When I was sneaking thru Cadillac there was the biggest blood moon over the lake. The return on M-55 was pretty uneventful but the wind did kick up.

I finished M-22 and attempted to head home on M-55 and wouldn't you know it, the bridge was being worked on and they detoured me south so far I think I could see the lights from Grand Rapids.

Years ago Good Morning America said this was the most beautiful place in the U.S. Good call.

Could have saved some time by not going to Northport, founded in 1842, but I rode the entire route not part of it. With all the coverage M-22 gets you want to experience it. Here is a shot of nice little pub called The Garage. they do a good fish dinner and there is a bookstore just down the street. The only place I ever spotted a State Police car laying in wait was on M-22. When I departed Northport it started to rain lightly. Nice road with lots of curves and some packed restaurants.

This is the place where my riding coach, Al Bonney, attends Rotary meetings.

Here I am at the Elk Rapids Rotary Park hours ahead of when I arrived last year. Last year the club members helped me jump start my bike and sent me home. This year I headed towards Traverse City.

Here is the Marina in downtown Charlevoix. Ran into another long detour after this. Good thing we called this Long Day Around because it was turning into a long day around.

I think this was called Sunset Park in Petoskey. Looking over Little Traverse Bay.

Small winery and farm on M-119.

One of the few places to get off the road.

Several overlooks with colors.

Lots of this. It does not show very well but this is a downhill blind righthand hairpin curve. When you get to the bottom you have to be mindful that someone may be taking a tight line in the other direction, in a motorhome.

Lots of curves. Road is only 20 feet wide with no centerline. Big fun for motorcycle riders.

Cross Village is home to Legs Inn, a seasonal restaurant that closes during the hard months of winter. They have one of the most scenic roads in America to their south M-119.

Along the back way to Cross Village you go by Wilderness State Park. We are now looking at Lake Michigan for the first time.

It is about 12:30 and I am 230 miles into the trip with about 350 miles to go. It would have been a good idea to check into a cozy bungalow, like the Grand Hotel, and resume the next day. I headed towards Cross Village, the back way.

Mackinac Bridge. Many said it was impossible to build, others built it. Did not ride across the bridge but it is pretty exciting on a motorcycle, My friend Terry ran out of gas on the bridge on his motorcycle and I think the bridge authority bailed him out. The wind can be really attention getting. One of the first things you notice is that the railing is only waist high when sitting on a motorcycle. I have been moved from the center lane to the outside lane by the wind. The center lane in the middle is metal grating that allows the wind to blow through so the deck of the bridge does not act as a sail and twist in the wind. The grating is of interest to motorcyclists because it has a strange effect on the pattern of motorcycle tires. It causes your bike to weave lazily back and forth. So if the height over the water doesn't bother you then the wind while you weave back and forth will. No wonder people run out of gas when there is so much other stuff to worry about. One old trick is to shadow a large vehicle on the downwind side. Don't pick a garbage truck or someone hauling porta johns unless you have to.

In Cheboygan I got rained on pretty good. Headed to Mackinaw City. Mackinac Island - A little history - was the second National Park in the United States but was transferred to the State of Michigan after a short period of time.

I headed for Rogers City that has one of the more interesting bicycle shops I have been in. It also has a big pit. It is home to the worlds largest limestone quarry. Here are some of the colors just past Rogers City.

One of the things said about Alpena is "its hard to get there and they want to keep it that way". Alpena thinks it has the best of everything without gobs of tourist mucking things up. Archeologist say there was once a land bridge from Alpena to Canada. This is a shot of the Alpena Marina.

This is the 45th Parallel that I will eventually cross four times during the day.

This is part of the shoreline in Oscoda on Lake Huron. They are known as the Sunrise Side. The temperature had skyrocketed to 34 Fahrenheit. There is something to when the sun comes up that seems to raise the temperature above and pack the cold air down. Or it seems that way. Headed north towards Alpena. Need to start making some time as that this photo taking seems to be slowing me down.

This is the Five Channels Hydro Electric Dam. It is the second of six dams that are portaged by the paddlers in the Au Sable River International Canoe Marathon. They paddle for 14 to 17 hours thru the night and only stretch their legs running down steep inclines as shown on the left side of the photo.

Glennie is home to the Chat and Chew Restaurant. This photo was taken just as I was leaving town. About 100 yards further down this road is where I lost my battery last year because the stator failed. I coasted into the next driveway which happened to be a long time volunteer with the Au Sable Canoe Marathon, Chris Loveless. My wife Marcia brought me another battery and we made it work for the next few hundred miles but had to give it up in Elk Rapids.

After McKinley you turn towards Glennie and one of the best overlooks is just before you reach 4001 Road. It is a short gravel drive back to the site.

This is the Davis Rest Stop on McKinley Road just east of Mio by about 5 miles. Your riding along the river and you get plenty of views like this.

First I would like to say how much I appreciate the help of Annette Hritz, Grayling Rotary Club Treasurer for providing updates during the day and my wife Marcia for waving the green flag for another try at doing this. Also credit to my riding coach Al Bonney for his timely guidance.


October 24th, World Polio Day, started out at the Grayling Restaurant with the temperature hovering around 32 degrees Fahrenheit. While this may sound bad the overall weather forecast was better than last year where we experienced a slushy snow burst at the straights.




I am not as unhappy as I look here. When I am riding I have a heated jacket and heated grips. When I stop all the heat goes away and you are instantly cold. I departed at 7:00 AM and headed to Mio and then up McKinley Road toward Oscoda and Lake Huron. McKinley Road is fun with lots of curves and overlooks of the Au Sable River.

On Sunday, World Polio Day, you can see my progress on riding the tip of the mitt at https://share.garmin.com/wckoppa. We will attempt to provide you with photos from along the route in a timely manner with the assistance of Annette Hritz, Grayling Rotary Treasurer. Linking a couple web sources together and providing photo updates is very much like designing an airplane in flight and turbulence can be expected. Hang On. Please consider a donation.