train tracks in the cargo hold floor. We had to tie down our motorcycles against the hull of the boat. The ship is huge, with two passenger decks above the cargo deck. We had a smooth crossing and each of us managed to get in a short nap during the four hour trip.

We landed in Ludington, MI, at 6:15 pm and immediately headed for the Jamesport Brewing Company - a really great pub and restaurant I discovered when I camped in Ludington several weeks ago. We had a 40-minute wait to get a table, but it was worth it. I highly recommend Jamesport to anyone visiting Ludington.

Finding good lodging was a different matter. I had called several hotels in town while we were on the boat, but they were either full or had exorbitant prices. So we decided to travel down the coast to find lodging. After stopping at several places we began to get worried - every place was fully booked. Around 10:00 pm, we wondered if we would ever find a place to stay. The receptionist at one hotel had a list of about a dozen hotels, but said they were all full. She then remembered a small privately owned hotel in a nearby town, and called them for us. That hotel had a couple cancellations, and we finally had a place to stay. The western shore of Michigan certainly has more tourists than the north shore of Lake Superior!

Day 7: Duluth, MN, to Manitowoc, WI

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:52:00 +0000

July 13, 2007
383 day miles; 1,538 total trip miles

Our goal for the day was to rack up a lot of miles. We achieved our goal and have sore butts to show for it!! The Lake Michigan ferry departs from Manitowoc, and we wanted to spend the night there so we did not have to rush in the morning.

We had a beautiful ride through Wisconsin farm country. The weather was great and the temperature was in the upper 60's.

We board the ferry in about an hour, will spend the night on the other side of Lake Michigan, then head home on Sunday morning.

Day 6: Thunder Bay, ON, to Duluth, MN

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 13:11:00 +0000

July 12, 2007
250 day miles; 1,155 total trip miles

Only time for a short note. Had a great day in Thunder Bay - went kayaking and saw a nice water fall. Headed for Duluth, MN, around 6:00p and arrived around 10. Had a beautiful drive along the lake, saw deer, a fox and a hawk.

More later. Will try to get pictures uploaded before we leave this morning.

Pictures and videos are available on Picasaweb
Floyd's Pictures Johann's Pictures

Day 5: Schreiber, ON, to Thunder Bay, ON

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:10:00 +0000

July 11, 2007
145 day miles; 905 total trip miles

Today's blog will be short. I must get more sleep and it is 12:30am already. We saw a variety of weather: sunshine, rain and hail. Fortunately we had sunshine while sightseeing, rain during part of our riding, and hail while we were able to take cover under a roof.

We've met a number of interesting people along the way. This morning at breakfast we met two couples from northern Maine who had motorcycled to Billings, MT, and were on their way back to Maine. Later in the day we met another couple from Wisconsin who are following a route similar to our route. We see many motorcyclists on the road and quite a few bicyclists.

This morning we took a short hike in a national park to Rainbow Falls. It was refreshing to walk along the falls, listen to the rushing water, and enjoy the forest (view pictures and videos).

In the afternoon we visited Ouimet Canyon. The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful view of the canyon. However, as soon as we got back to the park office it started to rain and hail. It lasted about 5 minutes and we were able to get on our way again.

We arrived in Thunder Bay around 6:00pm. Whooo Hooo! A city of 110,000 after spending several days in villages with populations around 800 - 2,000.

Day 4: Wawa, ON, to Schreiber, ON

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:58:00 +0000

July 10, 2007
175 day miles; 760 total trip miles.

This has been quite a laid-back trip! Dale was up early, but then went back to bed for about an hour. I (Floyd) worked on posting pictures, checking email, etc. We finally left our motel around 10:30 am. Our first stop was Young's General Store about 1/4 mile from the motel. It is a typical country general store with everything under the sun.

Then it was off to find a place for breakfast (yes, it was around 11:00 am by now). We found a local family restaurant along Route 17. Johann and Dale ordered the "Hungry Man's Breakfast." Johann's comment was, "It is much easier to order when one of the options includes 'everything'." As it turned out, Johann was still hungry and finished off Dale's last pancake. By the time we hit the road it was 12:30!!

We knew we would run into rain, so we put on our rain gear before leaving the restaurant. Dale and Johann didn't bother with rain pants; I put on my full gear. It was not long until we ran into light rain. Then, later in the afternoon, it started to pour. I stayed fairly dry, but the rain soaked through Dale and Johann's riding pants.

Even in the rain the scenery was beautiful. The wet rocks take on a different hue, and the trees and plants become a shiny green. Rain or shine, this is beautiful country.

