Rain, Fog and Other Stuff

Tomto and I always say we hope the folks along our riding route need the rain because precipitation seems to ride with us on our motorcycling tours. A few years ago on a trip to Everett, WA across US Rt. 2 the rain found us just after we crossed the Mackinac Bridge to the UP and didn't let up until we hit eastern Montana. The rain and mist caused the cancellation of fireworks in Duluth on the 4th of July that year.

This year we seem to have broken the string of wet days. After we left Door County, WI we were dry all the way to Marquette, MI. From Marquette to Copper Harbor we had a few showers but not enough to challenge our GoreTex Aerostitch riding suits. Our stay in Copper Harbor was dry and sunny except for the fog bank and mist that rolled in on our last night there. By morning light the sun had returned and we rode away from the Land of Make Believe with the sun smiling down on us.

However, somewhere between Houghton, MI and Ashland, WI the rain gods found us again. We started looking for a motel in Ashland and finally found one that fit our criteria (cheap, close to food and drink) in Eagle River, WI. The Lumberman Inn also welcomed pets... the owners' standard poodle roamed the halls and the cheerful barks of other canine guests could occasionally be heard. Unfortunately, the "close to food and drink" bar and grill next door was permanently closed and for sale. We had to settle for A&W hot dogs and root beer from down the street. We spent a rainy night at the Lumberman but rode off to Duluth in the dry.

This time our stop at the Rider's Wearhouse in Duluth was dry and undramatic. Last time we had to lay over a day to wait for the Mecca of distance riders to open its doors after a stormy Independence Day weekend. The GPS I'd snitched from Loretta's car when we left Door County led us directly to the store-that-looks-like-a-warehouse in the industrial section of old Duluth. The Wearhouse is not much of a shopping experience, the display area is about the size of a normal family room. The glass cases are haphazardly filled with items from the catalog and the walls are hung with sample tee shirts and other gear riders might want or 'need'. I bought a light weight dry bag and a tee shirt I'd long admired in the catalog... it has a picture of nun smoking a cigarette sitting astride a vintage Montessa motorcycle. The words: "Where there is sin, there I must go". I know, I know, not so funny when I see it here but it struck my funny bone and I had to have it, now I don't know where I can safely wear it.

While we were shopping Tomto struck up a conversation with another customer. As it turns out he is a participant in the famous/infamous Iron Butt Rally held every two years. A kind of uber-scavenger hunt/competitive long distance motorcyle ride thing. This middle-aged ordinary looking guy was telling Tom about hitting a cow during the rally a couple of years ago. He was riding through open range in New Mexico at night and a cow wandered out in front of him and he hit it square in the side. His Aerostitch Roadcrafter suit and his helmet saved him from serious injury but the encounter ended his Iron Butt prize chances for that rally. He says he's still trying to get the cow shit out of his suit.

No more rain until we reach Nipigon, ON. Threatening clouds and showers send us eventually to the Beaver Motel (not cheap, not close to food and drink and the worse possible motel name to phone your wife about).

The town of Nipagon is slightly off Canada route 17 which is the major east-west route through southern Ontario. It has definately seen better times. Lots of closed store fronts. Gritty, weather and time-worn streets. Small groups of teenagers with little to do hanging around the convenience store/Subway near the center of the business district. But, near the center of what was once the main street is Paddle-to-the-Sea Park and Library. The park is dedicated to the 1941 Children's book of the same name. The book tells about a toy canoe called Paddle-to-the Sea built by a First Nation boy near Nipigon. The canoe follows the waters of the Nipigon River to Lake Superior and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Follow this link for the full story of the park, the book, and the movie: Paddle-to-the Sea

Morning dawns, at least it is time for the sun to come up in Nipigon. It's raining and worse yet visibility is waning... lots of mist and fog. We ride off with only the room-made coffee in our bellies. The next town with a cafe and gas station is Schreiber, ON (Celebrating 125 Years of being a railroad town). We stop for a real breakfast thinking we'll wait out the rain and fog. No such luck, the rain is steady and the fog is getting worse. We finally leave and ride through Terrace Bay which should be the most picturesque part of the Canadian route around Superior. We see nothing in the town. The fog is so thick we only sense the presence of water on one side of the road and perhaps a gas station on the left. It's so foggy we can't stop for fear of being run over by one of the many semis that run this road night and day. We ride for maybe 3 hours with only the painted lines on the road to guide us. Every few minutes headlights of oncoming vehicles pop out of the fog and whiz past, their tail lights disappearing in the rearview mirrors almost immediately. Fortunately we are able to ride at a pace that keeps the trucks at bay, traffic does not stack up behind us at least. At last we arrive on the outskirts of Marathon, ON. On the right is a trifecta oasis: The Airport Travelodge, a gas station/convenience store AND a restaurant with a beer license. It's only 1:30 but they have a clean room and let us register. Cost is no object for this stop but it's no more expensive than last night's minimalist Beaver Motel.

