Day 41 to the Upper Upper Peninsula
Sat 20 July 2024
Distance traveled: 284 miles
A leisurely ride along the highways of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and a few good surprises.
I didn't have many preconceived thoughts about what the UP is like, other than it's cool and has bogs and rocky cliffs. That's about it--one of those blank spaces on my mental map that needed to be filled in.
I woke up at the hotel near the Mackinac bridge, to an orange sun and lots of smoke in the air. It was already 72 degrees and I thought "ugh is it gonna be a day of inhaling wildfire smoke" and the first few hours were just that. I turned left onto the Stevens Pass Highway (well, US 2), and it was pretty and scenic despite the smoke and the haze as it curved around the top of Lake Michigan... so far on my trip, Michigan definitely has the best roads for pavement and engineering and comfort. No potholes (Ontario and Massachusetts take note), and they even have well maintained small roadside parks explicitly for motorists. Really great for touring.
After a stop at a roadside diner in Manistique for a mandatory omelette, time to cut north to Lake Superior. The houses got sparse, the road a tiny bit narrower, but still, it was fast time into Marquette, which has a charming brick downtown with the typical assortment of cafes and caffeine stops, and I took my time getting fuel to let some rain squalls pass over L'Anse 50 miles or so down the road.
From there into Houghton (another cute cool little town), then over to Rusty's in the afternoon. He showed me around his spread, his bikes of course, the garden, the workshop, the barn with the cool chandelier, the bird feeders. Dinner at the house was yummy pork chops and brussels sprouts.
I was surprised at the UP--yes, it's remote, but it has two good sized towns, both of which have their own Walmarts and Applebees, truly signs of American culture. Sure there were lots of snowmobiles in front yards under tarps and covers... but my day up there was very pleasant, and thanks Rusty and Andy for your hospitality.