The heavy rain lasted 30-45 minutes and as we entered Terrace Bay we actually saw some light patches of sky. Another welcome site was Wah's Restaurant (Chinese and Canadian cuisine) where we ordered hot tea, soup, egg rolls, spring rolls and other items. We then decided to call it a day and hope for better weather in the morning.

Our stop for the night was at Barrel Inn - a place that advertised internet access and a sauna. The sauna is the barrel on the right side of the picture. The owner of the inn is from Ann Arbor, MI. She moved here and bought the place on year ago, but gets a bit lonely - the nearest Walmart is 2.5 hours away, and the population of Schreiber is 1,000 (down from the 1,700 on the sign by the road). We sat in the sauna for 20-30 minutes, but Dale said it was not nearly hot enough for him. I was sweating!

The weather forecast for Wednesday is more rain, but then clearing skies. We'll see what the morning brings. The wind is blowing very hard now (midnight).

Crisis of the Day: I (Floyd) could not find my motorcycle keys when we left the Chinese restaurant. I searched all my pockets, looked in all the places I had been in the restaurant, and looked all around my motorcycle. I thought I might have left the keys in the motorcycle trunk. I have a spare key hidden on the bike and used that to open the trunk – no keys there either! I became convinced I left the keys in the lock and someone had stolen them. We did one last search in the restaurant and one patron said, “Did you look in you pants leg? I did that one time.” I shook my leg and pulled my outer rain pants away from my jeans and my keys dropped to the floor! The keys were between my jeans and the rain pants.

Highlight of the Day: Hot tea and soup at Wah’s Restaurant after riding in the cold wet rain.

Day 3: Sault Ste. Marie, MI, to Wawa, Ontario

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:20:00 +0000

July 9, 2007
170 day miles; 585 total trip miles

This is Dale.

This morning we took it easy. Had breakfast (well, Floyd and I did) and then Johann and I went looking for a nut to replace one that came off his muffler. That was easy. We stopped at a Honda dealer just down the road from our hotel and got it fixed. Then we tried to find a replacement for a short section of his CB radio cord. His helmet slipped off his bike seat and pinched the cord against the bike frame and cut the wire to his right earphone. We asked and called around but it doesn't look like we will be able to find a replacement on the trip. But at least everything works except for the one earphone.

For the early afternoon Floyd opted for a Soo Lock boat tour on the Saint Marie River. Johann and I had been through locks on a Nile River cruise several years ago so we went to a Great Lake Boat tour; that is a tour through a beached Great Lake freighter that has been turned into a museum. While we were up on the top deck at the pilot house we saw a lock tour boat go by and I started waving. Johann wondered how I knew Floyd was on that boat. I remembered Floyd saying the tours left every two hours and his was leaving at 12:30 pm. So since it was now 1:30 pm I figured it was his boat. And sure enough. Using his video telephoto Johann zoomed in on the boat and saw Floyd standing on the top deck in the bow! We took some video and pictures and surprised Floyd when we met up with him a little later. Johann will get some pictures up later.

About 3 pm we met up and headed across the international bridge into Canada. We are sure the air smelled fresher and the trees were greener as we traveled north. The road was good but the area is sparsely settled. And the scenery was beautiful. We pulled over several times at lookout points to view Lake Superior and the coastline.

One place we headed a mile down a winding (but paved) road to a boat slip and discovered a small cove completely hidden from the open lake by large rock islands. And a hundred yards off shore a nice sailboat was anchored! We just sat on the rocks by the shore and relaxed in the beauty and tranquility for while. Johann and I decided that a sail boat would be another adventure we would like to try. (Want to come along on this one, Steve?)

We kept pressing north on Canadian route 17 and finally arrived at Wawa about 8 pm. We found a "Sportsman Motel" to stay in and got a room with 3 beds. They seem set up to cater to the hunters and fishermen. This is a really big town for the area, all 3,700 of them! We rode down the street a little and had a late dinner and rode back to the hotel at 10 pm and it was just getting dusk! We are really pretty far north!

Crisis of the Day: Johann would say Dale's quick turns off the road to do sightseeing. Johann had to make some panic stops and short turns!!

Highlight of the Day: The stunning scenery. Especially the small cove off Lake Superior.

