Gopher the border!

When I left Arbor Vitae this morning there was some uncertainty in my route. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, when I was hunkered down in Arbor Vitae the first time, a vicious storm passed just to the north of us, complete with a tornado warning and heavy, heavy rainfall. The main part of the storm passed through Ashland, Wi., on the southern shore of Lake Superior. The result of receiving 14" of rain in 8 hours was that every road leading into town was washed out. Citizens were stranded for three days while temporary bridges were erected. To say it was a mess might be considered an understatement.

I mention this because my route this a.m. was to take me through Ashland.

Before leaving town (Arbor Vitae) I had two stops to make, one for gas, the other to buy a charging adaptor to replace one I left in Beloit. The Girls were on top of their game as I navigated around town, but for some reason they missed the launch when I headed north. By the time I realized they had gone dormant I was already at speed and chose not to stop and check on their whereabouts. Thinking I knew the route I felt it was not a big deal.

I saw this guy as I came into Mercer

Luckily he was sitting still. If he had been swooping down over the road I would have yelled "duck!"

When I came to Ironwood I stopped to look for The Girls. They were nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, neither was Google Maps. With no Wi-Fi and no G's of service my map was not showing my route. I thought I knew my route number and turned on Highway 77, travelled west until I came to county Highway 122, then turned to the north. Unfortunately for me, I was supposed to be on county 112 - close, but not the same.

County 122 was a seldom used road that had numerous 20 mph curves, each one featuring a small amount of gravel on top of the pavement, not good on a motorcycle!

County 122 came out on U.S. 2 east of Ashland, exactly where I did NOT want to be. I stopped for lunch and inquired about closed roads. Luckily Highway 2 had been restored and opened, but the evidence was still alongside the road so I stopped to take pictures

The twisted remains of the guardrail sat nearby

Once I entered Ashland I dropped one block south of the highway to check out the murals on several of the buildings. Many towns use murals to decorate/cover buildings but these were kind of unique. Usually you don't paint a building to look like... A BUILDING!

The purple curtain is also painted-on

A facade of a facade 

From Ashland I travelled west toward Superior, the first of the twin cities, Duluth/Superior, on each side of the state line. Just before arriving in the city I stopped at a historical marker explaining that Superior was the home of Dick Bong, the World War II "Ace of Aces". 

He spent most of the war flying a P38 Lightning in the Pacific, racking up 40 kills and flying over 200 missions, more than anyone else.

When I came into town I found a museum with his name on it.

The twin engine, twin fuselage plane was the bane of the Japanese war effort in the Pacific

Crossing the bridge I crossed into the 29th state of my excursion

I cruised through Duluth and headed north along the western edge of Lake Superior, eventually coming to the port town of Two Harbors, Minnesota, one of the busiest ore ports on the Great Lakes.

I found a motel that sounded interesting, The Voyageur. I figured with a name like that they wouldn't have curtains on the windows, but I was wrong. What a difference a "g" makes!

Tomorrow I continue up the coast a little further, then turn inland to the west. International Falls is on the agenda. Between I-Falls (as the locals call it) and Stanley, the national "low temperature" each winter night is spoken for.

Day 78 - Arbor Vitae to Two Harbors, Mn.

Good weather, interesting route

Day 77B - Beloit to Arbor Vitae ... Back to business on July 30th

Happy Birthday Brian!

Day 77B Back to Arbor Vitae

Crank up Willie Nelson on the Victrola 'cause we're "on the road again".

After two weeks of family stuff in my hometown I had to, as they say in the Navy, get under way. I reversed my course and went from Beloit to Arbor Vitae. 

If counted from day of departure this (Satur)day would be Day 96. However, due to personal time-off in both Arbor Vitae and Beloit, Wisconson I will refer to travel days between the two sites as Days 77A & 77B. Don't ask why 'cause I don't know.

So on Day 77B I departed Beloit and headed north on I-39/I-90. Lunch in Madison was interesting as my visit to the restaurant coincided with a visit by what I can only guess were members of the adult film industry. Don't ask how I know, I just looked at 'em and figured that was the only possible explanation. 'Nuff said.

