DAY 15 Monday, May 16, 2011

This was a very nice Holiday Inn Express and the beds were great! I slept very well. I hated to have to get up, but I did, before the alarm sounded. The alarm was set for 6:30 AM. C.E. also got up so we dressed, packed and took a bag out to our Motors. We took off the covers and cleaned them a little, packed the bag and went back inside for breakfast. We were having breakfast when we saw Chuck and Ken walk past us to their Motors. Soon they returned and sat with us for breakfast. Jan and Bruce came in shortly thereafter. It was very cold outside and we really didn't want to leave the warmth and go out there and ride. We were all hoping that it would miraculously warm up to the 70's. We all returned to our rooms and finished getting dressed, not that we weren't already dressed in the breakfast room! We went to our rooms to get our warm weather clothes on: sweaters, jackets, etc. We went out to our Motors to get ready to leave. As we mounted our Motors, I walked to each one of the guys and took a picture of them all bundled up. Bruce and Jan were the last to get their pictures taken. As I was taking Jan's picture, Bruce was attempting to start his Harley. It coughed a couple of time and wouldn't start. I told the rest of the guys that Bruce's Motor was dead. C.E. stayed on his Motors while Ken, Chuck and Jan got off of theirs and tried to "push" Bruce's Harley. I saw that there were already three guys pushing so I helped also by getting my camera and took pictures. The pictures were great, however, the video was even better. They tried pushing the Motor twice and it wouldn't start. A suggestion was made to "jump start" the Motor. Chuck got his tools from him Motor to take the Bruce's seat off to get to the battery. He was also going to move his Motor closer to Bruce's Motor to jump start it with his battery. Bruce parked next to a "vomit spill" that two seagulls were fighting over earlier. I suggested that Ken use his Motor because it was closer to Bruce and it was much easier to get to the battery of a Gold Wing than a Harley. I also thought that it would make a great photo op if the Gold Wing would start the Harley. Ken got out his cables and Chuck connected Ken's battery to a "pig tail" connection on Bruce's Motor. They attempted three or four times to start Bruce's Motor, however, the battery was dead! R.I.P. battery! Bruce called AAA to come and pick up his Motor and tow it to the nearby city of Bay City, MI, where there is a Harley store. Chuck had found the Harley store in his Harley book. Once again we have to go to a Harley store. I think I now know why Harley riders have a lot of Harley shirts from different Harley stores from different cities and states. Those t-shirts are from Harley stores where they had their Harley's FIXED! HA! We waited until the flatbed tow truck arrived and Nate, contacted Bruce. Somehow Nate just knew which of the three Harley's was in need of tow. The one with stuff from the Motor spread around the parking lot! I took pictures of the contact with Bruce and Nate, and also the loading of the Motor onto the flatbed. Chuck gave me the address of the Harley store in Bay City, MI. It was called, "Great Lakes Harley." I put the address in my navigation system and we left Bruce with his new buddy, Nate. It appeared that, if need be, Bruce can take him! We were going to meet Bruce at Great Lakes Harley. We left at 10:55 AM.


I led the Group, minus Bruce and his broken Harley, to Great Lakes Harley. It was 46 degrees and we got there quickly. We rode for 15 miles and arrived at 11:17 AM. We parked our Motors and went inside. Chuck made contact with the service writer and told him that Bruce was en route with the tow truck and the sick Harley. One of the employees of Great Lakes Harley asked if the riders of the Gold Wings could cover the Motors. He said that it is "bad business" to have the Honda's parked there. He was a funny guy! While we were at Great Lakes Harley, Chuck told the service writer about the problem he was having with his throttle. It was sticking so they took it back to the mechanic. Two Harley's down! Also, since we were there, Jan asked the service writer to take his Motor back to the mechanic and give it an oil change. Three Harley's down. A trifecta! Bruce, Nate and the sick Harley made it to Great Lakes Harley finally. I took pictures of Nate unloading the sick Harley. Nate was very good and took great care. Nate told me that he has brought many, many Harley's on his tow truck to Great Lakes Harley! I don't doubt him one bit. We looked at the new Motors in the showroom. There was a beautiful Harley in the showroom priced at $39,000. What?! It WAS pretty. It had a lot of chrome! My kind of Motor. Chuck's Motor was done and brought to the front, then Jan's. Not much more time went by when they rode Bruce's Motor to the front. We were ready to roll! We left at 12:37 PM.


We rode south for one mile and I stopped for lunch at a Bob's Big Boy Restaurant. Do you remember those? We stopped at 12:35 PM. We each had the Big Boy hamburger bar. It was a salad bar and a build your own, all you can eat hamburger. Don't worry ladies, we didn't make pigs of ourselves! Ken and C.E. did sit at their own table and we told the waitress that they were troublemakers. The waitress had a great sense of humor and treated Ken and C.E. like troublemakers. She gave them the price for the Hamburger bar and lowered the price for us by a dollar! She also had another waitress come and wait on them! Ken and C.E. did get the much younger, prettier waitress. We were done and left at 1:26 PM.


