Mitch and I struck out from Clinton, IA, together riding towards the next big thing… the Michigan Picnic. That would make three weekends in a row for us to attend a Valk function, and, frankly, that was more events than I’d ever attended so close together. So far so good, though, so carry on! I don’t know if it’s possible to overdose on such things, but we were going to test that premise, it seemed…
We weren’t sure of our route, exactly, but we agreed we’d much prefer to ride around the Lakes and over the ‘Big Mac’ than anywhere near Chicago, so… we pointed our rides northward and towards the UP again. We had a whole week to get there, so there would be plenty of time. Ummmm, how about we ride alongside the Mississippi River, then maybe head up to Copper Harbor…? Sounded like as good a plan as any, so we were off!
Not so fast indeed! Yep, we’d been keeping a sharp weather eye out for sure, but… rain still managed to find us…
Mitch spotted a Holiday Inn Express just as the big cold drops began, so in we pulled… They had a covered portico where we could hole-up and regroup… We could stay there if it looked really bad, or we could just wait awhile if it might clear. It appeared it would clear, so we decided to just pause for a while…
It finally did let up, so we scooted on… We passed TP & Nancy at a gas station, so we did a U-turn and went back to chat with them. That really worked out well for us, too! We checked the weather while stopped, and Mitch & I unanimously agreed to hold up again for a while, as some mighty serious looking stuff was bearing down on us. TP & Nancy, on the other hand, chose to soldier on… Personally, I think we made the better call…
We rode through a bunch of small villages… and I’m pretty sure agriculture is the main occupation around those parts… I wondered if the driver of that vehicle might have stopped for an ‘adjustment’ or just some coffee and conversation…
We spent one night right next door to a casino. There was also a railroad spur connecting to the mainline there, too, and Mitch did notice the continual comings and goings... all evening long! He also noticed the line crossed the highway close by, so... yep, they had horns on those engines as loud as the one on Skinhead's Valk!
At the casino they served a buffet meal, and it turned out to be really tasty! I normally just fill one plate, but this time I went back for seconds… That bacon, shrimp, and baked beans combo just wouldn’t fit on the plate with the first load without stacking it on top of mashed potatoes and pot roast plus some other veggies and stuff, so… Dang, that was great, too!
Ride along the Mississippi River… on the Iowa side.
Another motel we stayed in had a lounge with fireplaces outside on their quite spacious patio…
That place also had a bartender who had trailered her Harley to Sturgis… she assured us she did ride it once there, however. She also must have known our Lucky 13 (Gordon Brooks), and it appears she thinks quite fondly of him…
Mitch led the entire week we traveled together. He had some sort of arrangement he'd concocted with his smartphone and a small portable power pack hook-up, that enabled him, with much filtering and such, to find some really fantastic back roads to explore. Once he came to a turn off his contraption had led us to, and he did a U-turn. The road was unpaved… he smiled as he rode back by me and shouted, “Hubcap road!” Yeah, Mike would have loved that one for sure…
The next day he came to another unpaved road, but this time instead of turning around, he just rode on, disappearing into a cloud of dust! Double dang! Against my better judgement, I followed… Not bad for the first few miles, but then we hit a ‘washboard’ stretch and I seriously considered severing our relationship and turning back. Things improved modestly… but only for a short time before another washboard stretch!
In time my leader stopped and allowed me to pull alongside… "Only eight more miles," he encouragingly advised me… smiling like Huck Finn all the time. Man, OK, let’s get this over with! He doesn’t mind that very much, and Hubcap Mike just may actually enjoy that sort of personal abuse, but… this tenderfoot can live just fine without any more of that ‘great riding adventure’! Pavement is my friend…
The following day, he yet again came to such a road, but this time he pulled onto it and stopped… I pulled alongside and earnestly inquired, “You’ve got to be $hitting me?!!!” He smiled, executed a rather graceful U-turn, and that was the last time that came up… a circumstance I for one am quite happy to report!!
Well, I’m giving serious thought to… nah, it just wouldn’t be the same for me. Sure, it would be far more efficient and it would definitely lead us to some great roads we’d otherwise probably miss, but… I’ve had a lot of adventure due to missed turns, wrong turns, and U-turns… Perhaps later… one of these days maybe, but not now, I don’t think.
DDT
