Day 2 on the Road

Muskegon, MI - Oconto, WI
$12.00 in gas for 3.9 gallons
358 km      Ferry - $110        Hotel $50.00

The Comfort Inn ended up being the Sweat Box Inn.  We never quite figured out the thermostat controls, so the room was quite hot and bothered - because of the heating system of course.  At any rate the lodging was suitable-ish and provided us the necessary rest, and a bit of nourishment needed to continue on this voyage.

The ferry dock was only about 10 km away.  We went a bit early thinking there would be a bit of a walk-around to do and things to see; much like Tobermory.  But no such luck.  Rather it was in an industrious area that provided nothing to look at, or nowhere to go.  Sure enough though, there was a cue of like minded motorcyclists such as ourselves, and everyone was eager to gloat, or grandstand about their particular journey/journeys on two wheels.  Darin and I were no exception.....

So I had enough trouble tying down the bike as usual on the ferry.  A combination of not being in the best spot, plus not having the where-with-all on how to do it properly.  September 2010 was running through my mind when a seamen blew over the loud speak on the Joey and Clara Smallwood that my motorcycle had fallen over 1 hour into the 18 hour sailing and I had to go down and pick it up and reset it.  Nobody even helped if I remember correctly!  Today there was a great guy tied beside me and he game me a had so as to secure it tightly.

As it was the feller was an extensively traveled motorcyclist, business owner, and an Indy Car working man who was all around very nice and personable.  He has his own business outside of Chicago which stamps the electrical connections on virtually all the cars in North America.  On the side he also works extensively with the Dale Coyne Racing team.  He travels with them to most of the races in the season - on a beauty of a 2012 Kawasaki Concourse 1400.  He didn’t have it pimped out per sea, but he had many modifications that suits his style.  As he said, “I am quite a gear head.”  He is turning 60 next week - So I wish him the best.  He took Darin’s address and seemed to think Goderich would be a fine stop whilst up at the next Toronto Indy in 2016.  I hope he makes it.

In Milwaukee we got to the downtown core and parked in the Third Ward.  They had all kinds of old factories which were converted into living space, and a neat market with all kinds of neat stores and places to eat.  We also hiked a bit further into the other downtown areas, but soon turned back as there wasn’t much going on.  It had a Sunday morning type of feel I suppose. 

So after a good sandwich and fresh coffee we headed north.  I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Maybe uneasy.  It was about 2:00 in the afternoon, and we hadn’t driven but 20 km.  I was unsettled and nervous.  We got going on Interstate 43 North and it was as busy as the 401 through Toronto.  It didn’t feel good to be on it.  So we cut off of it.  We found a road that was like Orchard Line.  Immediately I will tell you, immediately I felt so good.  All of my uneasiness went away.  We passed quite a few equine farms, and then we got into Wisconsin dairy county.  There were some big operations going on.  One farm had 3 sets of dairy barns that had to of been 30 feet wide by 90 long.  Lots of milkers on that property.  And we also got into seeing lots of antique stores in old school houses and traveled mostly up Lake Michigan.  All the names of the towns had a Native American flair.  4 syllables long and lots of “o”s in them.

At 6:00 we wheeled in Oconto, WI.  Advice on the ferry indicated we should get into a peninsula called Door County.  Despite being great advice I am sure, the day just got away from us and we skipped that part of the journey electing to scoot past Green Bay, and then north on 41/141.  The dwelling is called the Riverside Inn, and we ate a fulfilling meal at Wiseguys.  It was ribs and brown beans.  Delicious!
I just stepped in from outside.  Tonight there is a full lunar eclipse.  The moon is obviously full.  Very full.  I got out when there was only an eight or a sixteenth to go until the earth’s shadow has totally engulfed it.  There was a unique crowd out doing as we did.  All Green Bay Packer fans who have come to go to Monday night’s game.  Two of them were from outside of Saginaw, MI, 2 from New Mexico, and so on and so on. 

All in all it was another great weather day and the riding was smooth.  It was overcast for the majority of the ride, but the last 80 minutes the setting son was right in the rear view mirrors.  It does feel good to head north and east.