Sunday, July 30, 2006

Up North / Northern Michigan

Up North …..

Hi everyone, I know it’s been a while since my last post but I’ve been out riding and playing with my other toy a new Digital SLR – Nikon D200. I just returned from a two day trip to northern Michigan to complete the last leg of our club’s “Seeing Michigan” contest. I visited Bay Mills, Cross Village and Northport. It was a great ride and the weather was quite hot. So hot in fact, the dreaded black fly’s were no where to be found.
Life’s Good!!

After riding across the Mighty Mac (Mackinac Bridge) into St. Ignace, I made a quick stop to gas up and head to Bay Mills and the Indian run casino. After having lunch and
making a small donation to the casino, I headed west along the lake shore to Paradise.
Let me tell you it was more like Hell, than Paradise. It was in the low 90’s and very humid, it was the hottest day they have had all summer. I traveled west another 10 miles and visited Tahquamenon Falls. After trekking the trails to the Upper / Lower Falls and the 200+ steps down and up, I realized how out of shape I’ve become. I need to get back in the gym. After leaving the falls, I headed back to St. Ignace for a meal of Whitefish and to sleep for the night. I loaded up the next morning and had an early start to Cross Village. After going through the small town I headed south down M-119 known as the Tunnel of Trees, it’s a twisting tree canopied road that has several overlooks of Lake Michigan. It was overcast and a little cloudy so I didn’t get the full effect of the trees during a bright sunny day. Needless to say, it’s still a great ride. I saw plenty of Deer, Rabbits and a flock of Wild Turkey’s. I stopped in Harbor Spring’s at the marina and checked out the boats. There was a Regatta and the harbor was full of sailboats. Many of which had done the Port Huron to Mackinac race a few weekends ago. After taking some pictures and having breakfast, I followed M-119 into Petoskey and US 31 south through
Charlevoix and into Traverse City. I took a short break and then rode through Suttons Bay and finally into Northport. The clouds started to roll in, so I gassed up and headed for home. Here are a few photo’s from the trip.

Take Care, and Stay Safe!