I continued to lead the Group north on I-75. The weather was cool at 46 degrees and cloudy skies. We were bundled up for the cold and it was a great ride. The landscape was beautiful and very green. We rode for 54 miles and at 2:17 PM, we stopped at a Marathon gas station/Mini-mart in West Branch, MI. I thought that Chuck needed gas by this point. Chuck told me that he could go probably another 50 miles. We took advantage of the stop and made a pit stop. We left at 2:33 PM.


We continued north on I-75 and at 3:07 PM after riding 41 miles, we stopped in Greyling, MI. This was a nice truck stop with an Arby's, Motel, Mini-mart and gas station. We gassed up and then parked our Motors by a ramada with picnic tables. We had bought some water and were sitting on the picnic table when I set up my tripod and took a picture of the Group. After the picture was taken, an old man walked up to us and gave us each an ink pen. The ink pens were promotional pens with the name of the Truck Stop. The old man was the "owner" of the truck stop. He told us he owned the entire complex: motel, gas station, land and was 1/2 owner of the Arby's. He was very funny. He could have been a stand up comic with a good routine. He had us laughing from the time he walked up to us until the time we left. What a very colorful man! He was in his 70's and he told us about his 72 year old wife. He told us that he and his wife had been married for over 50 years. He gave me his business card and his personal card with his cell phone number. He told us that if we ever needed him or wanted to stay at his motel, to just call him. We left at 3:46 PM.


Bruce was up to lead and, guess what? His Motor started right up! Bruce led us on I-75. We passed a few Highway Patrol cars parked in the median looking for speeders...or sleeping, I don't know what they do in Michigan! We rode for 70 miles and at 4:46 PM, we stopped at a roadside rest area at Mile Post 317. We all made a pit stop and got back on our Motors. It was a very nice rest stop. It was very green surrounded by a forest. There was a road leading away with a sign posted for a "scenic drive." We went on the scenic drive road and stopped a short distance away where there was a small parking lot and path that lead to a wooden lookout. We walked to the lookout and there was Burt Lake in the distance and I-75 just below us. Cars honked at us as they passed. We met a nice, young couple at the lookout. We talked to them for a short time and then returned to our Motors. We left at 5:11 PM.


We continued north on I-75 and soon we were able to see a large bridge. It was the Mackinaw Bridge, which is just north of...can you guess? Mackinaw City, MI. This bridge separates Lake Superior with Lake Huron, two of the five Great Lakes. Just before we got on the bridge, we exited I-75 and rode into Mackinaw City where we started looking for a Holiday Inn Express. We knew there was one because we saw the signs along I-75. We found the hotel and after riding 23 miles, we stopped at 5:33 PM. Chuck, Jan, Bruce and C.E. went in to "make the deal." C.E. came out with a baggage cart and told Ken and me that we were staying. We unloaded our Motors and took them to our rooms. After a few minutes, the Group, except C.E., got on our Motors and went to tour the city. We stopped at a park on the east side of the bridge and along the shore. There was a Lighthouse in the park and we walked to it. There were millions of flying insects that, for lack of a better term, we called mosquitoes. They weren't mosquitoes, but there were millions of them! We quickly left the area and rode to what I think was the center of town. There were many shops that lined the street. It seemed as though every other shop was a fudge shop and the others were t-shirt shops. There was a post office and a couple of bars and restaurants. We walked the streets (street walkers?) and spoke with some of the locals. We returned to the hotel and parked our Motors. We walked across the street to Darrow's Family Restaurant where we had dinner. C.E. did go with us in case if you were wondering. They specialized in sea food, because of their close proximity of the Great Lakes. We finished dinner and walked back to the hotel where we tucked our Motors in for the night.


Well, tomorrow we plan to head north over the bridge and take a few pictures, provided that we don't get attacked by the millions of flying insects! We hope to follow Highway 2 along the coast of lake Michigan. We will hopefully head towards Lake Superior. Maybe a Harley will break down, hopefully not. We shall see.


Because of the trifecta at the Great Lakes Harley, we were cut short on the mileage that we could have traveled. We rode for only 207 miles. Don't get me wrong! I'm not blaming the Harley's for the lack of mileage. It could happen to any Motor. It's all part of the journey. It just gives us more ammunition to raze the Harley Boys. It's all in fun! We have a great time. I just wish that I could post everything that is said when we stop for breaks, lunches, pit stops, etc. Those are the times when we really get on each other! Again, it is all in fun and never a thing is said maliciously. I do have to admit, this Group does provide me with great material to write about! So, until tomorrow...