The trip up was 329 miles, and the trip home was 384 miles. While I was up there, I explored the area and put on another 280 miles.
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I left home and took I-294 South into Indiana. 294 of course was in a state of neverending road construction.
I then got off the tollway so that I could follow Rt 12 close to Lake Michigan's lakefront.
Rt 12 took me through Michigan City, In.
A short while later, I was thinking about all the power that my right hand was connected to when I came upon....
I continued north on Red Arrow Highway, where I encountered about a mile a road resurfacing project. That fine gravel is not fun on sport tires.
I stopped in St. Joseph Michigan to stretch my legs and take a look at the lake.
North of Lake Michigan Beach I was on the Blue Star Memorial Highway. A very long curvy section of it was brand new blacktop.
I jumped on 196 for a while and got off in Grand Rapids so I could take 37 North.
This Is Sparta! (Watch the movie "300" and you'll get the joke)
I continuted north and entered the Manistee National Forest. There was something like 80 miles of nothing but forest, with a few houses here and there thrown in.
A couple of hours and only a few turns later, I was getting close to the cottage. Here is a very unique stone house along the way.
Getting very close now!
The ride was great, but I was glad to be there. I took the rest of the day and the next morning to relax with the wife and kids.
The next day we all decided to go up to Old Mission on Grand Traverse Bay. The ride up into this peninsula was awesome. We took Peninsula Drive north, and then continued north on 37.
Old Mission Lighthouse.
The biting flies at Old Mission were the worst thing I have ever experienced. They literally swarmed every one of us and at least one of us was in tears because they were so unrelenting. We decided to go to a different beach in Traverse City instead. It was the smartest thing we did that day.
The next day we wanted to take the kids to Suttons Bay to swim. I left them there for a couple of hours and rode up Rt 22 to Northport, and then continued as far north as I could. I ended up at Leelanau State Park.
Just north of Suttons Bay I crossed the 45th Parallel. I was half way to the North Pole!
Sone ships in Traverse City.
I took some time to go canoeing with Tamara on the Arbutus Lake.
I explored many roads around the cottage, and they were great. I think I see an inexpensive dual-sport bike in my future...
It briefly rained and the sun came back out.
When I woke up on our final day, it was 54 degrees and raining.
I rode about 40 miles in some heavy rain, but along the way passed a cop on the side of the road who gave me a smile and pumped his fist in the air - telling me to press on!
The rain stopped as I headed south on Rt 31. Along the way, the skies were very threatening for a while.
In Mainstee things cleared up nicely and I was able to remove my rain pants.
Just south of Manistee, Rt 31 was closed and I was sent on a detour all the way east to Rt 37 (which is the way I came up). It was a long way out of my planned route and I just decided to go home the way I came up. I sort of stopped taking pictures at this point, since it was all sights that I had already seen.
Back on 196, I saw Tamara, Joyce, and the kids in the Accord up ahead. I'm certain it made the kids wday to see dad in action on the bike.
I ended up slabbing it almost all the way home from there. Approaching 400 miles today, my butt was happy to be back in Westmont and almost home.
994 miles in all, with the only glitch on the bike being the seat latch coming loose. I didn't notice that the seat would not latch until I washed it the next day, and with a little fiddling, I was able to retrieve the small parts that make up the mechanism and get it all back together with some blue Loctite.
All in all this was a great trip, made even better by spending time with family while up at the cottage. I really hope to make this an annual trip!
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