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UP For A Road Trip?
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emptysea Offline
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Chicagoland USA
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#11

Saturday, August 8, 2020.

The Covid restrictions in effect in early August in Wisconsin and Michigan permitted gatherings of 6 or fewer people and the day would end with just such a gathering, including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet. That gathering was a bit delayed, though, due to a morning rain in Appleton. Fortunately, the day's planned mileage was around 170 which allowed us to enjoy our fairly upscale hotel room for a bit longer in the morning and to dine with Glen and Laura at a local coffee shop called Copper Rock which was just down the block. You may recall that we stayed Copper Leaf Hotel. The morning after a couple martinis and a couple of old fashioneds probably dulled my intellectual curiosity a bit because it's only as I write this that I wonder why both places had "copper" in their names. Perhaps there was a copper mine here once? Or maybe the two businesses share the same ownership? Or the same marketing consultant? Like I said, martinis, old fashioneds and the dulling of curiosity. They did have good coffee and breakfast sandwiches, though.

We hung around Appleton for the entire morning waiting for the rain to push through. It came down pretty good for a bit, but let up to rideable level by mid-morning. There's not much to do in a Covid-closed Iron Mountain, MI and we only had 170 miles to cover to get there, so we waited until a little after noon to head north. Onlookers may have noticed the flash of High-Viz rain gear as we made the right hand turn onto College Avenue and rolled out of town.

Mike and Jennifer were making their way across the top of Lake Michigan while we were making our way through the eastern portion of what Wisconsinites call The Northwoods. Turns out that "Northwoods" refers to a boreal forest in North America that coverage about half of Canada and portions of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a few other eastern states. I was unaware of the of the vastness of this forest until preparing this report. Most folks I know would define Northwoods as Wisconsin's version of the Upper Peninsula. Conifer forests and cold, glacier formed lakes abound in the Northwoods, especially to the west of our route, making it a popular place for folks from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis to build vacation homes.

[Image: f445045f23e8792ad820cf91a710c073.jpg]

Our server's route placed on Wisconsin State Highway 55 for a good two-thirds of our trip and a very good two-thirds it was. 55 runs along the Wolf River for fairly long section and much of that section is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The river helps reduce the number of crossing roads and this section of the reservation is not well-populated so traffic was minimal. If you ask Cheryl, 55 is her favorite road in Wisconsin with just the right amount of sweeping turns and northwoods scenery. It's always difficult for me to disagree with her, but it would be particularly so in this case. It's not a challenging road, but what it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in delightfulness. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend traveling up.

[Image: 72561596277431e352da03595903ccf5.jpg]
[url=https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=254475fe8a76a76d3a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes]UP Trip Day 2

Had we followed the suggested route in its entirety, we'd have added another 40 or so miles to our day. Glen was having some pain in his shoulder and Laura was coming off of knee surgery so we decided to cut off the section that took us further west. That would mean missing a ride on Military Rd. which was really the road he wanted us to experience. The blue line on the map below shows his route and the orange shows the route we took. After doing a "street view" in Google, I want to head back up and check out Military Rd. The first of many excuses to head back north.

[Image: b36c42587f94b8e5f3b5d7e939226083.png]

[Image: 5bd0a9f4f752075b543fd1bccb69d271.jpg]
A tributary to the Wolf River

[Image: 98b798d3182f5e3471d95d19f48b089b.jpg]
Nice sweeping curve through the forest

[Image: ef9e90b511bf28f24e84739850cf5b6e.jpg]
Time to stretch and relax for a bit.

[Image: cd90895a4403708e8ff144c5fe7e2659.jpg]
Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way


[Image: 125bb66b659c188c3aa47862bd649f44.jpg]
Entering Michigan's Upper Peninsula - First time Cheryl's ridden in Michigan

I had a few pictures of our landing pad for the night and of Mike and Jennifer and their motorcycles, but I cannot locate them for this writing. We stayed at the Comfort Inn - Iron Mountain which is adjacent to Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room which is a combination bowling alley and banquet all. Mike rides a Goldwing and Jennifer is on an Indian Scout. On the opposite side of the Comfort Inn from the swanky bowling alley/banquet room complex sits Romagnoli's Fine Food & Spirits where we dined. I had a surprisingly good steak with a fairly ordinary martini. It is not a bad place to eat, but its best quality was that it was walking distance to the Comfort Inn.