As I approached Tomahawk, Wi. I was mindful of an approaching storm. With some quick calculations of my speed, direction, closing rate, wind direction and prime interest rate I figured that if I stayed the course instead of taking a break to relieve soreness in the buttockal area, I would stay dry.

True to my calculation, I slid harmlessly in front of the leading edge of a storm cloud that probably soaked those in my rear view mirror.

I arrived at Jim and Judy's for a meal, movie and overnight stay.

No pictures taken, no pictures needed, mostly Interstate highway with few stops. Maybe I should have taken a picture of the film stars!

If anyone is still out there...

I have been temporarily delayed in my hometown of Beloit, Wisconsin. I came to town to visit friends and family, but mostly my 90 year old mother.

I hope to be on the road again Saturday morning, scurrying back to Arbor Vitae for a good nights rest, then heading north by northwest to Duluth/Superior, the twins on the Wisconsin/Minnesota border. Hope you hang in there with me for the home stretch!

Fishing tails

I caught a Big Mouth Bass today. I know he was a Big Mouth 'cause as soon as we released him he warned his buddies to vacate the vicinity.

Bass fishing anyone?

Dropped my bike off for some minor service today which was performed while Jim and I spent the day on Lake Minocqua bass fishing. In order to put a positive spin on the experience let me simply say that I found three different techniques that were equally effective.

Bikes ready to go, but Jim tells me there are fish to be caught so I will head to Beloit on Thursday or Friday.

Stay tuned.

Day 76 - Grand Marais, Mi. to Arbor Vitae, Wi

A good day considering the sight-seeing and rainfall

Where s that time zone?

Trivia time: If the State of Michigan is in the Eastern Time Zone and Wisconsin is in the Central Time Zone, where is the line drawn where you change your clock?

I awoke this morning anxious to get on the road and put some miles behind me. I had some sight-seeing to do and hopes of making it to my Uncle Jim's house for dinner with Jim and Judy.

First on the agenda was finding the road to Miner's Cove near Munising, on the south shore of Lake Superior.

I was rolling the tires by 7 and, shortly came to the road I needed. To my surprise The Girls told me to turn onto the road. Surprising because it was a dirt road, a first for The Girls! I guess even they figured that the one mile stretch of dirt was a better alternative than the 50 miles of paved alternative. 

When I emerged from the dirt I was on a county highway, another first I do believe. I followed the highway around the south of the Pictured Rocks National Shoreline park. Before going north on Miners Cove Road I stopped to eat at a nice eatery named the Bear Trap. 

A stop here was worth the time just to see the decor, an eclectic mix of animals (stuffed or photographed) and NASCAR. They also had a world map on the wall with hundreds of pins sticking in it. I confirmed with my waitress that the pins were indicating where their customers had come from. To my amazement the entire State of Idaho was bare (bear?). When I mentioned that they could place a pin in the map for Boise she handed it to me and invited me to do the honors!

Besides the decor the restaurant was notable for it's food too. My ham and cheese omelet had more ham in it than any I have had before! Sooooo good!

Miner's Cove had a upper and lower overlook. I took pictures at both and determined that I should take the tour boat to see the area from water level.

From here I went only a few miles west to Munising where I quickly located the tour boat ticket office. The price of tickets was reasonable but the time was not, for me anyway. The next tour departed at noon and would last for 2.5 hours. This would put me back on the road at 3 or so, with another 2.5 to 3 hours of riding ahead of me. With pictures taken and my perception of a better use of my time I quickly decided to skip the boat (even though it would have been another form of transportation)!

The ride from Munising to Marquette was listed by AAA as 48 miles of scenic byway. It was more like 43 and the scenery was, uh, pleasing to the eye but, IMHO, not worth the ranking. I was disappointed when I rolled into Marquette, but now had the opportunity to make up time on the way to Jim's place.

In Sagola I stopped for lunch. As I rolled through downtown I spotted a restaurant right on the Main Street. I parked and locked the bike, taking off helmet and gloves first. I then walked a short distance to the front door, only to discover the establishment was closed. A survey of the other store fronts showed no other eateries. As I put my helmet and gloves on I heard a voice coming from down the block.

