It was stuffy (hot and muggy) in the bottom of the underground parking garage under Saks Fifth Avenue. The fresh air (not sure how fresh it actually is - doesn't seem like the clean mountain air we are accustomed to at home) was welcomed when the garage doors opened and we rode out into the streets. It was 77 degrees and 88% humidity. I call that early morning swelter. We're southbound on Michigan Ave (The Magnificent Mile) until we cleared the triathlon that was happening on Lake Shore Drive (Hwy 41) this morning. Roosevelt St. connected us to Lake Shore Dr. (Hwy 41) and we rode that out of Chicago. We passed by famous landmarks such as Navy Pier, Soldier Field, Lincoln Park Zoo and Calumet Park. By the time we reached Soldier Field we had open road without much traffic.
Our first Monster/fuel stop was just over the Indiana state line. I found it interesting that we passed through East Chicago, IN on the way in and on the way out it was Michigan City, IN. How nice of them to name their border towns after their neighbors. Hwy 12 is also known as Dunes Highway, the best of which is represented by the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, which is actually a national park. The lane created by the trees on both side of the road was pretty to ride through and an improvement over the industrial landscape of Gary, IN. Near the end of the Dunes Lakeshore we passed Mount Baldy (600ft). That made me laugh, 600 feet! We had plans to stop at the HD store in Chesterton, but it's closed on Sunday. Our maiden voyage of riding in Indiana lasted all of 15 total miles. And, we have no HD pin to show for it.
New Buffalo welcomed us to Michigan and Hwy 12 joined up with I-94 through the towns of Benton, Harbor and St. Joseph. We grabbed lunch in South Haven and fueled in Holland where the Circle tour takes up Hwy 31. We continued up through Grand Haven and Muskegon, where the other HD store we planned to stop at was also closed. It's at this point where the Harley atlas indicates it's about to get scenic.
Up to this point there wasn't much to see of the Lake after leaving the Chicago area. I've learned to trust that atlas and it did not fail us. The area was winding and tree lined forest on both sides of the road in between the little towns and villages that dotted the route. Ludington, which marks the rough half-way point, and Manistee closed out Hwy 31. From there we took off down M-22 into Empire. This was fairly slow riding through twisties and resort-y lake towns. As it was getting late into the afternoon, we turned off the Circle tour route for a slightly quicker jaunt across M-72 to Traverse City where we could re-join the Circle tour. Traverse City is the cherry capital of the US and boasts the World's largest cherry pie. It was about this time that I realized despite overcast skies and mild swelter my tan lines are coming along nicely.
From there we continued north (back on Hwy 31) along Traverse Bay and into Charlevoix. A quick call to my cousin Brad confirmed we were still on to meet up for dinner. Then on through Petoskey, where the downtown overlooks Lake Michigan and we could again see the water. When we came upon Pellston, we turned onto Mills St/Robinson Rd/Riggsville Rd (aka Michigan backroads) and that took us right into Cheboygen, Michigan. We met Brad for dinner at a throwback restaurant that Brad was pretty sure he'd never been to one before (he's mid-30's). Any guesses?
Total miles today: 454 miles
Time to travel that distance: 10 hours (11 hours with the time change)
Total Cumulative mileage: 2090 miles
Tomorrow: Circle Tour south to FDL
Now for Cami's Cameo:
Wide Open Spaces and Mud on the Tires!
This morning's breakfast was agreed upon to be 7am with KSU at 8am. The one lesson I've learned from Nicki before embarking once on a Disney death march with her was this...
Early is on time,
On time is late, and
Late is left behind.
For the record, I was at breakfast at 6:58am this morning by which time Rick and Rudy had already finished eating and headed for the bags. Wtf?! Here I'm thinking I'm on time, which according to the definition above means I'm late. I am not sure Chopski-time is going fare well with these military guys.
