Going Down That Long Lonesome Road Babe

St. Ignace, MI to Mackinac Island to Mackinaw City, MI August 17, 2009 - Today is a short biking day, in fact we make no progress at all. This morning we took the ferry from St. Ignace to the touristy Mackinac Island for some sightseeing and a trip around the island. It is nice, no cars are allowed on the island so the primary transportation modes are walking, biking and horse drawn carriages. We will be taking the ferry to Mackinac City, MI later this afternoon. We will be heading for central Michigan tomorrow, sightseeing will be over until we get to Niagara Falls in a week or so. Got back to Mackinaw City, not sure why we have Mackinac and Mackinaw but all are pronounced Mackinaw - I think. We camped at the Tee Pee RV park. When Dana joined the ride I told her we would try to stay at motels but we haven't been in one yet!!

Hog Island Campground (near Naubinway, MI) to St. Ignace, Michigan August 16, 2009 - Had some rain off and on during the night. The Waite's, Keith and John are leaving to go back to Kansas. Our core group heads to St. Ignace. The route took along Lake Michigan and sandy beaches, the area was reminiscent of the California coast with the exception of Palm trees. Along the way we met a cyclist and although we did not get his name he was a fun guy and we ran into him several times. He told of his ride around Lake Michigan, see http://bigbikefun.org/ fro more information on this. A bridge was out on the highway and all traffic was detoured along a narrow, but paved, country road. I think we backed up traffic pretty good but most of the motorists were patient. It was during this detour the young couple we met in Manistique pulled up to Braden and said hi. Once we got on the main road ran into some construction work and the shoulder was extremely rough for about 3 or 4 miles. The road smoothed out and we were treated to a UP speciality the pastie (pass-tee) at Lehto's. Lehto's has been selling pasties since 1946. A pastie by the way is a pastry filled with beef, rutabaga, onion and potato. I would have to say Lehto's makes a good pastie. On to St. Ignace and camping at the Straits State Park.

Car trip Hog Island to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan August 15, 2009 - 9 of us went by van to see the locks at Sault Ste Marie, it was a rest day. The Waite's were so kind to let us use the van to make the trip. We spent a good portion of the day visiting the locks and got to see a 1,000 foot ship come through the locks.

Indian Lake to Hog Island Campground August 14, 2009 - We head to Hog Island today and our first stop was in Manistique for breakfast. Met a young couple from south Michigan who were vacationing by car. We saw them again later in the week while we were holding up traffic on a detour. Hog Island campground is right on Lake Michigan and so was our camping spot. It was beautiful but we are getting some cloudy and rainy weather. We will be here at Hog Island for two days. The one thing missing at Hog Island was showers so we rigged up some solar showers and used the Waite's shower tent to take showers, it worked fine.

Escanaba to Indian Lake Campground near Manistique, MI August 13, 2009 - This was another great biking day, once we got off of the main thoroughfare we bike through some beautifully forested areas and quiet country lanes to Indian Point Campground which was about three miles westerly of Manistique, MI in the UP. The campsite was well maintained and right on the lake. Braden, Lynda and Dana took advantage of a nature presentation that evening on Bats. I went to bed early.

August 12, 2009 Hardwood to Escanaba - The three day's rest has done me good, I felt very rested and stronger on the bike. With the Waite's joining us and Dana driving the support truck our number of bikers has grown by 5, so we are 10 strong on the road. At a rest stop we ran into a Kansan from Larnard who was vacationing. The day's ride was great and Escanaba is right on Lake Michigan. We are headed to the UP or Upper Peninsula of Michigan the whole UP thing is another story, seems like it should be part of Wisconsin not Michigan. If you live in the UP the residents are referred to as Yoopers (UP'ers). The UP has it's own State Fair and we stayed at the fairgrounds in Escanaba. The biggest event of the day was a hair cut from nice lady at the Ritz Hair Salon on the main street. Braden and I both needed a hair and beard trim.

Gaastra, MI to Hardwood, MI August 11, 2009 City Center building campsite out in the woods is where the day ended. Dana and I flew from Minneapolis to Iron Mountain, MI, Braden and Lynda picked us up and took us to Hardwood so we could rejoin the ride.

Conover, WI to Pentago Park near Gaastra, WI August 10, 2009 City Park campsite. I am in Rochester, MN with Dana and all went well at the Mayo Clinic except we learned no "magic bullet" to cure sinusitis.

Mercer, WI to Conover, WI (Buckatabon Camp) August 9, 2009 Muskie Festival at Boulder Junction, WI was the major event that the riders ran upon today.

Ashland, WI to Mercer, WI (Loon Lagoon Campground) August 8, 2009 The Waite's of Wichita came to join the ride for a week. Tom and Helen Waite brought some other biking friends from Kansas, Keith and John. Author's note I am in Minneapolis to pick up Dana in preparation for her visit to the Mayo Clinic, I did manage to visit the Mall of America and cruise around Minneapolis this day.

Duluth, MN to Ashland, WI August 7, 2009 - Ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe where I'm bound I can't tell, good bye is too good a work babe so I'll just say fare-thee-well.
Well I'm thinking and wandering biking down the road I got to leave this town before it gets too cold, Duluth your the reason I'm traveling on, don't think twice it's all right. The Moniger's(Gene and Earlene) formerly of Wichita and now living in Northfield, MN came up to join us. The Moniger's kindly agreed to give me a ride to Minneapolis to meet Dana, my wife. I rode to Maple, WI from Duluth and then we headed by van to Minneapolis. The main thing I recall from the ride is that we crossed the bridge over to Wisconsin in violation of traffic laws and that Superior, WI was in great need of some major street repair. We took a bike trail from the edge of Superior onto a major highway for the rest the ride, at least my share of it.