Jewel Cave

After the bus tour we returned to the bikes and went to see Jewel Cave, a cave that has had only an estimated 2% explored and they have done 140 miles so far. It is one of the largest cave systems in the world, the 2 hour tour was a great break at 9 degrees C, from the 38 degree surface temp, we had to wear sweaters. With bike week approaching, the number of motorcycles on the road has dramatically increased so that all small towns in the Black Hills are gearing up by providing special main street bike parking. The bikes far outnumber the cars. Next week, they are anticipating over 300,000 motorcycles in an area that normally has only a population of less than 100,000 AND the other bikers look REALLLL MEAN....with all their REAL tatoos and no one wears a helmet or much clothing! We feel a bit out of place especially Dave who doesn't even have a harley!!

Touring the Black Hills

The bus trip continued along the Needles Highway. Contrary to biking it turned out that this bus trip was not for the faint hearted. We were on narrow twisty roads where the bus had to take up both lanes to get around the hairpin turns. We were glad we weren't on one of those bikes going the other way!! There were several tunnels on the Needles Hwy that the bus managed to squeeze through will literally inches on each side. He got a hand not only from the bus passengers but also from the cars and bikes waiting behind him and in front of him to see if he was going to get stuck in the tunnel. If that has happened we wouldnt have even been able to open the door.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorials

We did the touristy thing, on a bus no less, and went to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial.

After a week on the bikes, we gave our butts a break and did an all day tour on a bus with a chuckwagon dinner to finish if off. After Mt. Rushmore was built, the Lakota (aka Souix) asked one of the sculptors working on Mt. Rushmore to commemorate the original owners of the land. This is not a public project, is completely family run based on tourist traffic. We figure with the 3 million visitors per year at $10/head the family is doing ok, but the project sure won,t be done in our lifetime. You will see a picture of the proposed final (with the actual behind it), and then the current (which was started in the 1940's !!!). That said, the head is spectacular and the whole thing when completed will drawf Mt. Rushmore.

Sturgis Bike Rally

Sturgis is celebrating its 68th annual rally and we are here only for the week before the actual rally, which is OK, because we have heard that it might be too wild for us, as rumour has it you can see 80 year olds in scanty clothing....ewwww. That said, Bev is enjoying her wine and Dave found the women somewhat plastic.

Badlands

Today we had another day on the I90 superslab with interesting breaks to visit the Lakota First Nation Museum in Chamberlain then a scenic route through the Badlands National Park. With thunderstorms still threate.ning and the temperature pushing 40 degrees we wimped out and stayed in a motel in Wall home of the famous tourist trap "Wall Drug".

Super Slabbing

We got up bright and early and continued west to join the I90 (on the straight and wide, no curves, lots of speed). With the Harley, Bev was comfy cruising between 120 and 130km/hr (the speed limit was 75 mph...just like the old days). We were making great time until a hail storm with lots of wind and lightning. We're ok with rain, but the hail flung us off for a couple of hours. Bev had to put her neopreme ski-mask on due to her open face helmet. She said it worked well with the hail, but she couldn't see too much of Dave in the wind and heavy rain. In all we covered over 500 km and spent the night in a motel in Mitchell, South Dakota. We could even do our laundry on the premises, book a campground for Rapid City (given the number of bikes on the road, Sturgis has already begun.) We will be at Rapid City/Sturgis for 3 days and may not get to post while there. Bev is lamenting the fact that she doesn't have a leather g-string.

Crossing the Mississippi

We left Fond du Lac driving on newly constructed roads that were not in the GPS, so the GPS got lost....NOT US, it was the GPS. After numerous "recalculating" attempts, it turned itself off in frustration.

We went south on 151 to Madison and then on route 60, followed the Wisconsin River round numerous bends to the Mississippi.

We then went north along the Mississippi on route 35, stopping for lunch at one of the locks where we saw a loooonnggg barge pass through, long enough to have had to be split in two parts to get through. We crossed the Miss. River at Lansing where Bev felt the need to lift some weights (see photo below).

We continued north on the Iowa/Minnesota side of the river to route 16 and then headed west.The south east corner of Minnesota is very hilly and has great twisty roads. After a long day we stopped to camp at a municipal park in Lanesboro within walking distance of the local saloon.........yeah, it was hot and the beer was cold.

USS Cobia Submarine

After docking in Manitowoc, we visited the Wisconsin Maritime Museum which provided an excellent history of marine activity on the Great Lakes. This included the museum highlight, the USS Cobia, a WWII submarine. We had an excellent guided tour of the ship and one of the original crew members, in his 90's, provided a true historical perspective.

We then took 151 southwest to Fond du Lac, where it threatened rain and we took refuge in a motel.....unlike campgrounds, Microtel has great internet connections.

