This trip was a repeat of our first trip of the year, minus Door County, WI. Plus, Jeff and I were joined by a few others: Rich Chiuppi, (not to be mistaken with Rick Chodacki, aka, Viragoboy) who rides an EX-500, and Kurt Lewinski, my soon to be brother-in-law, who borrowed his dad's ST1100 for the trip. Rich had an idea of what he was in for, but Kurt was pretty much clueless to the ways of the Mileage-Nazi (that's me).
The trip started out very early (I think we left at about 5:00 AM) to beat traffic around the city to Michigan. After a nice breakfast (where the waitress recognized Jeff and I from the last time we passed through) we started in with the twisties, seeing a park here and there, and stopping when necessary (not enough stopping for Kurt though). We stopped at Grand Haven for a picture, and continued up state route 22. Kurt took the lead at this point. The next thing I know, Kurt and I are passing about 5 cars at about 85+ MPH when I see the lights in my mirror. Thankfully, Officer Friendly let us off with a warning. We drove away with out tails between our legs.
The next day was again a beautiful ride through Canada. Jeff and I made our customary stop at JT Cove. Kurt, being of a sportbike background, was itching to ride my CBR and Jeff's VFR, and wanting to see how the other half lives, both Jeff and I obliged. We all enjoyed riding each other's bikes, and I thought the ST was a wonderful machine.
Near the end of the third day (and after the owl incident, again another story for another day), we were getting close to our destination of Houghton, MI when we pulled off to the side of the road in complete blackness. I have never seen so many stars in my life. It was one of those moments for me.
The trip completed the last day with a stop by Kurt's grandparents for a breakfast big enough to serve an army, and a nice ride down Wisconsin Route 67 though Elkhart Lake all the way to Lake Geneva.
This was a trip that I will not forget, and will hold memories of not only the road and the scenery, but the comradery, the waitress with the twa.. I mean tatoo, the ordering 8 Coronas at a time, and Kurt designating me the Milage Nazi when his ass hurt so much he couldn't stand the thought of riding any more (hence the reason for the background picture on this page) "You vill rrride more, schweinhund!!! Git back on ze bike you little flabby-assed frau!!".
Here are some additional pictures from the trip. Click the above links in the paragraph for others.