"Are you looking for a place to eat?" asked a lady as she walked across the street. When she reached where I was she told me in great detail where other local diners were located. I asked her if she often flagged down strangers to see if they were hungry. She laughed and said she volunteered on a business development committee for the town. So I went as directed to an otherwise undistinguished restaurant and had a suitable meal.

When I came out I found that the sky had sprung a minor leak. It had just begun to sprinkle. I looked skyward to evaluate the odds of my needing my rain suit soon. I opted for the rain pants, but by the time I had them on it was obvious, even to me, that the coat was likewise called for. It never rained hard, but sprinkled long enough to make me glad I took the precautionary step.

One thing I noticed while in the restaurant was that they were operating on Central Daylight Savings time. The answer to the question above is that, like the rest of Michigan, the U.P. Is on Eastern Time except the counties that touch the border with Wisconsin, which are on Central Time.

I was shortly passing into the State of Wisconsin, where the rain became somewhat more persistent despite being forecast for near perfect for three days.

Within only a few miles I hit another milestone as my Tripometer flipped over to indicate my 13,000 miles (12,000 without U-Turns).

I soon was going through St. Germaine where I spotted this enthusiastic fisherman.

I will spend a couple of days with Jim and Judy before taking a side-trip to my home town of Beloit, Wisconsin. I suspect that I will be there awhile visiting with my 90 year old mother. There may not be much on the agenda for a week but, you never know!

Day 75 - Alpena to Grand Marais

U.P., U.P. and away

In the words of the Fifth Dimension, I am up in the U.P. as they call it in these parts. The Upper Peninsula is about as developed as Maine, a little bit here, a little bit there (mostly along the coast) with very few roads running east/west between the sites.

After calling "no mas" early yesterday I was anxious to get started today. So early to bed, early to rise makes a man tired all morning but puts miles on the odometer before lunch. My chore was to finish navigating the coast of upper lower Michigan, cross the Mackinaw Bridge, then pursue the lower Upper Michigan coast. Doesn't make sense? You may need some remedial geography.

It was just about a hundred miles from Alpena to Mackinaw City at the south end of the bridge. By starting out at 7a.m. I was able to knock out that section before breakfast. Then, after refueling I crossed the iconic Mackinaw Bridge (it must be iconic, they charge a toll to cross it). 

After stopping to take a couple of pictures I was ready to head to Sault St. Marie (for any fans of phonics, that's Sue Saint Maree). But I was to take the scenic route, so the 50 miles claimed by the street sign turned into 130 miles by the time I arrived at the locks. That may give you a feel for how this trip lays out. Direct and Scenic are seldom one and the same.

I forgot to start my Strava program this morning (so it's missing the first 20 miles) but my route did a pretty good approximation of the outline of the U.P. I rode along the north shore of Lake Huron until I reached DeTour Village, Michigan. It is the eastern most point on the mainland of Michigan. In DeTour Village I went to the local museum and asked if there was a story behind the choice of name for the village. There is.

Next I headed about 10 miles back from whence I came and headed north on Michigan 48. What's that? You want to know the story of DeTour Village? You should have spoken up (or U.P.).

The Indians named the area before they became Native Americans, based on the fact that the shoreline turns and heads up the river. The Native American word is  Gothiswaythenmakeabigsweepingrighthanderovertherebyrunningbear, meaning The Turn. When early inhabitants (many of whom were French Canadian) could not print post cards large enough to allow the name to be printed, they renamed the town Detour, the French term for The Turn. Because the U.S.Postal service did not speak French (and had yet to learn that the Indians had, almost overnight, turned into Native Americans) they routinely failed to deliver the mail, thinking instead that the mail was being forwarded, or detoured. So the town once again changed it's name from Detour to DeTour. This worked better but, in an attempt to sell the populace more pre-labeled envelopes, they changed it yet again to DeTour Village. There is movement afoot to change it again to DeTour De Village, I believe. Kinda rolls off the tongue doesn't it?

So rather than take the ferry to Drummond Island (where Mr. D and Willis still live) across a channel narrow enough that Scott Pressman could walk across it, I called it good enough and headed west as described above. M-48 led to another road which eventually put me in Sault St. Marie, where I visited the locks and bagels. 

