Day 4, Monday, July 8th

A beautiful day in the UP of Michigan with a beautiful ride down one of our favorite roads, Alger County Road H58 from Grand Marais along the Pictured Rock lakeshore.  We learned about this road when we were here in 2009 and this is the third time we have ridden it and it does not disappoint.  For you riders - it is not at all 'technical' but the scenery is gorgeous and the road has many sweeping curves coming one right after the next which makes for a most enjoyable experience.

Well enough of that let's get on to some POIs and photos!

First stop, Marquette where we went to the Maritime Museum which we knew was closed on Monday but we wanted to get a photo of the lighthouse.  No joy as there was construction (I mean big equipment) working on the parking lot preventing access. 

After a quick stop at the UP's only Harley dealer we were on our way.

To Lakenland Sculpture Park.  Wow!  This place was fantastic.

Then on to Munising where we picked up H58.

Next stop, Miner's Castle, a really neat eroded rock formation.

Lake Superior, the world's largest, deepest and coldest fresh water lake.  And there are no sharks!

On to Grand Marais where we had lunch as got some photos.

Last stop the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point.

Day 3, Sunday, July 7th

On every motorcycle there is usually at least one serendipitous event.  If you've not familiar with the word check out the definition:  https://www.google.com/search?q=serendipity&rlz=1C1GGGE___US557US558&oq=serendipity&aqs=chrome..69i57.4673j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This morning as I was loading the bike an elderly gentleman (like I'm not elderly myself!) approached me and asked if my bike was a Harley.  I replied as I always do:  'Of course.  Is there any other kind?'  He proceeded to tell me that he had a Harley for 65 years and sold it just a couple years ago.  I asked him 'Why didn't you call me first so I could have bought it'and we both chuckled about it.

A few minutes later he came back with a photo album and several photos of his Harley.  A 1941 Knucklehead he bought in the early 50s when he was in high school.  He bought it for $425 and sold it a couple years ago for $30,000.  Wow that's a pretty good return.

I learned his name is Dave Schue and he lives in Appleton, Wisconson, and get this he worked for Kimberly Clark in Memphis for ten years starting in the early 1960s and two of his kids were born there.  What a small world it is.

Here is 84 year young Dave and me with his photo book.

Some shots from the road.

Our first stop was at Porcupine Mountain State Park where we went to the overlook to the Lake of the Clouds.  Rode along the shore of Lake Superior for a while getting there.  This is on the western shore of the Upper Pensula.

Then we had lunch in the quaint little town of Ontonagon (I love these Native American names) at Syl's Cafe.

Of course one of the things we had to have was that quintessential UP favorite the 'pastie' which is the preferred spelling although sometime I do see it as pasty.

Yum, yum.  Now if you're not familiar with the pastie here is a pretty good article about it.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/16/520129966/in-michigan-the-pasty-isnt-x-rated-its-a-portable-pie-with-history-baked-in

Right across the street from the cafe we had our second serendipitous event.

We had no idea the Highway 45 which we are all familiar with ran all the way from Mobile to Ontonagon.  In fact Ontonagon is the end point as you can see in the second photo.  Most impressed.

Now the Chippewa Indians called Lake Superior 'Gitche Gummee' and you will see all sorts of references to that around these parts.

A few more shots from the road on the way to the hotel in Ishpeming.  How's that for a tongue twister?

So today we rode 285 miles of glorious two lane tree lined roads and oh yes with no rain!

Day 2, Saturday, July 6th

We had a short day today, only 430 miles, so we slept late and didn't leave until 7:30.  It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood when we left and we crossed the Illinois river from our hotel in East Peoria to Peoria and made a short visit to a nice little park on the river aptly named Riverside Park.  There is a memorial to US history.

But the main reason for our stop was to see the tribute to a Peoria hometown boy, the singer songwriter, Dan Fogleberg. If you were listening to music in the 70s and 80s you are no doubt familiar with his songs.  He wasn't as big as Elvis of course.  Elvis got a statue and Dan only got some rocks but they are nice rocks.

Here is a link to his Wikipedia page:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Fogelberg

Then it was on to our destination for the day, Eagle River, Wisconsin.  Some photos from the road.

Weather and the ride was delightful.  Well that is until we got to the Wisconsin state line and were met with miles and miles of construction.  It was there that our interstate, I-39, merged with and ran with I-90 until well past Madison were they diverged.  It was mostly three lanes but there was a huge amount of traffic and they were all in a big, big hurry and oh yeah we were again dodging intermittent rain, sometimes heavy for a few minutes.

We were glad when I-39 diverged and even happier when we got off it and on to non-interstate more scenic roads.  And the scenery surely did change from flat farmland to a more rolling heavily wooded landscape.

Tomorrow - no interstate and we get to the UP of Michigan where the fun really begins.

Day 1, Friday, July 5th

There is a saying, 'go big or go home.'  Well we went big today - 475 miles of big.  The first half was just fine but just short of half way we got into rain and had it pretty much the rest of the day with a few brief respites.  But hey that's part of it and we persevered.  But the all too frequent stops to add / delete rain gear, check the weather (as there was lightning which we wanted to avoid for sure) meant that we did not arrive at our hotel until almost six o'clock.  A very nice location right on the Illinois river in East Peoria, IL.  And in the same complex as a riverboat casino which had a prime steakhouse which we took advantage of.

Here are some photos.

Ready to go and waiting on our riding buddy, Dave.

Our first gas stop - all decked out for the celebration on the 4th.  Very nice!

At our next gas stop it was a twofer - gas and lunch, lol

Some shots from the road.  Pretty flat in this part of the country.

We made it!  At the hotel and then the casino for dinner.

After dinner Jerry and Dave were wondering how to get this bike home if they should win it.