Whitski Rides: Day 11 - August 16 Movin' On

It's that time again, so at 8am we were saddled up and got on our way. It was again in the upper 50's when we headed out. Based on the weather reports, we were most likely to encounter rain today. There's a storm coming behind us, one pushing up from below us, and one in front of us as well. We took 17 North to 70 East (a scenic road) to get back to Hwy 2 at the Michigan State line.

The temps continued to rise as we made our way to the Michigan border. When we stopped for a pic we all dropped a layer. There was a tree to the right side of the Michigan sign that showed the early signs of fall colors. A text from my sister indicated it was raining in Rhinelander - where we had just left.

Back on 2, we continued East across the Upper Peninsula along the Lake Michigan Circle Route. We fueled both our bikes and our bellies in Manistique, which is on the eastern edge of the Hiawatha National Forest. Our conversation over lunch focused on the riding experience of Hwy 2 in Michigan. I describe the roads in Michigan as a combination of Montana's open skies and Wisconsin's woods. Alan agreed. Shannon commented that these Great Lakes are so big, if one didn't know better, it'd be easy to think the lakes were actually ocean. I agree.

It was heating up and still dry as we departed Mastinique, so we dropped another layer and set our sites on Zip's Mackinaw City Harley Davidson. Of course, this meant that we would be crossing the Mackinac Bridge. Did I mention how much Tim likes bridges? He loves them! This bridge happens to be the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere.

In order to make the ride around the "east side of the mitten", we departed Mackinaw City on 23 which is a portion of Lake Huron Circle Route. The road provided for many view of Lake Huron. Our final rest stop was in Alpena, MI, and then we were into Tawas City, MI for the night. Still dry and warm (in the low 80's), YAY!