Day 7 - Cheboygan to Sheboygan and Day 3 Miserable Rain

Awoke this morning to find it had rained over night. Skies looked cloudy and most likely rainy so we started out with rain pants on.  It's the best way to ward off rain, right?

After fueling and grabbing a morning monster for Torrey, we headed out on Hwy 2.  Interesting that we are riding the same road as Cami, Rick & Deb and Rudy, but from the other direction.  We took that to I-75 across the Mackinac Bridge. It is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac and connect the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  There are 2 lanes going in each direction.  The center lanes are made of metal mesh grating.  The outer lanes in each direction are made of concrete.  We chose to ride on the mesh.  It's cool to look down and see the water below the bike.  Here's a pic of the bridge.  It's an internet photo as I have yet to install and wear a body cam or get a Go Pro.

After we crossed into the U.P. of Michigan we continued on Hwy 2.  This is part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour as well.  The temps were in the 70's but the swelter was increasing.  We rode this into Manistique where we stopped for fuel. It wasn't actually raining per se, but the roads were wet from the recent rain and the spray from the passing trucks.  We ended up wet from the road up as opposed to it falling from the sky. 

The roads dried out in short order after we were back out there.  I couldn't help but notice all the signs for pasties.  In this case, it's a baked good only found here in the U.P. but that's not the first reference that comes to mind each time I see a sign advertising pasties.

Next we set our sights on Marinette, WI.  Hwy 2 between Manistique and Escanaba was under significant construction and required us to follow a detour that was slow and led us through a number of Michigan backroads that might have been nice to ride, but the long line of vehicles we were in made it less enjoyable. We peeled off Hwy 2 and onto 41 and then onto 35 to arrive at Marinette for lunch and fuel.  All of this is still part of the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.  There's actually a fair number of miles that run along the Lake unlike in other areas of the tour we've been on, which were mostly wooded areas.

While in Marinette I sent a quick text to my mom to give her an update on our progress.  Being a near life long resident of Wisconsin, she began her reply by giving me the quick run down on the number of miles, length of time to travel and which exit to take.  I thanked her and then explained that we wouldn't be taking that route as we were on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.  Her response was something along the lines of "Well check your weather, it's raining here now" and "I don't know why you would want to go 40 miles out of your way to get here."  Well, part of it is a dash of OCD in my personality.

We had shed our rain pants and a top layer before getting back on the bikes and heading down 41 towards Green Bay, the home of Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers (by far the best team in the League).  I'm sure Torrey will disagree with me on this point, but I take a little liberty as the author of the blog, even though it resides on his account. As we left Green Bay we were on 43 going toward Manitowoc.

 

 

At the Manitowoc county line we hit wet road.  Freshly wet - like we must have just missed the storm.  Again we were getting wet from the road up.  The spray coming from the trucks made passing a bit of a task.  We skipped the HD store and pressed on to Sheboygan.  This is as far as we'll get on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour.  I thought it was pretty cool to ride from Cheboygan, MI to Sheboygan, WI today.  It was here where we got on 23 and headed into Fond du Lac. 

 

En route we passed the road to go to Johnsonville.  You know Johnsonville, right?  That's where the best brats and summer sausage are made.  At least my personal favorites.  We also passed the turn offs to St Cloud and Mt Calvary which would take me to my aunts and uncles houses.  This area is also known locally as the Holyland.  We stopped for fuel on the way through town.  Immediately Torrey says to me, "Now why did we go to Manitowoc and Sheboygan instead of taking the Appleton/ Fond du Lac exit" off of 41.  When I reminded him that we were on the Circle Tour and that it was cool to ride from Cheboygan to Sheboygan, it was lost on him - just as it was my mom.  Apparently that was only cool to me.  Oh well!

 

After unloading the bikes and a quick shower, we loaded in the car for dinner at Blanck's Supper Club in Johnsburg, WI - the heart of the Holyland.  Supper clubs are non-existent out west but popular in the mid-west especially back in the day.  This particular supper club is one my grandparents went to back in the 50's when their friends Bob and Hazel Blanck opened it.  It's been a gathering place for decades for our family.  It is a treasured spot for us when we visit and tonight we went there at Torrey's request.  We started with drinks as is the tradition.  I, of course, had an Old Fashioned as is a tradition in the Holyland.  I like mine Whiskey Sweet.  While patrons sit and visit, orders are placed at the bar and groups are seated when their meals are ready to be served.  The food is delicious and affordable, representative of all that's good about the Holyland. 

Here's my mom, Torrey, my step-dad Don, and my Uncle Bill

 

Total miles traveled today: 382

Time to travel that distance: 8 hours (7 hours with the help of the time change)

Cumulative miles: 2472

 

 And now for the Cami-O:

 

Be careful what you wish for! When asking for a bike wash yesterday, I did not intend for God to provide us with showers for the whole next day!

 

 Question: Do you know how many miles wide Montana is on Highway 2 on your way in to Williston, North Dakota? I do. It's 667 miles. I saw that sign today. Interesting fact: there's not a milepost one mile previous to that, but there is a milepost 2 miles previous at 665.

 

How is it I got to see this sign?
We should take the Harleys to Milwaukee, they said.
We should take Highway 2 through Montana and North Dakota, they said.
It will be fun!, they said.
Will someone please figure out who "they" are, and let them know "they" were wrong again today?! Lol! 

 Now that I have that out of my system, let's talk about the good things about today.

 1. God. God is good, everyday! He and I had many conversations today. Thankfully, He was good to us and kept us safe. Others were not as fortunate today as we drove past a scene that included two motorcycles off the road. We rolled up just as the ambulance rolled away. And separately a mile down the road a truck that had rolled after having rear-ended an SUV. Both vehicles were pretty tore up.
 

2. People are good. Rudy, Rick and Deb are among THE BEST. No one should ride in the rain we withstood today for as many miles as we did today.

3. Williston, ND is good. The Harley store is gigantic and Doc Holliday's has the best BBQ I've eaten in a long time...possibly ever.  Probably should have stayed there.

 

 4. Experiences are good. They build character. If yesterday's "Mud on the Tires" was just a challenge as indicated by Rudy, today was a true test of any biker's metal. We rode from Williston to Rugby (187 miles) in the worst rain storm I've ever been in, which made the shortest mileage day of the trip the biggest adventure of my life, next to China.
 

Speaking of China, this may be the summer of vacations that initially sound like a great idea, but in the end, I may choose differently when approached with these great ideas again in the future.

 5. Beer. Beer is good! Enough said.

 

 

 

Total miles today: 334
Time to travel that distance: 9.25 hours and we lost an hour due to time zone change.
Total Cumulative mileage: 1236