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With my hunger and thirst quenched, I rolled out of Ironwood towards Marquette, MI. Not far from Ironwood lies the town of Bessemer. As I rode into town I was amazed at how this little town had seemed to have changed. The houses once looking so run down now seemed full of life again. Well kept with groomed yards, it seemed like a different town then the one I been through not all that long ago. I couldn’t help but wonder what had changed for this little town. I suspect the boom in snowmobile tourism may have helped. In Wakefield I caught Highway M-28. I could have taken Highway US-2 south along Lake Michigan, but chose M-28 because it took me past my sisters place outside of Munising where I was staying the night. From there my brother-in-law would team up with me to complete the ride to Drummond Island. As I rode past the sign indicating the Porcupine Mountains, I found myself wishing I had more time. Presque Isle State Park is by far my favorite state park in Upper Michigan and I wouldn't have minded seeing the place again. Nature, fantastic waterfalls and beautiful sunsets, its someplace every biker should visit at least once. No time now though and it was on to Marquette, Michigan. As I wound my way around Marquette the traffic picked up. The road changes to multiple lanes near Marquette indicating you are near the largest city in the U.P. I had spent a year at Northern Michigan University before joining the Navy. Marquette has just about everything you'd want including the only Harley Dealer in the U.P. I can also tell you it gets very cold and one lot of snow come winter. The sign up ahead said road construction, but I didn’t see anyone working as I sped by. Highway M-28 bypasses downtown Marquette so it didn’t take long before I was out of traffic. After riding Upper Michigan's lonesome highways, you get kind of use to being the only person on the road so I was glad to leave the traffic behind. Just south of the town of Harvey, Highway M-28 turns east and follows the Lake Superior shoreline. It's here, you finally get a great view of the "Big Lake". As I rode along, I could see all sorts of people enjoying sunny walks and riding their bicycles along the lakeshore. The sun was warming up the day now and I could smell the sweet scent of a Lake Superior wind blowing in off the lake. This stretch of M-28 from Marquette to Munising provides some great views of Lake Superior, topped off with a fantastic view as you roll into Munising, Michigan. As I turned into my sisters, I could feel my muscles finally starting to relax. It was time to drop a kickstand, find a comfortable lawn chair and drink down a much anticipated cold beer. After a good meal and some relaxing conversation I crawled into bed. Sleep found me quick, but so did morning. With the sound of two motorcycles revving up in the morning air, I waved to my sister, and we headed out. My brother-in-law took the lead as we headed through the town of Munising. As always the ride along Lake Superior into Munising is spectacular. This morning was no different. The view looking out over Munising Bay at Grand Island is one I'll never gets tired of seeing. There are people who come to Munising and never leave because of that view. Before leaving town, we pulled into a gas station to top off the tanks. From here on there would be long stretches of road without any gas stations so we made sure we had full tanks. At one point, my brother in law pulled over to tell me we were riding the Seney Stretch. It's 25 miles of laser-straight road over what is was once known as the Great Manistique Swamp. The stretch of road connects the towns of Shingleton and Seney. It's known as the “states most boring section of road", but riding it the first time I found it all kind of interesting. It was about an hour later when we reached the intersection with Hwy 123 and we turned south. This caught me off guard because I thought we would go straight to Hwy 129 and then go south. Knowing my brother-in-law rides the U.P. roads a whole lot more than I do, I figured there must be a reason. Not long after that, we took a left on Hwy H40 in the town of Trout Creek. I would have never considered riding this road. but it wasn’t long before I was glad we had taken it. Soon we were enjoying some sweeping curves and even a slight hill or two. It was fun to crank it up a notch and enjoy the ride. As we pulled into Rudyard, I found myself sorry to leave Hwy H-40 behind. My brother-in-law's Yamaha Virago has a small gas tank so it wasn't long and we were back in a gas station filling up once more. From there we headed south on Hwy 48 towards Pickford. Once we reached Pickford, rather than heading south, he surprised me again by taking East Gogomain Road straight to the Lake Huron. I love riding roads that take you places like this. Often not the best roads, but it's what you find at trails end that make the ride worth it. I was sure very few bikers ever took in this view. After a quick stop to look at Lake Huron, we turned south to Hwy 134. I was really enjoying the views of the lake and some nice little hills which added a little fun to the ride when we came down a slight hill to Hwy 134. Suddenly, the temperature must of dropped 20 degrees. At first instant it I thought it was just a chilly wind, but it quickly turned to icy chill. By time we reached the stop sign I was freezing. After we turned east towards De Tour Village I was about to flash my headlights and pull over when my brother-in-law pulled off into a roadside park. It had only been about five minutes since the temperature dropped, but I was never so glad to get off my bike and find some warm sunshine. I've have never experienced a summer temperature change like that. After a drink of water and some stretching in some lakeshore sun I finally started to warm up. It took a good fifteen minutes or so for the heat to sink in enough for my muscles to relax.
Finally with full leathers and warm gloves; we continued the ride to De Tour Village. As we rode into De Tour Village it reminded me of Grand Marais. Another Upper Michigan coastal town with a lot of interesting history and at least one great place for one to relax over a cold beer. I would have liked to spend some more time checking out the town, but by now we were on a mission. However, when I get some time I'll go back and spend some time there. We turned right at the sign indicating Ferry Crossing and pulled up behind a line of vehicles waiting to get on the ferry. Page 2 of 4
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Motorcycle Service U.P. State Parks - there are at least 19 good reasons to buy a park sticker.
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