Sprinkling when I got up early.  I was optimistic.  The Weather Bug app showed no big rain and sunny later.  I did not put on the rain gear.  I was ready.  830 out.  Stopped at a local coffee shop downtown and I didn’t realize it but killed an hour there.  Made a few calls.  Sipped my coffee like I was at a French bistro.  Got on the road.  Keep doing this and it will be 7p before I found a hotel.

Cloudy for the first 75-100 miles or so.  But no rain. 50’s – 60’s.  By the time I got to Duluth, it was sunny.  I stopped to refuel right before getting into Duluth.  Crossed over the river to Superior, WI.  Big lake freighter shipping port.  Far western end of Lake Superior.  Traffic was light.  I stayed at or below the speed limit.  Fairly easy ride today.  I was in no hurry.  US 2 skirts the southern shore of the lake for quite a while.

By noonish, I was in Ashland, WI.  Stopped at a town park for a bit, right on the lake.  I could of killed another hour or two.  Outside of town, the highway veers a bit southeast, away from the lake.  I could of followed another route that takes you north to the Michigan Lake Superior communities but I wanted to hit Lake Michigan’s northern shore on Thursday.  Decisions, decisions.  Traffic was even lighter.  Very few trucks.  Perfect riding.  While it was an easy planned route, it still was over 300 miles.

After 70-80 miles, refueled in Ironwood, MI.  Western edge of MI’s Upper Peninsula. Back in home territory. Still over 600 miles to home.  Entered the Ottawa National Forest.  At least 80 miles of forest.  No homes.  No power lines. No commerce.  Beautiful.  Hilly.  Great road.  65mph the whole way.  I stayed about 60.  Forest service roads every so often.  One laners.  We have taken some of those on past trips.  You are by yourself.  Get tired again.  Caught myself almost falling asleep.  Pulling over just to stand up for a few minutes.  Absolutely perfect day.  50’s-60’s, sunny, light wind.

US 2 farther on follows the Michigan / northern Wisconsin state line for a bit.  So I passed in and out a few times.  Went through some great little resort towns.  Lake country.  Literally dozens and dozens of lakes.  Outdoors man’s paradise.  ATV’s, Hunting, fishing, canoe and kayaking trips.  Small lakes for the family.  Cottages.  Swimming.  You get the idea.  In Michigan you 12-15 weekends a year in the summer to enjoy.  Then it’s snowmobiling.  🙂

Pulled into Iron Mountain, MI.  Back in the day, mining for iron ore and copper was huge.  The mines are spent, or at least not as economical as some of the more modern sites.  Neat little town.  Now it caters to recreation.  It’s a beautiful area.  Right in town they have a Bat viewing area.  At dusk every day, the bats come out of the old mine shafts by the thousands.  Today, I think I will pass.  Perhaps the next trip.

I found a little gem of a mom and pop motel.  $40.  How can you make money renting rooms for $40.  Almost full.  Nicest owners.  Pride of ownership.  Couldn’t be happier.  Great WiFi. So once again,  after a shower, unloading etc., I went downtown, found a decent bottle of scotch, a bag of caramel corn to snack on and I’m watching the world go by on US Rte 2.  Logging trucks going by literally every minute.  Now that its getting dark, not so much.  Traffic is thinning considerably.  It’s dusk.  I am getting tired.  I’ll let the bats take the stage.

Tomorrow will be easy.  I’m too embarrassed to tell you how easy.  It’s providing me some time to check into a couple of things while I am up here.  I have a few stops I wish to make.  If they pan out, you’ll hear about them…

Right now, I am not worried about details.  They have a tendency to work themselves out.

Life is good.