After lunch I went the indirect route again, south to M-28, then north 25 miles or so to Paradise and beyond! With blue skies, perfect temperatures, little traffic and good roads I was in Paradise. 

According to the map, I was in Paradise also. But I continued north another 11 miles to Whitefish Point at the western tip of Whitefish Bay, as in Gordon Lightfoot's Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. 

There I visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, which I found to be most interesting. They, of course, featured artifacts recovered from the wreck, an 18,000 piece Lego version of the infamous vessel 

why they had this onboard will remain a mystery

and played the song repeatedly (approximately every 10 minutes). They had the story of other wrecks too, most of which occurred in Lake Superior and many of those in the vacinity of Whitefish Bay, the Graveyard of the Great Lakes.

I thought of spending the night in Paradise but I was being told I'd make Whitefish Bay if I put 15 more miles behind me. So I rode south another 25 miles, them west about the same to Seney, but there were no rooms at the inn. So I rode another 25 miles north to Grand Marais. By this time I had decided on my priorities:

1) get gas

2) get a room at a motel

3) get a meal

4) get gas (I need to take something for that!)

So after I checked into the motel, I thought to ask them if they had Wi-Fi. Usually the answer is yes, but this time there was a qualifying statement, "if you come outside and walk down toward the office there's a possibility you will get connected." So right now I'm waiting (as usual) for pictures to upload to The Cloud so I can download them to the I-Pad so they can be included herein. Only difference is tonight I'm swatting mosquitos. This ought to be interesting!

I didn't make it to Marquette but I think I can still make it to Jim and Judy's by tomorrow, weather and everything else willing.

Quick hits

The motel I chose in the driving rain is unique in the sun light, from their name

to their clientele 

Who would think that, 2000 miles from home, there would be another Idaho resident!

Quickest way to dry wet socks?

Another business that means business is just down the street

what size dogs? Any size imaginable

Don't believe me? Here's their building

Day 74 - Bay City to Alpena, Mi

I failed to turn the program on for the first 20 miles or so

You can't tell from this picture but this is the mitten of Michigan, the thumb barely visible in lower right

On a wing, a prayer and a new tire

I have had many people ask me if, on my big trip, I've had any close calls with other vehicles. Until today the answer had always been no.

I started late today, finished early, so in some ways it wasn't a very good day. The fact that I am once again, sitting with the I-Pad, typing with my typing finger means that, in other ways, it was a very, very good day.

The reason for the late start was that I finally wore down my front tire to the point that I did not want to ride further without having it replaced. The H-D dealer did not open until 10, so I slept in, ate a complete breakfast, watched the news reports coming out of Minnesota and Dallas (how very sad), then packed up my gear. I thanked Judy at the front desk of the Bay City Fairfield Inn one more time for moving a bench and insisting that I park under the front canopy because the weather was not supposed to be very good overnight (if Judy ever wants to change occupations she has a future as a weather expert). I then rode only a few blocks to one of the few Harley dealers this far north in Michigan, Great Lakes Harley, and talked to Pat, the service manager. I told him I had 2 questions:

Do you have a new tire that will fit the front end of a 2012 Harley Fat Boy (that's the model of my bike, I wasn't trying to insult the young man)?

Can you mount it quickly and get me back on the road?

Yes and yes were his greatly appreciated responses.

By the way, while there I did confirm that Bay City is the home town of both the Bay City Rollers (which I have just debunked on Wikipedia, the Bay City Rollers were from Scotland and got their name by throwing a dart at a map of the U.S., narrowly missing Intercourse, Pennsylvania), and Madonna (confirmed, she got the idea for her iconic costume from two grain silos outside of town).

In almost exactly one hour I was on the road again, heading north on U.S. 13.

Somewhere around Standish, Michigan it happened. By the way, don't you hate it when people answer a question with a question? What do you mean, what do I mean? I kept asking people directions, "where's Standish?" and they'd ask "Myles?". Of course miles, why would I want the answer in kilometers?

