Journey to the Sun 2017 Motorcycle Trip

Day 19 - Thursday, August 17, 2017 -  Mackinaw City, MI to Tawas, MI Distance: 363km,  Time: 6:30hrs Heavy  Rain, Cloudy Warm 20c to 11c - cool down Overnight:  Bambi Motel, 1100 E. Bay St., East Tawas, MI (***) Clean, very old fashion, good size room with microwave and frig.  Husband and Wife run this place right out of the late 1950's   Super friendly and bike parked outside my door.   No Breakfast at all, go into town. This was one of the most unpleasant mornings of the whole trip - torrential Rain!  The motel was most accommodating to allow for a very late checkout at 11am, which was the only break in the weather moving from Southwest to Northeast.  So at 11am, dressed in my rain gear packed the bike in 5 minutes and departed, the rain started up about 15 minutes later, but I was dressed for it and pushed on at a reduced speed, visibility was not great either. I traveled South on I-75 for two exits before heading West to the Tunnel of Trees Road.  The road is called MI#1

Day 19 - Wednesday, August 16, 2017 - Iron River, WI to Mackinaw City, MI Distance: 677km,  Time: 12:30hrs [Longest day by travel time on the whole trip 12+ hours] Sunny, Warm 20c to 11c - cool down Overnight:  Lamplighter Motel, 203 E. Janet Street, Mackinaw City, MI   (***) Clean, very old fashion and the smallest motel room on the planet - and I mean SMALL.  But friendly staff and bike parked outside my door and were very accommodating during the rain delayed departure in the next morning.   No Breakfast at all, go over two blocks in the main drag in town.   Walking distance. Knowing that the Lumberman offered no breakfast I got a early start at 6:45 heading for Ashland, WI.   Ashland was at one time a major railroad town with three lines going after the iron ore business, there is a major RR station in town, now not used as a train station but preserved and in very good shape.  It was on the Soo Line RR. Ex-Soo Line Station in Ashland, WI Soo Line Steam Engine pres

Day 18 - Tuesday, August 15, 2017 -  East Grand Forks, MN to Iron River, WI Distance: 544km,  Time: 8:30hrs Sunny, Warm 25c to 18c Overnight:  Lumberman's Inn,  7770 US Highway 2, Iron River, WI (***) Clean and old, but friendly staff and bike parked outside my window.  No Breakfast at all, go to the next big town of Ashland.  Walking distance to a good Pizza place and the town.  The push is on to finish this trip, only two more overnights on the road, but I did not get my rest day (ie. day #7) so I am getting a bit tired. Today I will attempt to find the headwaters of the Mississippi which I know starts in Wisconsin and flows South to the Golf of Mexico.  The weather for the past few days has been warm to hot, but no rain and no smoke in the sky either. The Mississippi River starts out as a creek about 1.5m across, and is a very slow flowing.  The primary source of the Mississippi River on the edge of Lake Itasca, which is in the far back of this photo. My lit

Day 17 - Monday, August 14, 2017 -  Carlyle, SK to East Grand Forks, MN Distance: 559km,  Time: 10:00hrs Sunny, Warm 27c to 8c Overnight: Fairfield Inn and Suites, 514 Gateway Drive, NE, East Grand Forks, MN (*****) Almost new, great pool and breakfast was very good, plus it had a on-site washer and dryer.  Walking distance to a good Mexican restaurant, called Casa Mexico.    Today's was a day to do a fair distance on the bike, it will be over 500km (+300miles), so an early start was in the plan, and yes 8am is not too bad of a start giving that it was only 8c this morning, but it warmed up fast - to "hot". I am still following the Red Coat Train (Sk Hwy#13) along the southern part of Saskatchewan, but this road will become Manitoba #2 in about 1 1/2 hours when I cross into Manitoba, road is still paved and in good shape.  Traffic is very light. I stopped at Reston, MB to get some more US$ Cash and went into the Sunrise Credit Unit, this place was Sooooooooooooo S

Day 16 - Sunday, August 13, 2017 -  Eastend, SK to Carlyle, SK Distance: 538km,  Time: 6:30hrs Sunny, Warm 27c to 10c Overnight: Ramada, 110 Tuniff Ave., E., Carlyle, SK  (*****) Almost new, main feature was that the room and a fully functional PC and a great pool, also my room had a door to the outside, made things easy for luggage and monitoring my bike.  Walking distance into town and restaurants.    Today's agenda was very basic: Visit the largest t-Rex fossle at the Royal Saskatchewan Musume site in Eastend Follow the Red Coat Train (Sk Hwy#13) along the southern part of Saskatchewan and check out some railway lines So not a busy day but a 538km trip which is a bit over my famous 300mile daily limit, but that has been exceed before on this trip.  With the Museum not opening to 10AM, I decided to try out one of the other restaurants for breakfast called  Charlies Lunch at 327 Redcoat Drive.  A good choice where the locals go, because one of the features of being &q

Day 15 - Saturday, August 12, 2017 -  Waterton Lakes National Park, AB to Eastend, SK Distance: 581km,  Time: 8:00hrs Sunny, Hot 30c to 11c Overnight: Riverside Motel, 630 Red Coat Dr., Eastend, SK (***) a work in progress, but rooms a large and very clean, just dirt roads around the buildings This again will be an early morning departure, as I have a long distance to cover today and I want to do Red Rock Canyon Road on my way out of the Park.  At the end of the road is a spectacular canyon and a creek that flows through the red rock.  But please watch the video below, that is the real experience, and it took place at Lost Horse Creek on the Canyon Road.