7.27.2009
Across the border it was and petrol at $2.39 a gallon, National Public Radio (NPR) was a welcome sight and sound. The first part of the Lake Superior Circle Route was following Minnesota Route 61 south along the lake, fog was in but finally cleared toward mid-day. Once arriving at Duluth, you hook a left and head into Wisconsin on Route 2 and basically just follow the coastline.
The first night stay in Wisconsin introduced me to the black fly. Makes the mosquito look tame in comparison to volume of blood drawned. The mossies were in strength though and how they manage to make their way inside the goatmobile is beyond me. The underside of the roof to the vehicle is looking like someone hit it with a paint gun with the number of mossies that I have splattered with the book of choice.
Of course there where a couple of major screw-up’s on my part thinking or miss reading the map that just had to be a bridge to cross over to facilitate continuing along the coast line. I just don’t believe the National Park Service would appreciate me driving my vehicle over their pedestrian swing bridge to access the road on the other side. So back it is and did I mentioned that this whole region has had the coldest summer in the past 5 years, major drought and the summer has just begin.
Michigan it is again following the coast as best as I can. And the further north I go into the Keweenaw Peninsula the more the area is economically depressed. The homes remind me of the poor section of town where I grew up at. Run down, abandon, trash everywhere and of course the local pub is doing a booming business. But what is amazing is that not every town is like that. You will go through 2-3 that are really depressed and the next one you could eat off the street.
The Keweenaw Peninsula is a must. Of all of the roads travel this year, following Route 26 to Eagle River then around to Copper Harbor has to be one of the most scenic that I’ve been on. Then over to Bete Grise Bay where if there is another person on the beach its busy. Follow the coastline from Point Isabelle to Gay; rest stops to the max to enjoy the beauty of Lake Superior. This loop around the top of the peninsula is a motorcyclist dream ride.
Back down off the peninsula and head east for the US Fish and Wildlife Refuge at Seney. The night stay was along a power line road that offered up the best selection of mossies.
Next day its northeast again to the coastline and finally topping it off with a stop at the Whitefish Lighthouse where everyone else thought to go for a Sunday ride. Back down to Paradise then left along the shoreline where curtsey of the US Government a night stay at one of the rest stops with a “No Camping” sign was most proudly displayed.
Early morn had us heading for Sault Ste Marie and back into Canada again. A quick stop at the visitor’s center and was told that the local library had WI-FI outside as a default. This of course gave me the opportunity to forward the latest newsy travel log along with the Facebook pics. And right next door was the local artsy museum which had a coffee shop and oatmeal fat pills for the taking.
Back on Route 17 north until just south of Wawa where subject bridge had access road underneath. You could not have asked for a better spot, the vehicle got washed along with El-bike. The first wash since May. I am beginning to have doubts if the bicycle is going to make it until October time frame with the crap that gets thrown on it and the slow erosion of the Schwin name. The bike was manufactured in China, painted in Burma, shipped out of Haiti and the bike’s manual is in Hebrew, how you figure?
Thinking that the outback of Ontario moving east would offer some excitement, wrong, try a paved road with trees on both sides for hundreds of kilometers. That’s it, I headed south to Niagara Falls via Toronto. Wrong move on my part of even thinking that circumventing Toronto would be easy. Think traffic, Sydney, Auckland, LA at rush hour and you have it along with road construction and rain. By 1700hrs I found the first hotel/motel and that was it for the fun part of the day.
Next morning it was across the border and heading for the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (NWF), the GPS brought me close enough that I was able to find sign of same. From Iroquois to Montezuma NWF was just another 2 hours traveling east. One thing that you pickup right quickly is this is not Canada where you can just pull over to the side of the road and camp out. Try doing this in these small towns and believe me you will have a visit from the local gendarme.
So it was into a RV park along the shore of Lake Ontario for the night. St Lawrence NWF was the next refuge of choice as it was in my travel itinerary compass bearing (what a terrible use of words). Traveling west to east through New York State we stay on the county roads which is a lot more enjoyable then the interstate. Farms, small towns, narrow roads, people willing to talk about taxes, politics and global warming. I’ve convinced everyone that the North Koreans are behind global warming…………..
Crossing Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, there are no interstates east to west; every road is a county road. But then again the northern portions of each state is either farming or lumber and the population is just not there to justify the cost of a major road. Each state has a major road or more running perpendicular, must be the draw of Santa during Christmas.
My comments concerning the lumber industry in British Columbia as failing is a micro-crosim of the same problems facing northern Maine.
Norm
The Greynomad
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