chrisflock
FJR nose gunner
Sometimes things don’t go as planned. Yet, sometimes what happens instead is wonderful. I had been planning to take this trip for some time. I have been on several weekend trips over the last few years, but had been hoping to take a real ‘vacation’ for quite some time. At first, we hoped to make a trip to Yellowstone, but as the year progressed, it became apparent I wasn’t going to have that much time off. A variety of options were discussed, and it was down between a trip to the UP of Michigan and Arkansas. Then, shortly before the trip, one of the fork seals on my FJR started leaking considerably. I talked to a local dealer to see if it would be covered under warranty, and quickly found out that they wouldn’t even be able to get the parts in time for my trip, let alone fix it.
That meant I was going to be taking the CBR, a bike that I bought only weeks ago, a bike that I had logged a couple hundred miles on, a bike that had under a thousand miles on it in total. I didn’t even hesitate; this development meant we were going to Michigan. I planned out a route that would put us at right around 300 miles a day and picked up another set of saddlebags. The fact that I wasn’t going to have the storage capacity of the FJR (the room for my big Motofizz seat bag most of all) meant that we’d have to be staying in hotels this trip. And this is where things would get interesting. Like my previous trips this year, the chances of finding a restaurant that I could eat at were somewhere around 0, and being unsure of what would be available at local grocers meant that I would have to pack food and means to cook it. I’m more used to camping than to staying in hotels, so I was a little unsure of just what sort of cooking I could get away with, but a pair of electric hot plates and my camping mess kit were packed. 5 days worth of lunch, 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts, clothes, and of course riding gear to suit the varied weather conditions added up quickly.
Here's the F4i in its usual 'commuting/joy ride' mode:
And here it is pressed into duty as a tourer, alongside NinjaChick's 650r.
It was far from early in the morning on Saturday (as I didn't have the time to pack everything after work on Friday) when we left La Crosse. We didn't stop to see any sights on the way to Iron Mountain, but when I saw this guy, I just had to take a picture.
Although we had to stop way more often than I would have on the FJR, we finally made it to Iron Mountain, and made some dinner.
Cthulu took a look at the area attractions while we ate:
We hit the first waterfall the next morning. It was right off the highway.
We found an amazing waterfall to stop at for lunch.
This waterfall was on a gravel road, in a little county park. The river was basically flowing right over the bedrock, there wasn't any sediment at all, and although it was flowing quite rapidly, it was shallow enough that you could walk right out and walk through the falls.
It wasn't too much further that we stopped at a beach on the shore of Lake Michigan.
There were pull off spots like this every little ways along the shore, seemingly where there was a nice looking bit of beach.
Cthulu enjoying the beach. For some reason, he didn't seem to want to go in the water...
Ninjachick wading into the lake...
A seagull. I think Cthulu wanted to eat it.
We hadn't put our swimsuits on, and we still wanted to get to St Ignace in time to make dinner, so headed off. More to come!
Hwy 2 to St Ignace was quite scenic. We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks.
There were seagulls.
From the next overlook, we could see the Mackinac bridge. It is a really big bridge, I guess.
Cthulu liked the scenic overlooks, but he had some trouble with the telescope.
Cthulu liked the 'do not disturb' sign at the hotel in St Ignace.
And then it was time for supper.
The next morning, we headed to Tahquamenon Falls. It was foggy and pretty cold, so there weren't any pictures to be had on the way. I didn't even realize that we driving along Lake Superior for part of the trip! We stopped for fuel in Paradise, and before long we got the state park.
There were several little chipmunks running around. One of them was running along with a cheeto, but it was too quick for a picture.
This was the lower falls. We didn't have time to take a rowboat out to the little island between the two 'halves' of the lower falls.
The water must have been high, there was a large pool along the side of the lower falls.
Ninjachick here. There's a guy in the background on the island who walked right out to the end of that fallen log.
The upper falls was quite a bit more impressive than the lower falls.
Cthulu considers switching bikes as we head to the beach.
It was raining throughout the day, so when we got back to the hotel, we hit the indoor pool. All to soon, it was the next morning and time to start back. We had been planning on heading to Iron Mountain again, but on the way, we decided to head for Menominee instead.
The harbor at Menominee had ducks.
We spent the night at a really nice hotel in Menominee. The pool was the perfect temp, and we were up and on the road early. We didn't stop much on the way back, and it rained on an off all day. The only picture we got at all on Wednesday was this.
The ride back wasn't the greatest, but I did find I was adapting to the F4i, and we didn't have to stop nearly as often as we did on the way up. I had been expecting back pain to get to me the worst, but it was actually the seat that caused me the most discomfort. It seemed like I sunk through the foam, and even if I slid forward and backward on the seat, it seemed like my weight was always on the same sore spots. But I tried to take advantage of my tank bag (although it didn't have as much in it on the way back, since I was wearing my rain liner) to rest my weight on, and all in all, it seemed like just getting off the bike for 5 minutes to stretch and fuel up was all it took to feel better.
