Day #27 August 19, 2007

Day 27
Sunday August 19, 2007

Saxon, WS to Mackinaw City, MI
344 miles today (19,155 – 19,499)
5,389 miles total


1 new state today: MI
12 states total

Set my alarm for 4:00 AM. I wanted to get out of the dirt I was
in ASAP! Had to get up during the night and hit the can. As I glanced
up on my way, stars were EVERYWHERE! Wow! Totally amazing.
There were no clouds, so I felt better about the chance of rain, or
lack of. Reminded me of Piedmont, SD where I camped for the
Sturgis rally with the CMA guys. There is just so much around me,
if I will only take the time to stop and LOOK!

When I got up at 4:00 AM, and headed to the ONE shower,
the sky was different. Now there were NO stars, only clouds. Oh oh,
what it coming? So I showered quick (50 cents for 4:20 of time)
and then fixed breakfast of oatmeal (3 packages) and one cup of
coffee. I’ve got to figure out how to keep the grounds IN the little
coffee screen. I think I need a courser grind. I boxed up my gear,
dressed, tore down, hitched up and was ready to go by 6 AM.

When I pulled out, it was C-O-O-L! Brrrrr. I had to stop down the
road and eventually put on rain gear to help block the wind. I was
cold most of the day before, from Moorhead, MN to Saxon, where
I just left, and now it looked like I would be cold again. I stopped
in Ironwood, WS for gas and coffee. This to warm up! I had just
been through Hurley, MN and made pictures of all the
“gentlemen’s clubs” that lined Silver Street. I made pics of
several banners proclaiming Silver Streets fame, but I’m not
exactly clear as to “why” it was famous!

I stopped in McDonalds in Marquette, MI for coffee. I ate my
sandwich (made the night before), a banana and 2 fruit pies. Took
less than an hour break, maybe 45 minutes or so, just to warm up
good. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is really very beautiful. It
reminded me of both Oregon AND Kentucky. There were stretches
of evergreens for miles, but then there were stretches of hardwoods
for miles. As I got to the Lake Superior Basin, the land turned flat.
Evergreens of some sort would just appear. Often they would line
the road for miles. As I got off of highway 28 and on to US 2, the
terrain became more hilly and rocky. Finally, as I rounded the
corner near Gros Gap, MI, the Mackinaw Bridge appeared. YIKES!
What a sight. I heard it was 5 miles long.

I am staying in Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground. Very nice spot.
The breeze (i.e. wind?) is blowing off the lake. I suspect it will blow
all night long. That is one thing I DON’T miss about Sturgis, the
stinkin’ wind! The lady who runs the store here, Linda, has a brother
in Eugene, OR. She thinks he’s a geriatric doctor. Wow...another
Eugene connection!

I am trying to not only write every night, but now I am trying to go
back and reconstruct the early nights (1-20?) where I only recorded
on paper. It has taken me some time to get the computer up and
running. And now, I am yearning for an IPOD so I can have music
on the road. I will especially want that on the Gulf Coast stretch home.

I should be in KY by end of this week. I’ll re-evaluate the plan then.
I have already started a list of things to do to the bike, the trailer, etc.
before I head out again.

“Father, again, you have blessed me with a DRY day. Sunshine and
clouds, just like life. But you protected me from the knothead that
“almost” made a left turn in front of me, the speeding traffic, and
even kept the Mackinaw Bridge from collapsing! And you have
directed me to a wonderful campground. Thank you, Lord. Give
me a good nights rest.”