DAY 16 NORTH OF THE LAKE

Took a look down a westbound road
Right away I made my choice
Headed out to my big two-wheeler
I was tired of my own voice
Took a beat on the northern plains
And just rolled that power on
Twelve hours out of Mackinaw City
Stopped at a bar to have a brew
Met a girl, had a few drinks
And I told her what I decided to do
She looked out the window a long, long moment
And she looked into my eyes
She didn't have to say a word
I knew what she was thinkin'
Roll, roll me away, won't you roll me away tonight

Bob Seger

The reference isn’t perfect we didn’t drive twelve hours, my girl is in Phoenix, and we’re not headed for the plain states but: This a great bike song and the only one I know with motorcycles and Macinaw City in the opening verse.

Left this morning and immediately went over the bridge to the U.P. When crossing the bridge you have Lake Huron to the east and Lake Michigan to the west, I believe we have now been to all five great lakes on motorcycle. They are huge, together they are the largest group of fresh water lakes on earth and hold over 20% of the fresh water on the planet.

As soon as we were over the bridge we turned west on route 2 across the top of Lake Michigan. This is a great drive, not challenging but very pretty with a series of small vacation and fishing communities. At one stop I walked into the store to find several elderly gentlemen on wooden chairs around a coffee pot. One immediately asked “where ya headin on that cycle?” I got to talking about our trip while the rest of the guys were outside. They had met a 74 year old motorcycle rider who likes the iron butt rides (1000 miles in 24 hours) and is currently planning a circle lake ride in 24 hours, quite a guy. His name is Steve and he is an inspiration to keep riding for a good many years yet.

The weather was great today a touch on the cool side so a jacket felt good all day. The only thing interrupting the incredibly blue sky was a few random jet contrails. Traffic was almost nonexistent although we did see a few bikes going the other direction.

Stayed on route 2 all day, our motel tonight is still on route 2 but we are now in Ashland, Wisconsin. The motel is all log construction and we have a balcony on the second floor overlooking Lake Superior. Just finished dinner at a restaurant next door and ready to call it a night pretty soon, forecast for morning is cold.

Link to todays route http://goo.gl/maps/mYlX