Road Trip!!!!!

[Lucky]

Great lesson for always being positive.Ya'll have fun and RIDE SAFE

 

[olguy]

Great story Nana.

Congrats Blondie Gal. About ready for a hill country rally? LOL

 

[Nana]

Today we took our time sight-seeing along the shoreline of Lake Superior, with frequent stops to hike/walk up to waterfalls or down to overlooks above the lake. The lake water is exceptionally clear, and from up on the cliffs above the water, it resembles the bright blue of the Caribbean, but the water certainly isn't warm like the Caribbean!

We got rooms in the Country Inn & Suites in Marquette, then went for an exploratory ride around this pretty town. Presque Isle Park has an incredibly lovely circle drive that was a delight on the motorcycles (Photos, pics, pictures, images of Presque Isle Park, Marquette, MI).

Near the park it was fascinating to see a ship pulled up at the Marquette Ore Docks getting loaded up with iron ore from the train cars high above the dock (Marquette Ore Docks - Michigan Historic Sites - Pure Michigan Travel).

Then we headed out to the Ojibwa Casino for a little time at the nickel slots -- always nice when you break even on your $20.00 "investment"! And ended up the evening stuffing ourselves on wonderful Italian food at Casa Calabria (Casa Calabria - Marquette Michigan's Best Italian Restaurant). I am SO FULL!!!

It's been a wonderful day!

 

[Gorilla]

yep that water is darn cold on it's warmest day.

 

[Nana]

Another gorgeous day of riding....

We started out at 9:00 with a fairly threatening looking sky (see picture below), but we took the weatherman's word, and headed south down to Lake Michigan and then over to the Mackinaw Bridge for a southward crossing. And sure enough, we stayed dry and comfortable with partly sunny skies on that route. YAY!

Of course, every Labor Day there is the annual "Mackinaw Bridge Walk", and we couldn't get onto the bridge until mid afternoon. For some odd reason the authorities seemed concerned that cars and motorcycles might complicate the lives of hundreds and hundreds of people walking in the middle of ALL the lanes on the bridge :Shrug:. We stopped for a final "pasty" for lunch, rode up to St. Ignace to kill some time, then about 3:00 p.m. we were free to cross the bridge and head on down the road.

Not so very far south of the bridge, we left the highway and headed back west toward the shore of Lake Michigan. Mickey led us onto M-119, AKA "The Tunnel of Trees". What a glorious ride! This narrow, scenic road is so heavily treed, that it really is like a tunnel! The road follows the edge of the mountain above the lake. It is fortunate that we were kept to a relaxed 40 mph, or so, as there were so many beautiful views of the lake and the forests dotted with charming (and very expensive) cottages and homes. I nearly wore my neck out trying to see everything! LOL! These two links will give you a bit of information about this well-known motorcycle scenic ride:

Tunnel of Trees, M119 - Motorcycle USA
http://motorcycleroads.com/75/309/Michigan/Tunnel-of-Trees-Road.html

We checked into the Waters Motel near Gaylord, MI after only about 320 miles, but many hours due to the bridge delays and the slow, scenic ride. I enjoyed every minute, but am glad to take a hot shower and put my feet up for the evening tonight! Tomorrow will be a 450 mile freeway run to reach home, and the highway speeds will make it feel like a shorter day than today!

 

[msocko3]

Another gorgeous day of riding....

We started out at 9:00 with a fairly threatening looking sky (see picture below), but we took the weatherman's word, and headed south down to Lake Michigan and then over to the Mackinaw Bridge for a southward crossing. And sure enough, we stayed dry and comfortable with partly sunny skies on that route. YAY!

The picture of the clouds is great.

 

[Nana]

YAY! Home again, safe and sound!

We woke up this morning to a steady rain. But in reality, we have had such incredible weather, it seems unreasonable to complain about one day of rain. At any rate, we all donned our rain gear ate breakfast at the nearest truck stop before jumping on the freeway, and rode until noon in pretty much continuing steady rain! Even during a couple of very brief breaks in the rain, the roads and the air were so wet, that we could hardly tell anything was different. Finally we rode out from under the storm clouds and the roads dried up, so off came the rain gear. The remainder of the day was dry but hot and very steamy. It feels good to be showered and relaxing in the air conditioning, for sure!

By the way, for all you MASH fans out there, we stopped for lunch at Tony Packo's on the way through the Toledo area. I got the "regular" Chili Dog (actually 1/2 of an Hungarian sausage, not a regular hot dog) which includes pickles, peppers, chili, and onions. Mickey got the same but with coleslaw added, as did Mike. Kim also had a regular like mine, only had grated cheese generously sprinkled on top. Pretty darn yummy! If you get a chance, stop by there to enjoy one yourself, and be sure to check out the autographed hotdog buns up on the walls .

1606 miles, 5 days and tons of beautiful rides and sites! It was a great Labor Day weekend!

 

[tis]

Looks like a fun time, thats what it's all about. You'll have some great memories.....Thanks for sharing.

 

[trikermary]

Loved every minute of your trip Nana..............so welll written I could "see" everything you described..............I hope more people write about their Road Trips too.........so much fun to read...........so glad you had such a great time.