Day 2: Cadillac, MI, to Sault Ste. Marie, MI

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:00:00 +0000

July 8, 2007
215 day miles; 415 total trip miles

This morning we woke to a forecast of rain - strong thunderstorms and 60mph winds in the afternoon for the Upper Peninsula. We decided to go as far as possible and try to get across the Mackinac Bridge before bad weather set in. We left the motel shortly after 8:30, and about 20 minutes into our ride we encountered rain drops. We stopped to quickly don our rain gear. Last year my boots filled with water in a rainstorm, so I put plastic bags on my boots this time. Fortunately we had only light rain.

As we rode in the rain, I listened to A Prairie Home Companion on NPR – a delightful antidote for the gloomy weather. They had a really funny skit in which Hester Prynne got up in church and announced that the letter “A” she was wearing was really Rev. Dimmesdale’s college football letter from Amherst College, and that, yes, Dimmesdale was the father of her child. Rev. Dimmesdale got kicked out of his church and decided to go to Harvard and become an English major. Who writes these things?

The thunderstorms stayed ahead of us, so we were able to cross the bridge. Mackinac Bridge is 5 miles long and is 200 ft. above the water at its highest point. The view was not as spectacular as when I crossed two years ago, but it is still a wonderful sight and experience. We rode on to Sault Ste Marie (U.S. side) and got a motel for the night. The clerk recommended a nice local restaurant “two traffic lights” down from the motel. We decided to walk, but the distance was two country traffic lights – we walked 25 minutes. That gave us a good appetite, and also provided an opportunity to walk off our dinner. We each ordered whitefish cooked in tin foil with lemon and spices. Oh, Johann ordered a steak in addition to his whitefish dinner. I’m glad I don’t have to feed that guy!

Crisis of the Day: Just before getting on the Mackinac Bridge, we stopped at a rest area, and Johann laid his rain jacket on the back of Dale’s bike. Dale didn’t notice the jacket, and as we got on the 4-lane highway to start over the bridge, Johann’s jacket blew off Dale’s bike and landed in the middle of the road. Johann was behind us, saw the jacket blow away, and called us on the CB radio. We stopped, but there was no way to get off the highway and go back. Johann had to run back and dash into the middle of the road to retrieve his jacket. The picture shows Johann on his way back after picking up the jacket.

Highlight(s) of the Day: (1) Lunch at Java Joe’s Cafe . What a find! Next time you are in St. Ignace, check it out.
(2) The Comfort Inn receptionist told us we had a room with 2 beds and a pull-out couch. When we got into the room, there was no couch, but there was a Jacuzzi!! We called the front desk and said we appreciated the Jacuzzi, but that Johann wasn’t excited about sleeping in it. As it turned out, the receptionist had looked at the wrong room description. The Jacuzzi room was the only one left – so we got the Jacuzzi room at the regular room rate, got a cot for Johann and got a $10 discount to boot!!

Day 1: Goshen, IN, to Cadillac, MI

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 04:00:00 +0000

July 7, 2007
200 day miles; 200 total trip miles

After a number of delays (breakfast at Rachel’s Bread, trying to pack too much in a limited amount of space – you get the drift) we left Goshen, IN, at 1:15pm. Fortunately, we had decided to take an easy first day, and planned a 200 mile trip to Cadillac, MI. We took Route 131 up through Three Rivers, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, MI. About 25 miles into Michigan the highway becomes 4-lane, and we were able to cruise at 70-75 mph. By 5:30 we arrived in Cadillac and checked in to our hotel. Dale found a nearby restaurant that had a steak and seafood buffet for $10! We know they lost money on Johann. That guy can eat!!!

(near) Crisis of the Day: Due to some trouble with the CB radio, Dale did not hear Johann and me telling him we needed to stop for gas (Johann had been running on his reserve tank for quite a while). I pulled ahead of Dale and led us off at the next exit. Johann’s engine sputtered to a stop as we got near the gas station, and he had to coast to the pumps!

Highlight(s) of the Day: Motel, shower and the steak/seafood buffet at the end of the day.

Trip Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Floyd Saner) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 15:00:00 +0000

Lake Superior! Here we come! This year's motorcycle trip is a tour around Lake Superior, and I will explore new territory. I've never been to this region of the U.S. or Canada. I created a map of the expected route and will update it as the trip progresses. Keep coming back this this link for interesting additions to the map.

Another new aspect of this trip is that I will not be traveling alone. My brother, Dale, and nephew, Johann, will travel with me. I'm excited about having traveling companions, although it will be an adjustment, although it will take some adjustment on my part. My previous motorcycle trips have been solo, with no one to consider except myself.

I will be riding my new(er) 1999 Goldwing. Dale will ride my 1983 bike. Johann just purchased a 2003(?) Kawasaki Vulcan 800.