The Michigan Ride DAY 4 5-23-09

DAY 4, Saturday May 23, 09, was our start day for the tour of Lower Michigan. On the ride were my brother Bob, Rick who had lived across the street from us back in the 60's and we had grown up with, and me. Since Day 2 & Day 3 were spent hanging around my brother Bob's condo waiting for his vacation to begin, I took no pics and my butt, lower back & kidneys had time to get back to normal. But the day arrived and we left. Scroll down and join us and REMEMBER: IF YOU WANT TO SEE A PICTURE BIGGER, JUST CLICK ON THE PICTURE.





Rick had ridden to Bob's from Garden City Michigan and was ready to go. Here is Rick and his new bike

My brother Bob and his bike. He was waiting for me to finish the picture thing. He was waiting for this ride to begin. This ride is the biggest ride he had ever done. Hope he conditioned his butt....

We start out with Bob in the lead, Rick in front of me and I bring up the rear

Here is Rick as we ride down the highway

Here is Bob as we roll down the highway.

Bob up front, Rick in the middle and me in back as we go down I-696

Rick is just grinning away as we go our way

Rick on I-696

Bob is having a great time..He has been really looking forward to this ride as I have...

Bob & Rick riding along I-696

Bob in the lead once again

Bob leads us to The Colony. We have the lighthouse in view straight ahead

The Lighthouse

Anchor Bay comes into view

Bob rides along the shoreline of Anchor Bay

The St. Clair River and Canada on the other side..

Rick & Bob ride around Anchor Bay on M-25

Rick as we gas up

Bob as we gas up

The Bridge to Canada sign

Bob up front as we cruise North up M-25

Rick is now in back and enjoying the comfortable ride & good roads

We stop at a rest area on Anchor Bay. The sign up front

Another Memorial sign for the men that lost their lives in a Great Storm of 1913

the bikes at the rest area


Anchor Bay Michigan

A sign about the road we were currently on, M-25

Rick & I at Anchor Bay

We head back to the bikes and Bob veers off and heads to the water pump

This water pump was inoperative. It's handle was missing

We gear back up and continue North on M-25

Lots of trees and forests up here

Rick catching up

Bob up front and Rick in front of me.

Still North bound up M-25

We pass through Port Hope Michigan

We continue up the coast heading to Port Austin , on the tip of the thumb

We get to Port Austin and there are lots of bikes, rolling and parked. Here are a couple

We go into a restaurant and eat. I ordered a burger and onion rings. I notice my hamburger is shaped somewhat like Michigan, so using the ketchup bottle, I put the route of our ride on the burger..

More bikes outside of the restaurant

A couple of Harley's are now parked behind us on the driveway to another business, blocking it. They were still there when we left and I hope they didn't get towed or ticketed..Getting a ticket in one of these little towns would cost you big time..

We are gearing up for our departure from Port Austin. The restaurant we ate at is called The Stock Pot and the service, food and cost was great. If you are ever in the area, be sure to stop in and try the food. More info can be found on the link:
http://national.citysearch.com/profile/5302388/port_austin_mi/stock_pot.html?publisher=smx_noncust&reference_id=1&placement=restaurant

We head out and head down the road..

This is Wild Fowl Bay

Bob & Rick at Wild Fowl Bay

Bob at his bike as we get ready to head out

Rick, using his manual reverse, gets ready to back up

We head down the road and come up on Saginaw Bay Michigan

Bob & Rick on the shoreline of Saginaw Bay

Bob & Rick acknowledging a East bound biker.

Bob as we continue to follow the shoreline road

We pull off to the side of the road due to an attachment that keeps Rick's face shield down, has come loose..Rick prepares to fix it as Bob walks up

Rick & Bob talk. Rick is down in a little groove and Bob is standing up on the paved shoulder, closer to the camera, talking to Rick. The picture makes Bob look like a VERY big guy, but it's just how and where he is standing. Bob is about 6'3" or 6'4" actually

Rick fixed his helmet and Bob heads back to his bike to pull out

We continue on down the road..

We enter Bay City Michigan and I notice the middle of my lens is screwed up. Found out later it was another bug. I'm thinking a Michign state bird: the mosquito, hit it while we were out & about..

We pass thru Bay City and now we are heading to Bob's trailer near Gladwin Michigan

Had to take a pic of this sign for obvious reasons and no, we are not related to them. This sign is right around the corner from where Bob's RV park is where he keeps his trailer.

We take our stuff off of the bikes and go inside. Here is Rick relaxing on the couch..

Bob, on the other hand, reclines in his recliner and looks like he is ready for some serious snooze time

When Bob woke up, we rode into Harrison Michigan to eat. We ended up at Buccilli's Pizza. This is Ashly our waitress. She was great, the food was great and the prices reasonable.. If you're in the area, stop in and give them a try. they have great pizza.. for more info, check out this link : http://local.yahoo.com/info-16323294-buccilli-pizza-harrison?csz=Harrison%2C+MI+48625

Bob ate Buccilli's Pizza. This ride is the first major ride he has done since getting back into riding..He said he is loving every minute of it.

Rick stayed up & didn't nap. He rides long distances quite a bit and he has a brand new bike. We got in touch after nearly 40 years (we grew up together) on that Classmates.com thing..He also helped organize our 40th class reunion which would be held in Capitol Park, Redford Michigan on May 30. This is the first class reunion EVER that I had been invited to

After eating at Buccilli's Pixxa, we stopped at Glen's Grocery and got some Cokes and stuff. Here is Bob with the drinks bungee'd on the back of his bike

Here is Rick with more drinks on his bike. I had my saddle bags filled with food.

Getting back to the trailer was fun.. Bob is on the bike whose red tailight is out front. Rick is right in front of me

Bob back at the trailer

Rick back at the trailer. This will conclude this post. I had a great time today riding with Bob & Rick. I appreciated their tolerance with me and the camera.

Day 5 will be posted tomorrow, with more possibly, depending on how the day goes and how many "honey-do's" I get stuck with.

So, scroll down for more rides, events & posts and don't forget to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more rides and posts. Check out North Texas Bikers (1) at http://www.jjskewlstuff.blogspot.com/ for rides, events & posts from January 08-November 08. Until next post, ya'll be careful out there, ride safe, keep the rubber on the road & pray for our Troops................JOHN