[Image: 8e85b62e910d0a2c55759bf6e0a76ad5.jpg]
Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates

[Image: 5c26882cdc37201f4fc262a5358859a4.jpg]
Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant.

The very short walk back to our hotel passed this run down chunk of concrete that caught our attention. The Comfort in is located not more than 200 feet from this old ore furnace.

[Image: 563984a4b25172cb6c8b9efd252231f6.jpg]
Remnants of an experimental furnace designed to process low-grade iron ore. Built in 1908 and due to financial and mechanical issues, was dismantled at the end of WWI. Although the Ardis Furnace was an engineering and design failure, elements the design were later put into successful processing operations.

The time change into Michigan gave us daylight until closer to 9:00pm. We returned to the hotel, poured Manhattans from my growler for those who wanted them. Most took theirs back to their rooms. I took mine outside to enjoy with a short cigar and watching the sun as it dipped quietly below the roof line of the Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room.


01-08-2021, 04:57 AM
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GoldOxide_imp Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#12

(01-08-2021, 04:57 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: Saturday, August 8, 2020.

The Covid restrictions in effect in early August in Wisconsin and Michigan permitted gatherings of 6 or fewer people and the day would end with just such a gathering, including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet. That gathering was a bit delayed, though, due to a morning rain in Appleton. Fortunately, the day's planned mileage was around 170 which allowed us to enjoy our fairly upscale hotel room for a bit longer in the morning and to dine with Glen and Laura at a local coffee shop called Copper Rock which was just down the block. You may recall that we stayed Copper Leaf Hotel. The morning after a couple martinis and a couple of old fashioneds probably dulled my intellectual curiosity a bit because it's only as I write this that I wonder why both places had "copper" in their names. Perhaps there was a copper mine here once? Or maybe the two businesses share the same ownership? Or the same marketing consultant? Like I said, martinis, old fashioneds and the dulling of curiosity. They did have good coffee and breakfast sandwiches, though.

We hung around Appleton for the entire morning waiting for the rain to push through. It came down pretty good for a bit, but let up to rideable level by mid-morning. There's not much to do in a Covid-closed Iron Mountain, MI and we only had 170 miles to cover to get there, so we waited until a little after noon to head north. Onlookers may have noticed the flash of High-Viz rain gear as we made the right hand turn onto College Avenue and rolled out of town.

Mike and Jennifer were making their way across the top of Lake Michigan while we were making our way through the eastern portion of what Wisconsinites call The Northwoods. Turns out that "Northwoods" refers to a boreal forest in North America that coverage about half of Canada and portions of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a few other eastern states. I was unaware of the of the vastness of this forest until preparing this report. Most folks I know would define Northwoods as Wisconsin's version of the Upper Peninsula. Conifer forests and cold, glacier formed lakes abound in the Northwoods, especially to the west of our route, making it a popular place for folks from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis to build vacation homes.

[Image: f445045f23e8792ad820cf91a710c073.jpg]

Our server's route placed on Wisconsin State Highway 55 for a good two-thirds of our trip and a very good two-thirds it was. 55 runs along the Wolf River for fairly long section and much of that section is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The river helps reduce the number of crossing roads and this section of the reservation is not well-populated so traffic was minimal. If you ask Cheryl, 55 is her favorite road in Wisconsin with just the right amount of sweeping turns and northwoods scenery. It's always difficult for me to disagree with her, but it would be particularly so in this case. It's not a challenging road, but what it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in delightfulness. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend traveling up.

[Image: 72561596277431e352da03595903ccf5.jpg]
[url=https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=254475fe8a76a76d3a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes]UP Trip Day 2

Had we followed the suggested route in its entirety, we'd have added another 40 or so miles to our day. Glen was having some pain in his shoulder and Laura was coming off of knee surgery so we decided to cut off the section that took us further west. That would mean missing a ride on Military Rd. which was really the road he wanted us to experience. The blue line on the map below shows his route and the orange shows the route we took. After doing a "street view" in Google, I want to head back up and check out Military Rd. The first of many excuses to head back north.

[Image: b36c42587f94b8e5f3b5d7e939226083.png]

[Image: 5bd0a9f4f752075b543fd1bccb69d271.jpg]
A tributary to the Wolf River

[Image: 98b798d3182f5e3471d95d19f48b089b.jpg]
Nice sweeping curve through the forest

[Image: ef9e90b511bf28f24e84739850cf5b6e.jpg]
Time to stretch and relax for a bit.

[Image: cd90895a4403708e8ff144c5fe7e2659.jpg]
Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way


[Image: 125bb66b659c188c3aa47862bd649f44.jpg]
Entering Michigan's Upper Peninsula - First time Cheryl's ridden in Michigan

I had a few pictures of our landing pad for the night and of Mike and Jennifer and their motorcycles, but I cannot locate them for this writing. We stayed at the Comfort Inn - Iron Mountain which is adjacent to Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room which is a combination bowling alley and banquet all. Mike rides a Goldwing and Jennifer is on an Indian Scout. On the opposite side of the Comfort Inn from the swanky bowling alley/banquet room complex sits Romagnoli's Fine Food & Spirits where we dined. I had a surprisingly good steak with a fairly ordinary martini. It is not a bad place to eat, but its best quality was that it was walking distance to the Comfort Inn.

[Image: 8e85b62e910d0a2c55759bf6e0a76ad5.jpg]
Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates

[Image: 5c26882cdc37201f4fc262a5358859a4.jpg]
Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant.

The very short walk back to our hotel passed this run down chunk of concrete that caught our attention. The Comfort in is located not more than 200 feet from this old ore furnace.

[Image: 563984a4b25172cb6c8b9efd252231f6.jpg]
Remnants of an experimental furnace designed to process low-grade iron ore. Built in 1908 and due to financial and mechanical issues, was dismantled at the end of WWI. Although the Ardis Furnace was an engineering and design failure, elements the design were later put into successful processing operations.

The time change into Michigan gave us daylight until closer to 9:00pm. We returned to the hotel, poured Manhattans from my growler for those who wanted them. Most took theirs back to their rooms. I took mine outside to enjoy with a short cigar and watching the sun as it dipped quietly below the roof line of the Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room.

Dang. That excludes other countries. (sorry Cormanus Undecided )

(01-08-2021, 04:57 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: Saturday, August 8, 2020.

The Covid restrictions in effect in early August in Wisconsin and Michigan permitted gatherings of 6 or fewer people and the day would end with just such a gathering, including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet. That gathering was a bit delayed, though, due to a morning rain in Appleton. Fortunately, the day's planned mileage was around 170 which allowed us to enjoy our fairly upscale hotel room for a bit longer in the morning and to dine with Glen and Laura at a local coffee shop called Copper Rock which was just down the block. You may recall that we stayed Copper Leaf Hotel. The morning after a couple martinis and a couple of old fashioneds probably dulled my intellectual curiosity a bit because it's only as I write this that I wonder why both places had "copper" in their names. Perhaps there was a copper mine here once? Or maybe the two businesses share the same ownership? Or the same marketing consultant? Like I said, martinis, old fashioneds and the dulling of curiosity. They did have good coffee and breakfast sandwiches, though.

We hung around Appleton for the entire morning waiting for the rain to push through. It came down pretty good for a bit, but let up to rideable level by mid-morning. There's not much to do in a Covid-closed Iron Mountain, MI and we only had 170 miles to cover to get there, so we waited until a little after noon to head north. Onlookers may have noticed the flash of High-Viz rain gear as we made the right hand turn onto College Avenue and rolled out of town.

Mike and Jennifer were making their way across the top of Lake Michigan while we were making our way through the eastern portion of what Wisconsinites call The Northwoods. Turns out that "Northwoods" refers to a boreal forest in North America that coverage about half of Canada and portions of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a few other eastern states. I was unaware of the of the vastness of this forest until preparing this report. Most folks I know would define Northwoods as Wisconsin's version of the Upper Peninsula. Conifer forests and cold, glacier formed lakes abound in the Northwoods, especially to the west of our route, making it a popular place for folks from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis to build vacation homes.

[Image: f445045f23e8792ad820cf91a710c073.jpg]

Our server's route placed on Wisconsin State Highway 55 for a good two-thirds of our trip and a very good two-thirds it was. 55 runs along the Wolf River for fairly long section and much of that section is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The river helps reduce the number of crossing roads and this section of the reservation is not well-populated so traffic was minimal. If you ask Cheryl, 55 is her favorite road in Wisconsin with just the right amount of sweeping turns and northwoods scenery. It's always difficult for me to disagree with her, but it would be particularly so in this case. It's not a challenging road, but what it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in delightfulness. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend traveling up.

[Image: 72561596277431e352da03595903ccf5.jpg]
[url=https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=254475fe8a76a76d3a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes]UP Trip Day 2

Had we followed the suggested route in its entirety, we'd have added another 40 or so miles to our day. Glen was having some pain in his shoulder and Laura was coming off of knee surgery so we decided to cut off the section that took us further west. That would mean missing a ride on Military Rd. which was really the road he wanted us to experience. The blue line on the map below shows his route and the orange shows the route we took. After doing a "street view" in Google, I want to head back up and check out Military Rd. The first of many excuses to head back north.

[Image: b36c42587f94b8e5f3b5d7e939226083.png]

[Image: 5bd0a9f4f752075b543fd1bccb69d271.jpg]
A tributary to the Wolf River

[Image: 98b798d3182f5e3471d95d19f48b089b.jpg]
Nice sweeping curve through the forest

[Image: ef9e90b511bf28f24e84739850cf5b6e.jpg]
Time to stretch and relax for a bit.

[Image: cd90895a4403708e8ff144c5fe7e2659.jpg]
Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way


[Image: 125bb66b659c188c3aa47862bd649f44.jpg]
Entering Michigan's Upper Peninsula - First time Cheryl's ridden in Michigan

I had a few pictures of our landing pad for the night and of Mike and Jennifer and their motorcycles, but I cannot locate them for this writing. We stayed at the Comfort Inn - Iron Mountain which is adjacent to Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room which is a combination bowling alley and banquet all. Mike rides a Goldwing and Jennifer is on an Indian Scout. On the opposite side of the Comfort Inn from the swanky bowling alley/banquet room complex sits Romagnoli's Fine Food & Spirits where we dined. I had a surprisingly good steak with a fairly ordinary martini. It is not a bad place to eat, but its best quality was that it was walking distance to the Comfort Inn.

[Image: 8e85b62e910d0a2c55759bf6e0a76ad5.jpg]
Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates

[Image: 5c26882cdc37201f4fc262a5358859a4.jpg]
Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant.

The very short walk back to our hotel passed this run down chunk of concrete that caught our attention. The Comfort in is located not more than 200 feet from this old ore furnace.

[Image: 563984a4b25172cb6c8b9efd252231f6.jpg]
Remnants of an experimental furnace designed to process low-grade iron ore. Built in 1908 and due to financial and mechanical issues, was dismantled at the end of WWI. Although the Ardis Furnace was an engineering and design failure, elements the design were later put into successful processing operations.

The time change into Michigan gave us daylight until closer to 9:00pm. We returned to the hotel, poured Manhattans from my growler for those who wanted them. Most took theirs back to their rooms. I took mine outside to enjoy with a short cigar and watching the sun as it dipped quietly below the roof line of the Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room.

Some very nice hand-writing there.

(01-08-2021, 04:57 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: Saturday, August 8, 2020.

The Covid restrictions in effect in early August in Wisconsin and Michigan permitted gatherings of 6 or fewer people and the day would end with just such a gathering, including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet. That gathering was a bit delayed, though, due to a morning rain in Appleton. Fortunately, the day's planned mileage was around 170 which allowed us to enjoy our fairly upscale hotel room for a bit longer in the morning and to dine with Glen and Laura at a local coffee shop called Copper Rock which was just down the block. You may recall that we stayed Copper Leaf Hotel. The morning after a couple martinis and a couple of old fashioneds probably dulled my intellectual curiosity a bit because it's only as I write this that I wonder why both places had "copper" in their names. Perhaps there was a copper mine here once? Or maybe the two businesses share the same ownership? Or the same marketing consultant? Like I said, martinis, old fashioneds and the dulling of curiosity. They did have good coffee and breakfast sandwiches, though.

We hung around Appleton for the entire morning waiting for the rain to push through. It came down pretty good for a bit, but let up to rideable level by mid-morning. There's not much to do in a Covid-closed Iron Mountain, MI and we only had 170 miles to cover to get there, so we waited until a little after noon to head north. Onlookers may have noticed the flash of High-Viz rain gear as we made the right hand turn onto College Avenue and rolled out of town.

Mike and Jennifer were making their way across the top of Lake Michigan while we were making our way through the eastern portion of what Wisconsinites call The Northwoods. Turns out that "Northwoods" refers to a boreal forest in North America that coverage about half of Canada and portions of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a few other eastern states. I was unaware of the of the vastness of this forest until preparing this report. Most folks I know would define Northwoods as Wisconsin's version of the Upper Peninsula. Conifer forests and cold, glacier formed lakes abound in the Northwoods, especially to the west of our route, making it a popular place for folks from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis to build vacation homes.

[Image: f445045f23e8792ad820cf91a710c073.jpg]

Our server's route placed on Wisconsin State Highway 55 for a good two-thirds of our trip and a very good two-thirds it was. 55 runs along the Wolf River for fairly long section and much of that section is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The river helps reduce the number of crossing roads and this section of the reservation is not well-populated so traffic was minimal. If you ask Cheryl, 55 is her favorite road in Wisconsin with just the right amount of sweeping turns and northwoods scenery. It's always difficult for me to disagree with her, but it would be particularly so in this case. It's not a challenging road, but what it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in delightfulness. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend traveling up.

[Image: 72561596277431e352da03595903ccf5.jpg]
[url=https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=254475fe8a76a76d3a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes]UP Trip Day 2

Had we followed the suggested route in its entirety, we'd have added another 40 or so miles to our day. Glen was having some pain in his shoulder and Laura was coming off of knee surgery so we decided to cut off the section that took us further west. That would mean missing a ride on Military Rd. which was really the road he wanted us to experience. The blue line on the map below shows his route and the orange shows the route we took. After doing a "street view" in Google, I want to head back up and check out Military Rd. The first of many excuses to head back north.

[Image: b36c42587f94b8e5f3b5d7e939226083.png]

[Image: 5bd0a9f4f752075b543fd1bccb69d271.jpg]
A tributary to the Wolf River

[Image: 98b798d3182f5e3471d95d19f48b089b.jpg]
Nice sweeping curve through the forest

[Image: ef9e90b511bf28f24e84739850cf5b6e.jpg]
Time to stretch and relax for a bit.

[Image: cd90895a4403708e8ff144c5fe7e2659.jpg]
Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way


[Image: 125bb66b659c188c3aa47862bd649f44.jpg]
Entering Michigan's Upper Peninsula - First time Cheryl's ridden in Michigan

I had a few pictures of our landing pad for the night and of Mike and Jennifer and their motorcycles, but I cannot locate them for this writing. We stayed at the Comfort Inn - Iron Mountain which is adjacent to Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room which is a combination bowling alley and banquet all. Mike rides a Goldwing and Jennifer is on an Indian Scout. On the opposite side of the Comfort Inn from the swanky bowling alley/banquet room complex sits Romagnoli's Fine Food & Spirits where we dined. I had a surprisingly good steak with a fairly ordinary martini. It is not a bad place to eat, but its best quality was that it was walking distance to the Comfort Inn.

[Image: 8e85b62e910d0a2c55759bf6e0a76ad5.jpg]
Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates

[Image: 5c26882cdc37201f4fc262a5358859a4.jpg]
Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant.

The very short walk back to our hotel passed this run down chunk of concrete that caught our attention. The Comfort in is located not more than 200 feet from this old ore furnace.

[Image: 563984a4b25172cb6c8b9efd252231f6.jpg]
Remnants of an experimental furnace designed to process low-grade iron ore. Built in 1908 and due to financial and mechanical issues, was dismantled at the end of WWI. Although the Ardis Furnace was an engineering and design failure, elements the design were later put into successful processing operations.

The time change into Michigan gave us daylight until closer to 9:00pm. We returned to the hotel, poured Manhattans from my growler for those who wanted them. Most took theirs back to their rooms. I took mine outside to enjoy with a short cigar and watching the sun as it dipped quietly below the roof line of the Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room.

Great action shot of the RLET.

(01-08-2021, 04:57 AM)EmptySea_imp Wrote: Saturday, August 8, 2020.

The Covid restrictions in effect in early August in Wisconsin and Michigan permitted gatherings of 6 or fewer people and the day would end with just such a gathering, including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet. That gathering was a bit delayed, though, due to a morning rain in Appleton. Fortunately, the day's planned mileage was around 170 which allowed us to enjoy our fairly upscale hotel room for a bit longer in the morning and to dine with Glen and Laura at a local coffee shop called Copper Rock which was just down the block. You may recall that we stayed Copper Leaf Hotel. The morning after a couple martinis and a couple of old fashioneds probably dulled my intellectual curiosity a bit because it's only as I write this that I wonder why both places had "copper" in their names. Perhaps there was a copper mine here once? Or maybe the two businesses share the same ownership? Or the same marketing consultant? Like I said, martinis, old fashioneds and the dulling of curiosity. They did have good coffee and breakfast sandwiches, though.