In the end, it was a great trip, and the F4i did well. I was glad we remembered to take more pictures than we have on previous trips!
That meant I was going to be taking the CBR, a bike that I bought only weeks ago, a bike that I had logged a couple hundred miles on, a bike that had under a thousand miles on it in total. I didn’t even hesitate; this development meant we were going to Michigan. I planned out a route that would put us at right around 300 miles a day and picked up another set of saddlebags. The fact that I wasn’t going to have the storage capacity of the FJR (the room for my big Motofizz seat bag most of all) meant that we’d have to be staying in hotels this trip. And this is where things would get interesting. Like my previous trips this year, the chances of finding a restaurant that I could eat at were somewhere around 0, and being unsure of what would be available at local grocers meant that I would have to pack food and means to cook it. I’m more used to camping than to staying in hotels, so I was a little unsure of just what sort of cooking I could get away with, but a pair of electric hot plates and my camping mess kit were packed. 5 days worth of lunch, 4 dinners and 4 breakfasts, clothes, and of course riding gear to suit the varied weather conditions added up quickly.
Here's the F4i in its usual 'commuting/joy ride' mode:
And here it is pressed into duty as a tourer, alongside NinjaChick's 650r.
It was far from early in the morning on Saturday (as I didn't have the time to pack everything after work on Friday) when we left La Crosse. We didn't stop to see any sights on the way to Iron Mountain, but when I saw this guy, I just had to take a picture.
Although we had to stop way more often than I would have on the FJR, we finally made it to Iron Mountain, and made some dinner.
Cthulu took a look at the area attractions while we ate:
We hit the first waterfall the next morning. It was right off the highway.
We found an amazing waterfall to stop at for lunch.
This waterfall was on a gravel road, in a little county park. The river was basically flowing right over the bedrock, there wasn't any sediment at all, and although it was flowing quite rapidly, it was shallow enough that you could walk right out and walk through the falls.
It wasn't too much further that we stopped at a beach on the shore of Lake Michigan.
There were pull off spots like this every little ways along the shore, seemingly where there was a nice looking bit of beach.
Cthulu enjoying the beach. For some reason, he didn't seem to want to go in the water...
Ninjachick wading into the lake...
A seagull. I think Cthulu wanted to eat it.
We hadn't put our swimsuits on, and we still wanted to get to St Ignace in time to make dinner, so headed off. More to come!
Hwy 2 to St Ignace was quite scenic. We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks.
There were seagulls.
From the next overlook, we could see the Mackinac bridge. It is a really big bridge, I guess.
Cthulu liked the scenic overlooks, but he had some trouble with the telescope.
Cthulu liked the 'do not disturb' sign at the hotel in St Ignace.
And then it was time for supper.
The next morning, we headed to Tahquamenon Falls. It was foggy and pretty cold, so there weren't any pictures to be had on the way. I didn't even realize that we driving along Lake Superior for part of the trip! We stopped for fuel in Paradise, and before long we got the state park.
There were several little chipmunks running around. One of them was running along with a cheeto, but it was too quick for a picture.
This was the lower falls. We didn't have time to take a rowboat out to the little island between the two 'halves' of the lower falls.
The water must have been high, there was a large pool along the side of the lower falls.
Ninjachick here. There's a guy in the background on the island who walked right out to the end of that fallen log.
The upper falls was quite a bit more impressive than the lower falls.
Cthulu considers switching bikes as we head to the beach.
It was raining throughout the day, so when we got back to the hotel, we hit the indoor pool. All to soon, it was the next morning and time to start back. We had been planning on heading to Iron Mountain again, but on the way, we decided to head for Menominee instead.
The harbor at Menominee had ducks.
We spent the night at a really nice hotel in Menominee. The pool was the perfect temp, and we were up and on the road early. We didn't stop much on the way back, and it rained on an off all day. The only picture we got at all on Wednesday was this.
The ride back wasn't the greatest, but I did find I was adapting to the F4i, and we didn't have to stop nearly as often as we did on the way up. I had been expecting back pain to get to me the worst, but it was actually the seat that caused me the most discomfort. It seemed like I sunk through the foam, and even if I slid forward and backward on the seat, it seemed like my weight was always on the same sore spots. But I tried to take advantage of my tank bag (although it didn't have as much in it on the way back, since I was wearing my rain liner) to rest my weight on, and all in all, it seemed like just getting off the bike for 5 minutes to stretch and fuel up was all it took to feel better.
In the end, it was a great trip, and the F4i did well. I was glad we remembered to take more pictures than we have on previous trips!
