Tuesday the 28th and Wednesday July 29th, Out of Wisconsin, back into Michigan{the UP}

 On Tuesday, after Docking at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, we had a quick exit from the "SS Badger" and hunted for a fuel stop and we were on our way once again:

Getting up a running shortly after Noon{CDT} we knew we would not ride a long way this day and it actually turned out to be the second shortest days, miles wise{unless you count the 90 miles via boat across Lake Michigan} that we would have.  We managed, by mistake, and road detours, to back door into the growing Green Bay berg of De Pere before rush hour, and after another stop for fuel, we quickly headed west and north, via mostly back roads to Shawano, near the Indian Reservation.  We pulled into a decent Super 8 motel and slapped down another $100 for a smallish roon, and headed out to dine on Mexican for the 2nd straight night...no complaints, I can always find something to chow down on in those type restaurants.

We had met some Harley riders from Iowa and their wives at the BP fuel stop just outside of Shawano....turns out while we rode the 6 miles into town, they took the longer way {22 miles} around the lake and stopped at the same place...nice folks, who we had some good conversations with....

Wednesday the 29th

Up early{as we usually were} we head north combining Wisconsin 47 and 55 towards Eagle River....thanks to a detour, we "Detoured" away from Eagle River and back to 55 and several passes across the Wolf River, where we took some obligatory photos, and then headed into the Michigan UP or "Yooper" as the natives, oops, locals,  call it. 

Wisconsin 55 would become Michigan 73 as we crossed the Brule River near the final Cheeseland town we would see, Nelma.  By this time Kurt had noticed a problem with his front tire....there was little doubt something had come loose due to the violent crash his TW had been through on Sunday Afternoon...the front bushing keeping the tire and wheel steading had broken off and it was going to need a fix, before we were to go much farther....our trio slowed down and we crawled{40-45mph} into the town of Iron River, Michigan.  Lucky for us, the historical little berg had a ACE Hardware, and that would be our saving grace.

Kurt found a fit for his missing piece....and the nice folks at ACE let us use some of their outdoor blocks and stones to lift the 2011 off the ground...while Kurt and Nick worked on the wheel, I held it steady...being the least Mechanical of the group, it was my little contribution....the "Mechanical DNA" must skip a beat....while my dad, was a excellent mechanic during WWII{which kept him stateside working on B-29s and B-17s}, my late cousin Gary was a great mechanic as well, and even older brother Mike, knew enough to get out of trouble...me?  Not a chance!  Just never like getting my hands dirty and greasy unless I had to....I can work on engines, change oil, etc, etc, if I have to, but if I don't, I don't!

Anyway, within an hour, the problems received a temporary fix, which would get Kurt's ride the remaining 800 or so miles to complete the trip....we were on our way once again.  Our plan, although not set in stone, was to get somewhere along Lake Superior before nightfall, and off we headed straight north with a bit of a westerly early on path along several seldom used paved roads...the town of Baraga, located on Keweenaw Bay, on the extreme southern tip of the Peninsula that reaches far into Lake Superior and where Cooper Harbor and the beginnings of US 41 are to be found.  "US 41" the very road I grew up on in South Venice, Florida, some 2000 miles south, back in the 1950s....

The temperatures dropped as we neared the big lake, and the clouds looked like they may drop some rain on us....we needed not to worry, not only did we roll into Baraga dry and fairly warm, we found the nicest motel, complete with dining room and bar...and to our pleasant surprise, it was the lowest cost of the entire trip...$87, of course the bar tab plus tip would be equal to that and probably more...this would be the only night that we would any serious beer drinking, except the nights spent at Kurt's Ranch where we didn't worry about riding, and could down a few....

http://book.michigan-hotels.org/hotels/hotel/?refid=1073&refclickid=1073%7EMichigan-Hotels.org%7EBaraga2&hotel_id=700207038

I would awake Thursday Morning and wonder just "What the Hell was I thinking"?  A small hangover in tact, but a short day of riding would await us....and we headed out towards a Photo Session at Lake Superior and a combined dirt, gravel, a bit of sand, and pavement towards the next stop at Marquette.....where we would do some eating, and some resting up for the final few legs of the trip....

That story and photos next up.............