Rudy scared me into wearing almost all the layers I had with me this morning. We were headed over Glacier pass and it was a balmy 56 degrees at 8 o'clock and had just finished raining. Road construction on the way up the pass included loose gravel which was mud at this point and by the time we got to the top of the pass the bikes were a muddy mess and it was a whopping 38 degrees. We pulled over to warm up, then jumped back on and headed for East Glacier. Never have I ever been so grateful for heeding Rudy's advice. Whoever decided Glacier was a good idea was wrong today!! Thankfully I had also listened when my sister told me to pack two pairs of blue jeans. As soon as we arrived in East Glacier the roads were dry and soon after changing in to my second pair of jeans so was I.
About an hour down the road we pull over for lunch in Shelby where the soup was on at Subway. I was grateful to have it warm me up on inside.
So I'm thinking I'm dry, warm and fed, this should be a pretty good afternoon. Well that's where the fun continues!! About 8 miles outside of Shelby there was this giant road construction billboard and on it in big bold letters it clearly reads, "Road construction ahead. 9 miles. Motorcycles should consider alternate route." I see it and wonder if our fearless leader, Rudy, did also. I resign in the thought that surely Rick & Deb saw it so we'll be pulling over soon to reroute. Well there's where I was wrong. We barrel on ahead right into the construction. Next sign says, "Slow. Loose gravel." By now I'm sure they know they've got a newbie (me) with them and we'll be turning around soon. Nope, wrong again. On we go, right past the Pavement Ends sign. Luckily, the bike I'm on is affectionately known in our family as the Rodeo Bike or the Dirt Bike, because today was my turn to take it off-roading. l only launched it in the air once and landed it with a simple fish-tail style landing. I threw my hand back to be sure my pack was to along for the ride and kept going. The Rodeo Crew would be so proud of me! Nine miles later we found the nicest smoothest newly constructed road I've seen...and was I glad to be seeing it!
From there we had dry roads and reasonable temperatures for most of the way. We chased trains across the wide open plains of Montana the rest of the day. First it was Amtrak passenger trains, then it was BNSF freight trains (for the train enthusiasts among us). Occasionally the engineer, or maybe it was the conductor, would give us a little toot of the whistle on the way by.
About an hour out of Glasgow, our final stop for the night, the skies got dark, and all I could think was I only have one layer left. Just then Rudy's blinker starts flashing. We're pulling off. He saw what we all saw. Rain. So out comes the rain gear which will now become my sixth layer on the top half of my body. But I guess I'd rather put it on than have both pairs of jeans wet in the same day. After we donned our last layer, we head into the storm, and surprisingly, whether it was my mother's prayers or the fact that we put on the rain gear, we hardly even got wet. Pulled into the hotel in Glasgow pretty well dry. Another successful, albeit, adventurous day!
Notes to self: Always pack 2 pairs of blue jeans.
Heed the advice of others as well as road construction signs. They're not kidding.
Total miles today: 414
Time to travel that distance: 9.5 hous
Total Cumulative mileage: 902
From there we had dry roads and reasonable temperatures for most of the way. We chased trains across the wide open plains of Montana the rest of the day. First it was Amtrak passenger trains, then it was BNSF freight trains (for the train enthusiasts among us). Occasionally the engineer, or maybe it was the conductor, would give us a little toot of the whistle on the way by.
About an hour out of Glasgow, our final stop for the night, the skies got dark, and all I could think was I only have one layer left. Just then Rudy's blinker starts flashing. We're pulling off. He saw what we all saw. Rain. So out comes the rain gear which will now become my sixth layer on the top half of my body. But I guess I'd rather put it on than have both pairs of jeans wet in the same day. After we donned our last layer, we head into the storm, and surprisingly, whether it was my mother's prayers or the fact that we put on the rain gear, we hardly even got wet. Pulled into the hotel in Glasgow pretty well dry. Another successful, albeit, adventurous day!
Notes to self: Always pack 2 pairs of blue jeans.
Heed the advice of others as well as road construction signs. They're not kidding.
Total miles today: 414
Time to travel that distance: 9.5 hous
Total Cumulative mileage: 902
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! You went Big Boys?...with Brad?! So jealous. And what?... where's Brad been living? Under a rock out in the sticks?...well actually that's probably true for Brad! Lol!!
ReplyDelete