On to Marquette, a bit of dirt, some gravel, and a taste of sand...

After a night, most spent in the bar, at Baraga in the Michigan UP, the trio planned a short ride to Marquette located some 80 miles farther east in the "Yooper"....today we would get to see some off pavement riding for the first time since day 1.....

Honestly I was still a bit "hung over" when we pulled out of the Inn...we would be on US 41 for a few miles, then try to find some dirt or gravel for some off road fun....after fueling up a few miles down the road, Kurt found Herman Road, which would take us through the woods and mostly dirt and gravel to the tiny town of Nestoria, some 20 miles away, back on Highway 41.  The day was cool but sunny, with the winds from the previous day still present...it was good to get off the pavement, even if only for a little while.

After getting back on 41 and Michigan 28, with a stop for coffee and a bite to eat at a gas/convenience store, we made the remaining trip in short order and stopped for the day, a day of relaxation and food, around Noon...

Buffalo Wild Wings for Lunch, Chinese for Supper....inbetween we grabbed a room at the quaint Cedar Inn, and while Nick and Kurt headed off to look at Leather Coats, I headed to Wal Mart for a clean batch of socks and white T-Shirts....then back at the room I grabbed my swimming trunks and took a dip in the pool and a quick Hot Tub...before heading out to the deck for a bit of sun...the good thing was, NOBODY else was using the facilities, and I had the early 1pm check in to thank for that.

So Thursday was a day of gravel, dirt, 2 meals, and some rest....we would need it as it turned out, because Friday and Saturday we would put on over 640 miles total, and that is a couple of BIG days of Monkey Butt Riding on the TWs....



Friday July 31, 2015....

Up early as usual, I wanted to catch some photos from the Lake Superior shore...so we headed through downtown Marquette, a university town that houses students from Northern Michigan University, in the cooler weather months....

We maneuvered through the festival roadblocks, and got to a nice park, where we would snapped a few photos before heading out...this day we would manage to say off the Federal Highways for the most part, hit some gravel, cross the huge Mackinac Bridge, on a most windy day....and ride ourselves into the only{albeit} brief rain of the entire trip as we pulled into the State Forest town of Atlanta, Michigan, in the lower part of the state.....

those stories and photos coming up in the next installment...


Photos-Nick and Kurt stop for a photo shoot as we find dirt on Herman Road, south of Lake Superior..{2} A railroad bridge across a river I forget the name of half way between Baraga and Marquette...{3}The Sandy Shore of Lake Superior on early Friday Morning...{4} and I take a photo of the speedometer waiting to pay the toll on the Big Mac Bridge...my trip total had reached 1001 miles{as I started with 1333 miles on the TW the previous Sunday}...