We are out of the rain and fog with wifi and satellite TV.

Dinner at the Harbor Haus

Returning from the source of 41 we stop at the General Store for Bell's Two Hearted Ale and some Keweenaw micro brew to replace the stock in the Doll House fridge. We shower and dress in our cleanest dirty clothes to have a final evening meal in Copper Harbor with Phoebe and Sue. The best restaurant in town is the Harbor Haus, a German themed place with a faux half timbered outside, huge copper clad double entry doors (these doors face the southwest and absorb so much heat from the sun the owners have installed a special cooling device to blow air over the doors) with a sign that warns that the doors may be hot enough to burn fingers. Inside we are warmly greeted by the hostess and bartender and immediately escorted to Phoebe's special table by the large plate glass window on the upper level. As guests of the Queen Tomto and I get the seats facing the harbor. While being seated the bartender has been busy creating the Phoebe-tini for the Queen. This special drink (don't remember all the ingredients but it it is served in a martini glass and the shaker is left on the table). The rest of us order drinks and peruse the extensive menu. In addition to fresh fish entrees there are some German items including beef rouladen with red cabbage and German potato salad. Ican't pass on the
German sides and order a German beer to keep the theme going and to avoid mixing alcohol types since we had a beer on the deck after dressing for dinner.

The food, conversation, and service were great but the show of the evening was the weather. As we ate a fog bank appeared out on Superior and slowly moved from west to east across the harbor vista... quite spectacular in the still brilliant northern evening light.

Monday in Keweenaw

Monday in Keweenaw

Breakfast at the Tamarac... special treatment for the Queen and her court, quick service so P&S can make their meeting. Phoebe and Sue have a 10 o'clock with the Copper Harbor Improvement Association planning for "Thunder in the Harbor" motorcycle rally on the coming weekend. We learn later that Phoebe is charged with soliciting gift certificates from local businesses for the rally raffle. Only the local commercial camp ground fails to donate. Who could deny tribute to the Queen?

Tomto and Dave ride the Brockway Mountain scenic road, We almost turn back after a couple of spectacular turnouts thinking that we must surely have reached the top... but noooo, the summit has a gift shop and great views of Superior with a passing freighter to the west. On a clear day, they say, you can see Isle Royal. To the east and south is a big chunk of Lake Medora. To the north are views of far off Keweenaw Mountain Lodge golf course. The road down the west side of the mountain takes us back again to Eagle Harbor (too fancy for the Queen, but has good dump facilities). South on the coast road (Rt. 26) and eventually to Rt. 41.

Here we decide to look for the birdseye maple outlet we saw featured on the Tamarac place mat. I think I remember it's in Laurium but when we ask in the Laurium lumber store we find it's really a few miles back 41 in Mohawk. In Mohawk we follow signs to a (actually 'the') side street where we find a warehouse building with a small showroom tacked on the front. Inside are an amazing array of birdseye maple object... some art some utilitarian. This business finds and makes things from maple trees that have a genetic defect which creates the characteristic swirls that are the 'birdseyes'. Identifying trees that have the birdseye gene is an art in itself. We learned that sometimes clues in bark pattern are fairly obvious, mimicking patterns in the wood. However, most of the time the bark pattern gives no obvious clue to the untrained eye. The ability to find a birdseye in the wild is a significantly valuable skill. As we learned from Phoebe who is contemplating selling some timber off her 22 acres at Oleanna a birdseye tree can bring as much as $40,000. The wood is used, of course, in making furniture, music boxes and other decorative objects. It is also found in the steering wheels and interior decor of luxuary autos such as Lexus and Jaguar. In the shop were examples of the veneer pealed from birdseye logs... many linear yards of eighth inch thick veneer can be shaved from a single log.

Having spent a non-productive but interesting day touring the Keweenaw south of Copper Harbor we motor back north on 41, through the great tunnel of trees, past the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge and Golf Club, right at the only flashing yellow light in Keweenaw county, east to find the source of Route 41. Past the Fort Wilkins campground, past the recreated Fort itself, and in a mile or so we reach a the end of the paved road and a sign that proclaims "The Beginning of US Route 41".

(see post with link to US Route 41 info)

U.S. Route 41 - Wikipedia

Here's a link to the Wikipedia entry that explains the route and termini of US 41. Tomto and Dave visited the beginning terminus east of Copper Harbor, MI. Most of us are familiar with 41 in Florida where snow birds drive too slow.

U.S. Route 41 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia