UP For A Road Trip?

[the Ferret]

I understood it, it's a legitimate expression here in the states as well Cormanus

 

[pdedse]

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.

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.

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.




A tributary to the Wolf River


Nice sweeping curve through the forest


Time to stretch and relax for a bit.


Glen asked me to lead us the rest of the way



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.


Seriously, though. It was a nice dinner with wonderful table mates


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.


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.

I'm taking notes! Not difficult, but frightful sounds promising. Care to elaborate on the frightful part?

 

[emptysea]

That’s a typo. Lol. It’s supposed to say delightfulness. Maybe one of the moderators can correct.

 

[pdedse]

That’s a typo. Lol. It’s supposed to say delightfulness. Maybe one of the moderators can correct.

Haha, that's funny, but sometimes frightful = delightful.

 

[Cormanus]

Corrected.

 

[Allen K_imp]

Hey MTC. Just wanted to jump in here to say how much I'm enjoying this ride report. I ride those roads all summer. It's like my back yard. You chose an excellent route through that area. And your server's suggestion was also great. He must be a rider when he's not a server. Hope you tipped him well. That stretch of 55 you rode is one of my favorite rides, and in my opinion, the best part of 55. You're right, at legal speeds, it's not challenging. I liken it to skiing down a well groomed intermediate slope. Take the speed up a notch or three and it can get very interesting very quickly......or so I've heard. Thanks again.

AK

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

Back in the day, 1971, I and a buddy rode his brand new Bonnie around Lake Superior. Took 9 days to get around the lake, and we had started in Owasso, MI. Beautiful country around there.

 

[emptysea]

UP-date on this report.

I will have the next day of our trip chronocled and posted just as soon as possible and I wanted to just let you all know why it takes me so long to get these done.

There are two reasons. #1 is my desire to post something entertaining, engaging, and well-written and that takes longer for me because of my limited writing experience. #2 is that I had to develop a way to get pictures from my iCloud to my PC and then to Imgur. I will not bore you all with the details, but mainly it has to do with the format iPhone uses for photos which is different than the format my lanyard cam, then sorting through them, and then uploading them to Imgur. Oh, and then copying the Imgur links into the post without a mouse.

Some of these problems are solved if I compose from my PC from my office as I am now. I have dual monitors and a mouse here which makes the process easier, but remember, I'm at my office for a reason and that reason pushes writing Seat Time reports down the To-Do list.

I just wanted you to know that I enjoy providing these reports and that the lags are not due to laziness, illness, or a learning disability. I really need to win Lotto and move to South Dakota or Tennessee or someplace where the only interruption to my writing will be spending time with my wife and my motorcycle (yes, in that order).

Stay tuned.

 

[peterbaron]

UP-date on this report.

I will have the next day of our trip chronocled and posted just as soon as possible and I wanted to just let you all know why it takes me so long to get these done.

There are two reasons. #1 is my desire to post something entertaining, engaging, and well-written and that takes longer for me because of my limited writing experience. #2 is that I had to develop a way to get pictures from my iCloud to my PC and then to Imgur. I will not bore you all with the details, but mainly it has to do with the format iPhone uses for photos which is different than the format my lanyard cam, then sorting through them, and then uploading them to Imgur. Oh, and then copying the Imgur links into the post without a mouse.

Some of these problems are solved if I compose from my PC from my office as I am now. I have dual monitors and a mouse here which makes the process easier, but remember, I'm at my office for a reason and that reason pushes writing Seat Time reports down the To-Do list.

I just wanted you to know that I enjoy providing these reports and that the lags are not due to laziness, illness, or a learning disability. I really need to win Lotto and move to South Dakota or Tennessee or someplace where the only interruption to my writing will be spending time with my wife and my motorcycle (yes, in that order).

Stay tuned.

You are not alone, me too

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Cool MTC.

So what is the plan to win the lotto? Time horizon?

 

[Cormanus]

All good, MTC. It means I have something to look forward to. Keep UP the good work.

 

[emptysea]

August 9, 2020

Another late (for me) start for the 3rd day of the trip (but really the first day of the entire party riding together). We he left the motel at about 9:00 and then stopped for breakfast in Iron Mountain.

I have to say that one of my prime reasons for starting early is that it doesn't take much heat to get me sweating like a racehorse. However, the UP in August isn't usually a sweat-inducing heat so I started thinking that maybe I ought to (almost literally) chill out about the start times.

Breakfast restaurants were the hardest to find open during Covid-Summer all around the midwest and Upper Michigan was no exception. I don't know anything about the restaurant business, but I speculate that margins are tighter without the sale of alcohol and that the waitstaff gets paid relatively less at a diner than at a more upscale place. Plus, eggs "to go" can be, as my kids sometimes say, a bit sketch (as in "sketchy", "suspect", "yucky") so I suppose that restricted openings may not be viable for some of these places.

Fortunately, The Country Cafe in Iron Mountain was open. Good food. They were not the best on compliance with the Covid guidance, but their servers and cooks all had masks on; it was just they sat the six of us at what was not much more than a four-top and anyone coming or going would have to walk right past our table which was adjacent to the door. It felt safe enough, or we were all hungry enough, so we stayed. Food was good and we all ate well because there would be no real lunch stop.

We headed north on Stephenson Ave, which is what US Highway 2 is called in Iron Mountain. Most of the morning ride would be on US2 and US45, neither of which are particularly noteworthy over the sections we were traveling. I'm sure that Mike could have planned a route on narrower and curvier roads, but we had to cover 215 miles or so including a stop at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park where we were going to do do a a little hiking. Being on "easier" roads was probably the smart choice for this day and they were not without interest -- most of US2/45 portion was through the Ottawa National Forest which was, as you might expect, tree-lined and with very few crossing roads.

I've written and otherwise reported on the annual Tour of Honor Ride and how the participants are scored by the number of military memorial they visit throughout the riding season. There are usually 7 sites in each state to visit and they release the site locations on April 1 of each year. Thus far, I've never set a goal of visiting all 7 sites in a state or any of the other accomplishments for which they give awards. I usually just see if there's a site on or close to the route I've planned. On this trip, I saw there was a site in Iron River (not Iron Mountain previously mentioned) and Mike was good enough to plan it into the route. It didn't take a lot of extra planning since the Veteran's Memorial in Iron River was located approximately 375 feet from Adams St. which is what US2 is called in Iron River.

TOH - Veterans Memorial
N River Ave. & E Genesee St.
Iron River, Michigan

Remember that part about starting late is OK because it's cooler in the UP? Well, it was in the 80's as we headed up US2. I was pretty warm by the time we stopped for gas in the tiny town of Watersmeet, which I assume was so named because the waters of a river and several creeks meet nearby. Cheryl started out in her leather jacket, but switched to her mesh at Krist Food Mart #027 where we stopped for gas and provisions that included a new charging cable for my iPhone since the other decided to stop working. Here's a tip: Carry at least two charging cables for each electronic device you're traveling with. My Spot device, our Packtalks, and my lanyard cam all use the same type of jack (I'll leave it to you techies to come up with the name) so I now carry two iPhone cables and 4 of the other cable. I wouldn't need all 4, but then I can charge all of my stuff at the same time and still have 1 spare cable. I also have a small power strip with 3 AC outlets and 3 USB outlets because the motel outlets never seem to be conveniently located to were I want my stuff plugged in.

It was decided that we'd just snack at the Krist Food Mart #027 rather than have a full blown lunch. I don't remember eating anything at all, but I'm sure I had Bullseyes. Laura always has Bullseyes -- Bulleyes and nuts and sometimes Twizzlers. I like the Bullseyes best and I bite through the caramel outer ring and open it up to eat the cream center first--that's just how it's done in my part of the world. A half-dozen Bullseyes taken with 8oz of water is my prescription for mid-ride fatigue relief.

Cheryl carries water enough for both of us on day rides, but she's been complaining about carrying my stuff on her bike ever since she got the Speedmaster which has less stowage than her previous bike. I think she was about to complain about this inequity again, but when I offered to strap her leather jacket to my bike so she could wear her mesh, she held off on that discussion.

It was warm, but very comfortable in the shade. Not much shade at the Krist Food Mart #027, but we found some near the back entrance. I don't think I have a picture of us there so just imagine what the back entrance to a place called Krist Food Mart #027 looks like.... yep. You got it.

We seemed to be there for a long time, but that could be because I was in a mild panic that my phone, which holds one of my routing apps, was about to die. It seems that my charging cable was not charging. Fortunately, the Krist Food Mart #207 had charging cables, but unfortunately, they were out of stock for iPhone cables. carry my phone for the next leg and connect it to her USB to charge. I reached into my pocket for the phone and it wasn't there. More than mild panic as I looked through everything I had touched on or near my bike; you know the multiple checking of the same pockets, the same compartments, the ground around the bike until you're convinced that the phone is not in any of those places. Once I scoured the immediate area 3 or 4 times, I decided to ask the clerk at the the Krist Food Mart #207 if anyone had turned in the phone. About three steps toward the door, I remembered that I had set my phone down on top of the phone accessories display case. It's puzzling to me why our memories work in a way that sometimes, but not all times require a trigger like this. I'll probably do some internet research on that sometime -- If I remember.

We continued northwest-bound on US45 until taking a left onto M28 at Bruce Crossing which took us through another small UP town called Bergland where we picked up M64. -- A quick note: the "M" in "M28" and "M64" is for "Michigan and is how they number their state highways. Google just shows the number, but nearly everyone I know in Michigan, which admitted generally includes the "M" when mentioning a route. -- M64 continues north until Silver City then takes a right and heads east-northeast to Ontonogon. It might otherwise continue north through Silver City and straight into Canada were it not for the largest freshwater lake in the world laying in its path.

Where M64 turns right, we turned left for our off-bike event of the day - A hike in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. Specifically, the Presque Isle River Waterfalls Loop. I guess they don't charge by the letter to make signs so the Michigan DNR did not need to come up with more concise names. It's about a 25 mile ride along park roads to the trailhead and it's a very pleasant ride even at in-park speeds. I guess we hiked about 2 miles. The park is beautiful. The following pictures do not do it justice. If you're ever in this area, it's worth a stop for a couple of hours.

Map

A somewhat interactive map for those of you who like such things can be found here:
UP Trip Day 3



Porcupine Hike 1


Mike & Jennifer


Waterfall


Cheryl and Jennifer


Random artsy picture


I'm not much for rules, but here's one that I may have made into a tattoo.

It started to drizzle as we geared up and headed back along the same park road upon which we arrived. Then it was back on to the M Roads for the final leg of the trip to Houghton, MI where we would spend the next two nights. The route to Houghton was pretty enough, but I guess I was jaded by our earlier views of Lake Superior. Most of the ride was through pine forests with a few small towns, mostly former mining towns I suspect, tossed in to break things up. The roads, M38 and M26, were mostly straight with a few sweeping curves. Both roads were very smooth and appeared to be recently paved. Quite a few elevation changes, but nothing dramatic at all.


Leaving Porcupine

Lake Superior


Tiny town en route to Houghton

We arrived at the Quality Inn & Suites around 5:00pm. Our planned two-night stay here necessitated a offloading of our luggage. It should be noted that I do not have hard cases like the folks on the bigger bikes so everything comes off of my bike at every overnight stop. However, now that Glen and Laura have downsized to the 800cc BMWs, they are learning that everything you bring on your bike you have to take off of your bike every night. Mike has the luxury of leaving stuff like maps and first aid kits and the like on his Wing pretty much all the time. We had a couple of hours to unpack, clean up and try to find a dining establishment that was open on a Sunday evening during the August, 2020 phase of pandemic mitigation efforts.


The warning sign seemed out of place until you remember that your further north than Nova Scotia.

As I'm composing this tale in fits and starts over more than a few weeks, I don't recall if I mentioned that I mixed up a about a gallon of Manhattans before the trip which I carried in two stainless steel growlers strapped to my dry bag. It's rare, even during the current cocktail "boom" that we are in (at least in the US), to find a good cocktail bar in anything but the largest cities. We've found a few on our trips: There's a great bar in Mineral Point, WI where we stayed on our 2019 trip and there were a couple of good places near Lexington we found our our first trip to the Smokys in 2014 or thereabouts, but NW Arkansas where we've been 3 times is basically a beer region. As a result of these "cocktail deserts", I tend to travel with drinks made the way I like them and in sufficient quantity to allow me at least one post-ride drink per evening. If I manage to find a restaurant with a good bartender (as we did at the CB1100 Rally in Williamsport), it's just the icing on the cake....or the olive in the martini, I suppose.

I texted the group asking who would like a Manhattan and then poured and delivered 6 -- It seems my entire group is a fan of the post-ride cocktail.

There were only a few restaurants open in town and we decided on The Ambassador mainly, I think, because we could get seated quickly and it was right across the street from our hotel. The proximity to the hotel proved beneficial because a street-flooding rain storm hit just about the time we paid our check. Houghton is built into the side of a hilll so I guess it shouldn't have surprised me that the water was flowing deep enough to cover the tops of my shoes as I crossed Shelden Street and fast enough to make me mildly nervous about losing my footing. We were pretty well drenched when we ducked into the hotel lobby. They had coffee and cookies which helped us recover from the harrowing 350 foot trek we just endured.


The Ambassador was (at least during Covid) more of a burger/sandwich place than it was a sit-down restaurant. All the same, the food was good, the service friendly, and the company outstanding.

Ambassador's martini -- not bad, but not quite right.

The day's ride wasn't particularly long, but it was pretty warm for much of it and we had a fairly long hike tossed in the middle of it.

I slept well.

 

[Cormanus]

I’m pleased you got back to this, EmptySea. I enjoy your reports very much.

 

[emptysea]

As I compose my August 10 update to this post, it dawned on me that I omitted an important, if not motorcycle-related, August 9 fact.

August 9 was my daughter’s 25th birthday. As we were going to be out of town, we arranged to recognize this and her graduation from law school (in the midst of a pandemic) on the marquee of the local and historic Pickwick Theater.

Veronica passed the Illinois Bar in September and is living and practicing law in Chicago. (She thinks motorcycles are dumb, but she tolerates her parents’ antics)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cormanus]

She has a look of her mother which may or may not, depending on your point of view, be lucky.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Congrats to her and you MTC!

So, in Chicago Huh? Mob lawyer? Heard that where the money is...

 

[emptysea]

@Cormanus - In the long run, definitely lucky.

@Lord Popgun - Her favorite movie is The Godfather so you might be on to something there.

 

[the Ferret]

I very much like reading yours and Cormanus' ride reports. They take me along on journeys I will probably never get to take myself and with your words, pics, anecdotes and descriptions I get to actually experience them.

Thanks for that

 

[emptysea]

Thanks, Mickey. I appreciate the kind words. There's a strong possibility, I think, that you will make a cameo appearance in my ride report of my group's 2021 trip. Stay tuned people.

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Nice capture MTC, and great career for your daughter [hopefully] defending the people.

That Pickwich theatre has some awesome art deco architecture. Glad to see it remains.