Monday, July 14, 2014

Motorcycle Trip to the Dakotas. Yellowstone National Park and Utah

Start: Indian River, Michigan
End: Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Distance: 357 miles (571 KM)
Gas: Indian River 3.206 GAL @ $3.799 TOTAL $12.18; Gulliver, Mich., 4.782 gal @ $3.729 Total $17.83; Marinette, Wisconsin, 3.311 gal @ 3.679 Total $12.18

Campsite: Cabin R Campsite, Oshkosh, Wisconsin; Cost $28 per site; Got in late so had no time to look for a site. Cabin R is a small campsite with not very nice facilities. Nice green grass lots with power & water, Many permanent RVs.
Al and I said our good byes to our family who had a bit of a reunion at Indian River, Michigan. Had torrential and non-stop rain the night before, so it took some time packing up as everything was wet and sandy. Had a small breakfast and headed out at 1:00 pm.









It was a bit breezy and a bit cool (about 66 degrees) as we headed north to Mackinaw. When we got to the Mackinaw Bridge, there were high wind warnings and as we crossed, we were being blown sideways a bit. Its a bit un-nerving as the rail at the edge is not to high as we zigzagged across the bridge. I was thinking of the poor soul that was blown over the bridge during the past winter. We made it across and were able to stop holding our breathes.
Once across, we stopped at a tower to get a photo of the bridge. We climbed 100 stairs to the top. It was windy and a bit crickety, so we quickly moved on down Highway 2 towards Escanaba, Michigan. We saw the shoreline as we went down the road. In that area, the shoreline has large sand dunes and the large white waves were crashing on the shore.



Our goal was to cover as much territory as possible so we could get past Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota to start our sight-seeing in South Dakota. The ride was breezy but not overly impressive as the landscape was basically a highway thru wooded areas. Mindemoya had a nice lighthouse and walkway, but we didn't stop as time we needed to keep moving.
Once past Escanaba, we took highway 35 south along Lake Michigan and once we arrived in Marinette, Wisconsin, we took Highway 41 south all the way thru Green Bay, Appleton and to OOshkosh. There was a noticeable change in the temperature once we got on the west side of Lake Michigan and it warmed up to about 76 degrees.
Green Bay was just a gigantic mass of new highway construction with a new freeway being built. It will be really impressive in a few years.
Once in Oshkosh, we found a campground and called it a day.
While at the campsite, Al was admiring the chrome on his bike and said how long and hard he worked to get the shine. Actually, Kelsey was the one who made the bike look so great.



Off to Sioux Falls, South Dakota tomorrow.
Got some sad news about Grandma Furkey as she was really declining in health and moved to pallative care. Not so sure if we will be able to complete our journey and will keep going until we hear more of an update. I'm thinking a lot of nice memories of times with her and grandpa.

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