Far, Far North

Upwards to the Upper Pennisula of Michigan we went and  covered lots of miles in this day of riding.  I'm not sure how far it is from St. Ignace to Munising but we managed to get an early start as this was only our first stop of the day.  Now we could add another Great Lake to our trip.  The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore of Lake Superior is a big draw for this area.  Of course in the winter, many folks come up North to snowmobile.  Unfortunately, we got here before the morning fog had a chance to burn off and decided not to try to take one of the boat tours to view the rocky coast up close.  This rock formation is called Miner's Castle. 

We did hike down to get a better view.  That felt pretty good, after a long morning on a motorcycle.  The temperatures were pretty nice too but we noticed that the mosquitoes were hungry here!  I don't have many photos for the rest of this day of travel but we continued on to Marquette, Michigan where we took a little shopping break at Bald Eagle Harley Davidson.  (A couple days later, I realized I left my credit card there.  But the nice young lady who waited on us calmed my nerves when I called and it was waiting for me in the mail when we returned home. Thank you!)  I am often asked if I ever fall asleep on the back of the bike.  The answer has always been no because even though I'm wedged into my "saddle" pretty good, I've still got a fear that if I did doze off, I'd scare the driver with the sudden shift in weight and he'd lose control!  Sometimes it is quite an effort to stay awake and with smooth roads, pleasant temperatures and the XM radio set on our favorite station, this afternoon of riding was a challenge.  Luckily, D never has this problem!  Our stop for the night was Houghton, Michigan.    The next morning before we headed up the Keweenaw Peninsula, we stopped at a local restaurant for breakfast.  The Suomi Restaurant and Bakery is known for their Finnish influenced menu.  I tried the pannukakkua, which is baked pancake that is actually more like custard (served with fresh raspberry syrup) and the nisu bread (kind of like cinnamon bread but with cardamon instead).  Very yummy! 

We left our trailer at the hotel so we could take one of the scenic, though rustic drives.  The Keweenaw Peninsula is as far north as you can go in Michigan.  It's amazing how much later it stayed light here.  In Houghton we were still wearing sunglasses at 9:45 pm.  This area was once full of thriving copper mining communities.  Now it is camping, fishing and sightseeing in the far north woods that bring the people here.

The farthest North that we've had the bike was the little town of Copper Harbor, Michigan.  It's also the beginning of US 41, which runs all the way to Miami, Florida. Now that would be trip to challenge us!

One of the many lighthouses that we saw along the way. 

Sorry, it is taking me so long to get this trip posted.  I hope to finish up soon.  Then back to blogging about something crafty !  Thanks for riding along again!