The road coming into town was two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane. There was a pick-up truck going the speed limit in the right hand lane and I was going about the same speed in the left hand lane, hanging back a little bit so I wasn't in his blind spot. Apparently the pick-up decided to turn into a parking lot on the right and turned his turn signal on. I say "apparently" because I did not see it but I can think of no other reason that a car would pull out in front of him, intending to turn into the turn lane, going in the opposite direction of what we were headed. I was suddenly passing the pick-up as he decelerated and was very surprised when the front fender of a dull red '80s Dodge or Chrysler product emerged from in front of the pick-up and moved into my lane. I was going about 45 mph (the speed limit) and had very little time to react. I grabbed a full hand of front brake, stood on the rear brake and down-shifted, all while instinctively veering left into the turn lane. The normal driver of an auto, when pulling into traffic, would have turned his attention to the on-coming traffic from his right to be sure the turn lane was vacant and available for them to pull into it. 

Luckily, the driver of this car (I did not see if they were male or female) did not do this or they never would have seen me as I crashed into the drivers door with a half ton of force moving in excess of 30 miles per hour upon impact. My soon-to-be-lifeless body would have either gone through the window or flown over the top of the car, or both.

Also luckily for me, the driver saw me and did a non-intuitive move. While braking hard they turned the wheel to the left, causing the car to slide into a position straddling the lane divider line (but still mostly in my lane), facing on-coming traffic. This allowed me just enough room to miss their car, then straighten up and get back into my lane, continuing on my way as I looked for a restroom to clean myself up.

Around 1 p.m. I was coming into Oscoda, Mi, when I saw a large group of motorcycles gathered in the parking lot of a park on the right (maybe 50 - 100 bikes!). A little further into town I saw a digital reader board that said "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans". I don't know if the two were connected or not. I stopped to eat at a local eatery, The Brick Oven, and when I came out, rode back to the highway to continue north. As I pulled up to the intersection to turn left a policeman stepped out into traffic and halted cars in both direction while a long, long line of cycles, many carrying American and/or POW/MIA flags, rolled through the intersection and around the left turn, directly in front of me. It was pretty cool. I never thought to take a picture though.

As I continued north on highway 23, the sky grew quite dark. There was a small patch of blue to the left, not sky blue but almost turquoise like a lake, and from it were dark clouds extending in rays with a whisp of gray down the center of each ray. It looked as if someone painted a darkly colored Maple Leaf in the sky. That part was pretty neat, but the lightning all across the sky ahead of me was not very inviting. I stopped at a gas station in Somewhere, Mi (about 12 miles south of Alpena) to put my rain suit on and talked to a nice couple from Columbus, Oh. about my trip. Just as we were finishing our talk it began to sprinkle. By the time I walked from the street to the store, I was quite wet. Thinking it might blow over (bringing back memories of a fishing trip from my childhood,again) I took a break. 

It started to lighten up so I headed north. Instead of ceasing it was the calm before the storm. I rode 12 miles through rain, hail and puddles, then grabbed the first motel I could find. It was only about 3 p.m. but it looked like it would get much wetter before it got much drier. I had to bring Spuddy Buddy in and give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to keep him from drowning.

Once again, you can't tell from this how hard it was raining, but I stood in about 4" of water to take this

So I "called it", as Andy would say. This day was done and, although it looked briefly contrary, I'll live to ride another day.

taken at 5:30, I was afraid that would happen

Day 73 - Novi to Bay City, Mi.

With a microscope you may see about 14 U-Turns!

Dirt under the thumb nail?

Said goodbye to Andy this morning (Katie was off to work just as I was waking up). It was great visiting with him. He gave me directions to the gas station, then on to Detroit.

When we drove from Ann Arbor to their house last night I arrived with the "range" meter on my bike reading lower than I had ever run it. It said I could go 20 miles before running out of gas, but I had no idea how accurate it was at the bottom of the tank. Before I reached the station it had switched over to "low range", the reading that takes over all other displays when you go below 10 miles. I was glad to finally find a station but it seems I had a lot of fuel left in my 5 gallon tank - it took less than 4.7 gallons.

