Rick gets his bike ready for today's run up Lake Huron's coast
The bikes at the RV park by Bob's trailer, just about ready to go
Cindy & Julia come over to see us off. They are heading home to Stanton Michigan later on this afternoon
Rick, is saddled up and ready to head out
Bob is just about ready. Just needs his helmet.Michigan is a mandatory helmet state.
We depart the RV park and set out for Michigan's East coast and Lake Huron. Bob is leading with Rick in the #2 slot. I'm bringing up the rear..
When we stop for gas, Rick discovers one of the cylinder head cover bolts is loose and he works to tighten it down. Bob, meanwhile, checks his voice mails..
It's a tight fit but Rick gets the cover tightened down..
We continue toward Standish and Rick is now bringing up the rear
Bob wasn't sure if we were heading in the right direction, so he pulls into what he thinks is a school parking lot. Click on the picture to see his actual stopping location....
I turned around and got this picture of the warning sign we passed, but paid no attention to when we pulled off the highway
Getting directions from the Prison security guards, which wasted no time responding to the three bikes in their parking lot, we continue on our way. Rick in the mirror picture
We turn North on US 23 and a few miles or so later, we are riding up the coast of Lake Huron
Back in the 60's our family used to come up to East Tawas and stay at the Wooden Acres Resort on Lake Huron. As we drove up US 23, I see it is still there
The cabins are still the same color scheme
We then get to Oscoda Michigan. I was stationed at Wurtsmith AFB in 70, 71 & 72 as an Air traffic Controller. Wurtsmith was one of the bases closed down when , as I call it, the disarming & demilitarization of the U.S. first began.. Most of the base housing has been torn down but the apartment building behind me is the one I lived in back then.
The control tower, long since torn down, used to sit just to the right of those tire tracks. The planes way down to the right are sitting on what was then, the SAC ramp. B-52's & KC-135's used to sit there
The famous NHRA driver, Connie Kalitta now keeps his fleet of planes here
Some of the Kalitta 747's
Just inside the entrance to what is now, Wurtsmith Airport, is the Veteran's Memorial Park
The main gate used to sit down by that traffic island. Going back there and seeing the shape the base is in now, sure stirred up a lot of memories & emotions in me
The sign at the entrance that used to say "Welcome To Wurtsmith AFB" now says Veteran's Memorial Park.
WE leave Oscoda and get back on US 23. Here is Rick with Lake Huron to his right.
My brother Bob is having a great ride. Here he is going North up the coast of Lake Huron
Sky was clear, there was a slight breeze coming in off the lake and the temp was perfect.. A great day to be riding.
Bob leads us up US 23 towards Alpena Michigan, our next stop
Rick cruising along with no problems
There were some decent dips and curves here and there
We crest this hill and Alpena is not too far ahead..
We enter the outskirts of Alpena Michigan
Time for lunch so Bob takes us to KFC. How do I know? Because he made sure to point it out to me..
We finish lunch and head out for Mackinaw City. As we go thru Alpena, we get to take a parting look at Thunder Bay.
We pass the final Alpena Water Tower as we leave town..
We continue up the coast of Lake Huron.
We are now NW bound towards the tip of Lower Michigan.
me as we ride up the coast of Lake Huron
Yet another up the coast pic as we get ready to go into a pretty good left hand curve ahead...
This part of the highway was called the "Evergreen Highway" because of all the Evergreen trees
We pulled into a rest area that over looked Hammond Bay
The bikes at the rest area
Bob at Hammond Bay
Bob & I at Hammond Bay
me & Rick at Hammond Bay
Bob, me & Rick at Hammond Bay
Bob & Rick at Hammond Bay
This is Alice & Allen from Martinsville, Illinois. They stopped by and took our picture and I took theirs. Allen has several vintage British cars he is selling. If you're interested, contact me and I will put you in touch with him.. Thanks Alice & Allen for your courtesy
We get to Cheboygan Michigan and just miss the Bois Blanc Island ferry going under the Draw bridge
The channel the ferry goes in & out of to get to and from the island
We get to Mackinaw City
As we start across the Mackinac Bridge to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we pass the entrance to the old fort, which is actually located to the west side of the bridge
Michigan's Upper Peninsula is seperated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac and is a distance of 5 miles. As you go over the bridge, Lake Huron is to the East and Lake Michigan is to the West. On the center of the bridge it is 270 from the roadway to the water and 570' from the top of the towers to the water. Here is Bob starting up and leading us across.
Rick follows as we leave Lower Michigan behind & below..
We approach the South Tower
The South Tower dead ahead
We're past the South Tower and are now approaching the North tower. Tht's the Upper Peninsula ahead & below..
If you watch that TV show, "Dirty Jobs", the guy walked up those big cables on top to the top of the towers. He has GOT to have a death wish....
Coming down on the North end. You can see the cables he had to hang on to when walking up the big green thing to the top of the towers
Just about to the U.P.
We make it over and stop at the rest area on the other side... Here are Bob & Rick
The bikes, Rick and Bob in the Upper Peninsula.
We decide to head to Bridge View Park and as we start down the hill you can see part of the bridge if you click on the pic..
At Bridge View Park, in addition to a great view of the Mackinac Bridge, they have the South Tower Bell, Iron Worker Memorial (For those killed during the construction of the bridge) and other stuff pertaining to the bridge.
This plaque tells about the South Tower Bell
The Iron Workers Memorial
The plaque with the names of the iron workers that were killed 
Front view of the memorial
This plaque says the Mackinac Bridge was selected as Michigan's #1 Civil Engineering Project of the 20th Century
The Mackinac Bridge and the Northern coast of Michigan's Lower peninsula, 5 miles South of our location 
Another view of th Mackinac Bridge
Bob & Rick at Bridge View Park, Michigan's Upper peninsukla
Me & Rick at Bridge View park
Bob & I at Bridge View Park, Michigan's U.P. We made it Bro!!!!
In this little rotunda at the park, the floor was done in tiles that showed all five Great Lakes and Michigan's Upper & Lower Peninsulas. I could not get pics of it all, so I opted for the Northern tip of the L.P. and the U.P. connected by the bridge..
The Bridge View Park Dedication plaque
We head back to the bridge to cross back over to the Lower Peninsula
Bob & Rick at the toll booth
We start back across the Straits of Mackinac.
Bob on the Mackinac Bridge. Notice the road construction on the Southbound lanes? That was going to make me a very unhappy person in about 30 seconds. Why? Those of you that know me, know I do not like heights...and for the next 3 miles or so, I had to ride over this....(see next pic)
I had to ride over open grated roadway where you could look down and see the girders below and 250 feet below those, the water..I took this pic to show you I am not telling you a lie. It was a good thing I pee'd over on the Upper Peninsula because I crapped my pants when I went on this..
We approach the South Tower
We start down to the Lower Peninsula, still on that grating. With the rocking back & forth that the grating caused the bike to do, picture taking was interesting
We approach the Lower peninsula and terra firma... For more info on the Mackina Bridge, see this link:http://www.mackinacbridge.org/
We get to our hotel at the South end of the bridge on the East side of I-75, the Days Inn
They let us park the bikes under the overhang by the pool 
Bob takes a break and sits on the bed
Rick arranging stuff on the table. This room was nice with a couple of queen sized beds.
We walked to a local restaurant for dinner and on the way back, I took this picture of our hotel. For more info on this great place to stay, check out this link:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-343928-days_inn_suites_bridgeview_lodge-i?fromiy=1
Last pic from today is of our hotel. We had a great ride today and we look forward to tomorrow. The forecast is for showers as we head to Traverse City and we hope they are wrong.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
No comments:
Post a Comment