We hung around Appleton for the entire morning waiting for the rain to push through. It came down pretty good for a bit, but let up to rideable level by mid-morning. There's not much to do in a Covid-closed Iron Mountain, MI and we only had 170 miles to cover to get there, so we waited until a little after noon to head north. Onlookers may have noticed the flash of High-Viz rain gear as we made the right hand turn onto College Avenue and rolled out of town.

Mike and Jennifer were making their way across the top of Lake Michigan while we were making our way through the eastern portion of what Wisconsinites call The Northwoods. Turns out that "Northwoods" refers to a boreal forest in North America that coverage about half of Canada and portions of Minnesota, Maine, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and a few other eastern states. I was unaware of the of the vastness of this forest until preparing this report. Most folks I know would define Northwoods as Wisconsin's version of the Upper Peninsula. Conifer forests and cold, glacier formed lakes abound in the Northwoods, especially to the west of our route, making it a popular place for folks from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis to build vacation homes.

[Image: f445045f23e8792ad820cf91a710c073.jpg]

Our server's route placed on Wisconsin State Highway 55 for a good two-thirds of our trip and a very good two-thirds it was. 55 runs along the Wolf River for fairly long section and much of that section is on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The river helps reduce the number of crossing roads and this section of the reservation is not well-populated so traffic was minimal. If you ask Cheryl, 55 is her favorite road in Wisconsin with just the right amount of sweeping turns and northwoods scenery. It's always difficult for me to disagree with her, but it would be particularly so in this case. It's not a challenging road, but what it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in delightfulness. To paraphrase Ferris Bueller, It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend traveling up.

[Image: 72561596277431e352da03595903ccf5.jpg]
[url=https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=254475fe8a76a76d3a&hoursPast=0&showAll=yes]UP Trip Day 2

Had we followed the suggested route in its entirety, we'd have added another 40 or so miles to our day. Glen was having some pain in his shoulder and Laura was coming off of knee surgery so we decided to cut off the section that took us further west. That would mean missing a ride on Military Rd. which was really the road he wanted us to experience. The blue line on the map below shows his route and the orange shows the route we took. After doing a "street view" in Google, I want to head back up and check out Military Rd. The first of many excuses to head back north.

[Image: b36c42587f94b8e5f3b5d7e939226083.png]

[Image: 5bd0a9f4f752075b543fd1bccb69d271.jpg]
A tributary to the Wolf River

[Image: 98b798d3182f5e3471d95d19f48b089b.jpg]
Nice sweeping curve through the forest

[Image: ef9e90b511bf28f24e84739850cf5b6e.jpg]
Time to stretch and relax for a bit.

[Image: cd90895a4403708e8ff144c5fe7e2659.jpg]
Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way


[Image: 125bb66b659c188c3aa47862bd649f44.jpg]
Entering Michigan's Upper Peninsula - First time Cheryl's ridden in Michigan

I had a few pictures of our landing pad for the night and of Mike and Jennifer and their motorcycles, but I cannot locate them for this writing. We stayed at the Comfort Inn - Iron Mountain which is adjacent to Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room which is a combination bowling alley and banquet all. Mike rides a Goldwing and Jennifer is on an Indian Scout. On the opposite side of the Comfort Inn from the swanky bowling alley/banquet room complex sits Romagnoli's Fine Food & Spirits where we dined. I had a surprisingly good steak with a fairly ordinary martini. It is not a bad place to eat, but its best quality was that it was walking distance to the Comfort Inn.

[Image: 8e85b62e910d0a2c55759bf6e0a76ad5.jpg]
Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates

[Image: 5c26882cdc37201f4fc262a5358859a4.jpg]
Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant.

The very short walk back to our hotel passed this run down chunk of concrete that caught our attention. The Comfort in is located not more than 200 feet from this old ore furnace.