The ride into Detroit wasn't so lucky. I had originally thought that I would simply go east from Novi (where Andy and Katie live) and come out on the highway north of the city, then head north. But Andy recommended taking highway 10 right downtown, which turns into Jefferson Ave, running basically east and west. So I followed doctor's orders and went through the heart of Detroit.

As Andy had foretold, shortly after going past Joe Louis Arena there were a couple of iconic sculptures.

From there the street turned more and more desolate, signs of the typical decay of infrastructure in our inner cities. In about 8 miles the scenery changed drastically, dramatically and instantly as E. Jefferson passed into Grosse Pointe, one of the most upscale neighborhoods in the Detroit metroplex. The houses were huge, the lawns immaculate, many behind gates and walls. 

There is a house and gate in there!

Some of the houses could have provided shelter for more people than some of the apartment buildings I had just seen. With two Presidential candidates trying to promise their way to the White House I have heard no solutions offered up for the plight of our inner cities. Just like the small, small town in Arizona that I stumbled into, these are the forgotten people living here. If you can not financially impact the election, I suspect it would be very difficult to catch the ear of either candidate, with the possible exception of a photo-op at an inner city gathering spot. If someone wants such an opportunity I suggest they stop by the Big Boy restaurant on E. Jefferson and meet Dorothy or Raquel. I don't know if Dorothy is the owner, manager or a waitress at Big Boy. I don't know if she lives in the neighborhood or in Grosse Pointe or somewhere inbetween. But I know she works, probably 5, 6 or maybe even 7 days a week and knows and cares about her customers. Let me explain what happened. 

As I was riding by I spotted the Big Boy figurines and had to do a U-turn to come back for an early brunch. 

I haven't seen the iconic Big Boy in over 30 years

I don't know that I looked outwardly concerned about the safety of my bike and its contents out in the parking lot (like I was in several places along the eastern seaboard) but Raquel moved me to a table where I could "keep an eye" on it. Then when I was paying my tab Dorothy engaged me in discussing my trip. She was so sincerely interested in the story of this strange man with the wild hair that she asked, if I wasn't in a rush, if she could interview me! 

She had me sit in a booth and went to get her phone, then asked me a half dozen questions about my trip and the reason for it, so that she could record it! Then when she was done I told her I wanted to shake her hand and she replied, "oh no, you're getting a full hug". What a sweet sincere young lady, probably typical, but definitely genuine. She said I made her day, but truth be told she made my day. Andy, if you're ever down that way, stop in at the Big Boy and tell Dorothy I sent you.

From Grosse Pointe The Girls didn't know what to do to get me into "the thumb" of Michigan. They kept trying to get me onto the interstate, I kept wanting to stay on highway 29, but I kept losing the trail and they coaxed me back to anything with an "I" before it. Eventually 29 ended, I crossed a bridge in Sarnia (or thereabouts), and eventually found my way back to the waters edge on highway 25. I was half way up the thumb when I noticed that there was a layer of dark sky/air hanging over the trees ahead. As I rode I tried to figure out what it was - smoke, land in the distance, pollution? When I eventually came to a Dow Chemical plant on waters edge I was afraid I had my answer. But soon after it became obvious. It was 4:00 in the afternoon and the cool, very damp fog was just now lifting. The temperature dropped, seemingly 10 degrees, to where it was borderline uncomfortable to ride in shirt sleeves. I could feel the dampness collect on my jeans, even though no precipitation was falling onto my windshield. I could see up through the layer of fog in places and observed a blue sky. When the road turned west at the tip of the thumb the fog could be seen along the water, and when I eventually turned south again the fog went away and the temperature rose to it's previous level. I have decided the dark firmament was dirt under the Thumb Nail.

I got a geography lesson today. Lisa had requested that I take a picture of Lake Erie from the Detroit side. Sounded like a good idea until I figured out that Detroit isn't on Lake Erie! It's on the Detroit River which flows into Lake Erie. South of Detroit, across the river, is Windsor, Canada. Then comes the real eye opener. The Detroit River does not come from one of the Great Lakes (I always thought it connected Huron to Erie)! Detroit, or it's eastern suburbs, border Lake St. Clair, which despite it being a major shipping route for the giant Great Lakes freighters, is not a Great Lake (a pretty good one, but not great). Lake St. Clair separates Lake Huron from Lake Erie. I didn't know that!

As highway 25 changed from north to west to south I began looking for a motel room, thinking I would stop early. No such luck. The shore line was lined with trees and private homes but a dearth of motel/ hotels put the kabosh on an early stop. I ended up riding all the way around and back down the thumb, to Bay City, before I found anything open to the public. Maybe I could have slept on the beach but even that was fraught with difficulty as it appeared that access was restricted to residents virtually everywhere. Most of those had boat "stands" just off shore where they pulled in and lifted the boat out of the water, leaving it suspended several feet above the wake. A strange sight indeed.

You can see the dirt under the thumb nail on the horizon

I've exceeded 12,000 miles and I am definitely ready to replace the front tire (heck, I'm half way through the new rear tire already)! I'm hoping to find a dealer here in Bay City who can install the tire tomorrow so I can head out across the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) over the weekend. I should be in Wisconsin by Monday at the latest.

My favorite sign today was seen just down the road from Tom's Thumb Lumber. It pointed the way to the town of Bad Axe, home of a bunch of mean lumberjacks no doubt.

Day 70 - Erie, Pa to Chardon, Oh

operator error, route actually started at Erie, Pa

Day 72 - Chardon, Ohio to Novi, Mi

On the move again

and it's on to Michigan

After spending two days with my old buddy Bud it was time to continue my trip. Bud and I had a grand old time catching up, sharing, remembering (and not remembering) and consoling. We tried out a number of restaurants, some open, some not. I got my laundry done and eventually remembered to pull things out of the dryer. We watched the fire works in Fairport Harbor. Bud was even nice enough to take me out to All Souls Cemetery to see my daughter Kelly, who is finally able to spend time with her mother. We looked through all (!) of my pictures and he sat and listened to my stories like only a good friend would. About the only thing we didn't do was think to take a picture of the two of us! Our wives never would have let that happen!

The Harley dealer could not get me in for a new tire until Thursday, which would mean not leaving for all points west unto Friday which did not appeal to me.

So about 10 a.m. I hit the road, heading west on highway 2 into downtown Cleveland. I stopped by the company I had worked for from '77 to '87 (Commercial Electric) to see a co-worker, only to find out he had retired about two years ago. But the gentleman that was there was one of my hires so we chatted briefly before I swung through downtown to see such sights as the Terminal Tower

Tall pointed building in background is Terminal Tower, looks different without King Kong, doesn't it?

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 

and the new stadium home of the Cleveland Browns, First Energy stadium

From there I took a combination of highways 2, 6 and 20 through the west suburbs and into Lorain County and beyond. I saw a couple of things that caught my eye:

Lisa, did you know that May was Lupus awareness month?

Then I spotted several Fifth Third Banks. It wasn't until I saw the Seventh Fifth Third that I thought for the First time to ask what the prime rate was.

In Vermillion I stopped at the historical Soda Grill which opened as a Pharmacy in 1900, then began to serve soda and ice cream awhile later. Today you can get a table on the Pharmacy side

which still has the old drug cases, filled now with antiques, or sit on a stool at the Soda Counter for ice cream

After lunch I continued along the lake front and past Cedar Point

then past the nuclear power plant

Eventually I made it to Toledo where I was finally able to reach Andy Pressman, Bev and Scott's youngest who was one of my Eagle Scouts and is now a ER doctor outside Detroit. 

I rode north, into Michigan

Guess why the guy with the Georgia plates was pulled over at the same spot!

where I continued a half hour north to Ann Arbor to rendezvous with Andy and we met up with his lovely wife Katie as she got off work. We went to Nichols Arboretum for a pleasantly cool walk with their dog Auto, then went to dinner at Zingerman's Road House. We then went back to their home where we took another walk down to the nearby lake. It was great to be able to talk to Katie and get to know her a little bit, and to chat with Andy who is still the great young man I remember giggling and laughing with his tent mates on Scout camp outs as they had Sleeping Bag Wars!

It's getting late and I need to sleep. Tomorrow I'll ride through Detroit and up the east coast of Michigan near Lake Huron.