SS Badger

SS Badger (from Ludington Michigan to Manitowoc Wisconsin)
Today we had an event filled crossing on Lake Michigan via the SS Badger (the only remaining coal fired ferry on the Great Lakes). To start the day off we got up early (5:30 am) to give ourselves lots of time. The tickets said we had to be on the dock at 7:00 am or we would loose our reservation. What with packing the bikes, longer than expected travel time, and hitting every red light in Ludington we arrived at the dock at 7:40. Fortunately they had not given our reservation away to one of the waiting stand-bys and we managed to get on.
Other ferries like the one at Tobermory and the Cat from Bar Harbour have separate drive-on drive-off bike lanes, but not the Bagger. We parked the bikes at the back, right up against the hull in a small space at right angles to the car lanes. This bike area was raised up on a steel grating. You had to gun the bikes to get up on the grating and then hit the breaks because if you went too far the front wheel would fall down into a gap between the grating and the hull. Once parked, we went looking for tie downs. Unlike most other ferries, the Badger does not supply them. Fortunately Dave was able to dash off just as the departure whistle was sounding and purchase tie downs from the ticket office on shore. He has to get his exercise some way.
With the bikes secured, we enjoyed the four hour crossing of the lake. The Bagger has lots of on-board activities for both adults and children.
The real adventure began when it was time to get the bikes off the boat. The guy to Dave’s right managed to go forward instead of backwards and put his front wheel into the hole between the grate and the hull. Dave helped him pull the bike out. Unfortunately his front fender got scratched. The guy two bikes to the left managed to have his Gold Wing tip over. Fortunately it didn’t go all the way over thanks to his friend’s Harley- yes it fell against the Harley. Bev said it was just another example of a Harley and its rider supporting a floundering Honda. Dave and four other guys managed to get the big Honda up. Fortunately we experienced (aka lucky) ferry riders got off without incident.

Mackinac To Ludington

Our route, not so direct, from Macinac to Ludington was a great motorcycle route. We went south on route 31 through Petroskey and Charlevoix to Traverse City. We then went north on the very twisty route 22 around the peninsula stopping at Northport for the above photo and then down to Ludington to catch the SS Bager ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin. The road down the east side of Lake Michigan is much more scenic than the road down the west side of Lake Huron

Mackinac Island

After crossing into the States at Ste.St.Marie, we crossed the Big Mac Bridge, 5 miles long and the 10th longest bridge in the world linking Michigan's 2 penisulas, across the Straits of Mackinaw. Mackinaw Island was the centre of the US fur trade and it moved $35M in 1820 alone, and it made John Jacob Aster a very rich man with his centralized management and strategic mergers. We travelled over by jetboat, leaving a huge plume behind us. We visited Fort Mackinac, site of the first War of 1812 battle, it has the original British built 1780 buildings.

31st Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary on July 23rd at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island (at the top of Lake Michigan) We took a jetboat over (so all day I had hair by JetSki). The Hotel was built in 1887 as one of the most fashionable great lakes summer resorts. The island banned "horseless" carriages in 1901, so it maintains its historic victorian flavour (see below for note on garbage). The movie Somewhere in Time was made there, with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. We met the Ree's there at the next table, they were celebrating exactly the same occasion, same number of years, same day of marriage.....very weird. The Grand Hotel is huge and has the longest covered balcony in the States. We had a spectacular buffet lunch in the Grand Dining Room, very opulent indeed.

Waste Management Opportunity

Here is a photo of waste collection in Northern Michigan. They also have a similar vehicle collecting cardboard. Given this system perhaps we should help them modernize.

Bikes on Ferry

Here we have Dave working really hard tying the bikes down on the ferry from Tobermory to Manatoulin Island.....and you can see we are at the front of the ferry with the other vehicles waiting behind. Let's hope they get that door closed before the waves start !!

Tobermory, Ontario

Just when when you think you have all the toys, someone cooler appears.....do ya think he has room for a hair dryer????

Day one was easy, only about 300 km to Tobermory. It only rained a couple of times, but we got wet from the perspiration from inside a rainsuit on a hot day! Having arrived safely we relaxed with a beer in a local fish shop. We have to get up at 5 am to catch the ferry at 7 am. Tobermory is quite dead compared to last year, and so we have to believe their is a recession going on.

Ready to Leave

We're off..........or almost, just waiting to see if we need raincoats. Yes, we managed to get everything on the bikes, but Bev had to jetison her hairdryer (the hair straightener didn't suffer the same fate)!

Drugs

One thing about travelling when you're older is that you have to pack lots of drugs. Back in the 60s when we had our first bikes, rumour has it that on occasion we also packed drugs. The differences between then and now are that the drugs then were a lot more fun and took up far less space! On the other hand, with what we are carrying now we don't need to worry about being stopped by the law or worry about crossing the border.

technology support

OK, here's the response to those latest questions......yes, we ARE travelling with a laptop (which comes with a sponge carrying case) and a digital camera, a cell, a waterproof GPS AND a whole whack of chargers for this and that. I think we may need an extra 5 feet for coming to a complete stop with all this extra weight!