[Image: 563984a4b25172cb6c8b9efd252231f6.jpg]
Remnants of an experimental furnace designed to process low-grade iron ore. Built in 1908 and due to financial and mechanical issues, was dismantled at the end of WWI. Although the Ardis Furnace was an engineering and design failure, elements the design were later put into successful processing operations.

The time change into Michigan gave us daylight until closer to 9:00pm. We returned to the hotel, poured Manhattans from my growler for those who wanted them. Most took theirs back to their rooms. I took mine outside to enjoy with a short cigar and watching the sun as it dipped quietly below the roof line of the Recreation Lanes - Antoine Room.

Cool. Like old buildings.

Nice MTC.


01-08-2021, 05:39 AM
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emptysea Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#13

Words are important and sometimes I use them incorrectly. However in this case, stating "including me and 5 of my favorite people on the planet", properly indicates that they are not my only favorite people and it does not indicate that they are in my Top 5 of favorite people. Cormanus is in fact one of my favorite people on the planet and very likely may be my favorite person on the planet who I have yet to meet in person. That last part could change based on his critique of the above. LOL


01-08-2021, 06:08 AM
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the Ferret Online
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#14

"Not that I was in the market, but I never saw a local honey in the bar or restaurant."

ROFL made me laugh

Love reading about the U.P. Been there a couple of times. One a Men's Fall Trip in 2010 I believe, when I got my first taste of it.

The second time was a solo trip after retiring, to visit a good friend living in northern Wisc. I took the Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Minn, Wisc, UP of Michigan, lower Michigan, Ohio route. Lots of solo time in geography/fauna much different than home.

Looking forward to more great stuff and pics Sea.


01-08-2021, 06:15 AM
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Cormanus Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#15

Thank you, EmptySea. Both for the kind words and for the engrossing yarn. I had no idea there was such a thing as a boreal forest until I read it.

As always I'm looking forward to the next day.


01-08-2021, 08:06 AM
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GoldOxide_imp Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#16

(01-08-2021, 08:06 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Thank you, EmptySea. Both for the kind words and for the engrossing yarn. I had no idea there was such a thing as a boreal forest until I read it.

As always I'm looking forward to the next day.

Cormanus: My tip cup is still empty. Undecided


01-08-2021, 11:12 AM
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Cormanus Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#17

Au₂O₃ how about Bold Enforcer in the 4th at Dresden Raceway. Big Grin


01-08-2021, 11:19 AM
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GoldOxide_imp Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#18

(01-08-2021, 11:19 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: Au₂O₃ how about Bold Enforcer in the 4th at Dresden Raceway. Big Grin

lol - I've read this three times and, heh, I am going to need to research what you just wrote. Smile


01-08-2021, 11:22 AM
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Cormanus Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#19

I wondered whether it was an Australian joke as I wrote it. A 'tip' here is advice on what horse to back in a race. I had to research horse racing tracks in Ontario and came up with Dresden Raceway. Bold Enforcer is the fictitious name of a horse in the 4th race at Dresden Raceway. Put money on it and you'll win.

It was by way of being a tip as I appreciated your efforts on my behalf and have run out of bitcoin.

My apologies if it's too obscure to be funny.


01-08-2021, 07:56 PM
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GoldOxide_imp Offline
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RE: UP For A Road Trip?
#20

(01-08-2021, 07:56 PM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: I wondered whether it was an Australian joke as I wrote it. A 'tip' here is advice on what horse to back in a race. I had to research horse racing tracks in Ontario and came up with Dresden Raceway. Bold Enforcer is the fictitious name of a horse in the 4th race at Dresden Raceway. Put money on it and you'll win.

It was by way of being a tip as I appreciated your efforts on my behalf and have run out of bitcoin.

My apologies if it's too obscure to be funny.

lol - Hey, it was fun.

I came to the same conclusion as you, well maybe 90% the same:

* Bold Enforcer: Some horse, could not find it, maybe Cormanus abstracted it.
* Dresden Raceway: Came up with horse track in Ontario. That can't be right. There must be one Down Under. "Raceway"? That sounds like for race vehicles. A bit confused.
* "tip"? Maybe accidentally interpreted as "tin", as in "cup". Now briefly thinking "golf".
* "4th": Yup, back to horse racing. But I was asking myself: "Win", "Place" or "Show"?

So I had all these pieces that weren't fitting well together. It was an interesting momentary mystery that I aborted - maybe because there was no CB1100 bone (prize) at the end of it all.


01-08-2021, 10:43 PM
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