Sunday morning has come. I awoke at the crack of dawn, excited to mount the new Austrian horse and fly fly away. Destination for the day = somewhere in the Leelanau Peninsula.
It is a nice crisp cool morning, at around 15C, with the sun shining, perfect for a morning ride. Forecast for the next couple of days has sunny skies and high temps of 26-29C. Couldn't ask for better weather.
The plan is to go away for 2-3 days, then come back south to home so I can have the 1000 kilometer service performed at the stealership, excuse me, dealership
I leave Concord and set out for Ionia, Michigan for breakfast. On the way, I see a few deer grazing in the wheat and bean fields. Enjoying the bike, especially the increased suspension travel over the HD I traded. On the following route, Ionia is the spot just before Saranac.
I decide on fast food, so I enter the local McDonald's, many of us say Mickey D's (deez). On my approach to the counter to place my order, I see a young early twenties lovely lass sweeping the floor over by the beverage center. We make eye contact, so I give her a nice little wink to say good morning. After my order is placed, I walk over to the beverage center to fill up. The young lass is awaiting my arrival, smiling from ear to ear, waiting for me with a cup, lid, and straw. Amazing what a nice little wink will get ya sometimes.
When things like this happen to me, it gives me hope for our future generation. Once my meal is ready, I go over and find a seat. Wouldn't you know it, the young lass starts sweeping the floor near my table. We talk for quite a few minutes, she's a real sweetheart and she claims she loves motorcycles. Unfortunately, I did not get a photograph, but I should have. I had to go and get on the road.
First stop after breakfast, is Saranac. My local school is doing a summer challenge. The goal is to visit all of Michigan's 5?? municipalities. I noticed that some of these cities are on my route north, so I stop for a photograph of the bike in front of a Saranac landmark.
Then on to Belding to scratch another city off our summer challenge list. Loving the new bike but being careful not to rev her past 5,000 rpm during run-in.
Also in Belding, I stop to get a pic of a couple of bridges running across the river that flows through town.
Upon exiting town, here is the same river. Notice how you can see the bottom through all that clear water. Several people floating down river on inflatables with the mandatory alcohol!
From Belding, I'm heading due north towards Canadian Lakes, Michigan when I spot this beautiful horse grazing in the field with her foal, but the foal is not moving and lying down. I'm thinking oh no, I hope the foal has not passed.
A few taps of the KTM's very underwhelming horn, the foal is up on it's legs and walking towards the mare. I take a nice deep breath with the relief in knowing the foal is okay. Look at the young foal, it is all legs!
A few miles north and I arrive at the south side of Canadian Lakes, Michigan. As you can see on the map it is a series of inland lakes. A very scenic area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan with two amazing golf courses.
Here's a pic of the first lake I came to on the south side.
A few miles east and I stop for a pic in front of the obligatory landmark for the summer challenge.
After Canadian Lakes, I continue heading due north when I ride past a nice VFW post (Veterans of Foreign Wars), with a nice helicopter display on an elevated platform. Had to get a pic of the Katoom with the copter.
Then I notice the pilot and co-pilot at the controls of the helicopter. I cannot for the life of me understand why they would want to sit up there all day like this in the hot weather
From the VFW post, I continue due north until I reach the town of Evart, Michigan. I notice what appears to be an old schoolhouse that has been renovated and transformed into a small municipal center.
From Evart, I head north northwest towards Le Roy, Michigan. I know of a nice small pub there with excellent food, cold beer, all at excellent prices. It had been about 3 hours since breakfast and starting to get warm. I was famished and needed a couple of cold beers to stop the shakes. On the way to the pub, I see an old shop. I'm a sucker for old automotive repair shops because that was the family business when I was growing up. Had to get a pic of the Katoom in front of this old relic.
After getting my belly full of protein and wet yeast, barley, and hops, I continued east through Luther, Michigan on some gravel, sand, and curvy tar. I was a little charged up from the beer so I looked for a date in Scottsville.
Don't knock it til you try it
Going by the senior center brought back memories of one of the funniest stories a friend had told me years ago. He was cutting an elderly woman's yard. Once he completed the yard, the elderly woman invited him in the house. They began discussing how much money she would have to pay for the grass cutting. He threw out a number and she explained that she couldn't afford that much money, would there be another way to pay. He asked her what she had in mind. She was sitting at her table in the kitchen. She told him to come closer, he obliged. She told him she'd figured out how she was going to repay him.
As she reached for his zipper with one hand, he said she removed her dentures with the other hand, and went to town on his wiener. He claimed it was the best blow job he'd ever received cause there were no teeth in the way
I told him he was crazy, he replied, "don't knock it til you try it"
Another obligatory pic for the summer challenge at the Fountain, Michigan fire department.
After Fountain, the sun was starting to go down. I needed cash and a place to rest my head for the night, so I decided that somewhere near Manistee, Michigan would be my final destination for the day. Upon entering the port city, I noticed a fairly large vessel in the distance docked, so stopped for a pic.
I found an ATM, replenished cash, and went to retrieve a couple of beers from the party store (convenience store). Bagged and iced the two beers, bought some biltong, and went to sit at a beach on Lake Michigan for a few minutes. One of those life is good moments. Thinking life would not be worth living if I ever didn't have a motorcycle in my life.
Sat on this bench with a cold beer in hand, basking in the late evening sun.
Then, I decided I'd better get my ass moving and find a place to setup my tent. I stopped by a government campground on Lake Michigan, price was $32 usd just to set up a tent
. I'm much to cheep for that. No, I would not have a hot shower the next morning, but I'd be $32 dollars richer by bush camping. So, I continued north a few miles until I saw my chance. I saw a natural gas pipeline route, so I followed it for a few miles inland and found a perfect spot to setup my tent for free
I had to leave my helmet on while setting up the tent, the mozzies were so thick, they tried to lift me and fly away. One more beer, a long pee, and it was time for bed. What a nice first day on my new steed. Rode around 426 kilometers for the day.
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