My Plan; I can take the ferry, hopefully sleep on it and ride home the next day for a long day. It lands in Ludington MI, the west coast of Michigan and there is 1 hour time change back to EST. The winds were pretty calm – just a breeze from the northwest and not strong, and the road leads east. I made good time, a Sunday morning, good roads and no traffic. The road was a divided 4 lane and ran almost perfectly east, so I had the elusive tailwind I had been wanting.
I did have a very close call with a doe deer... it was sitting in the grass next to a bridge abutment on the right – at least that is where it came from.... because it was startled by my bike (and she startled me) and dashed across my lane, thankfully on a diagonal away from me, so close I barely applied the brakes and I could hear the hoofs scratching the pavement for traction in its haste. I missed it, but it was a lucky chance I did. I would say it was as close a call as the grizzly about 2 weeks back, except I had longer to react to the Grizzly since he crossed from the roads left side. The car following me passed with all aboard staring at me, I am sure wondering if I had messed my pants. I should have realized this early in the day, deer would be present.
I finally made LaCrosse WI and took I90 for about 9 miles crossing the Mississippi River in that distance, then cut off again and headed for Oshkosh WI on the way to Manitowoc ferry. About 1 hour before Oshkosh, I pulled over in some shelter for a rain storm came up. Lasted 20 minutes and I used the time to update this journal. Just as I was about to leave, a second rain fell. This was the first rainfall since Yellowstone which also was brief but repeating rain. Before that, rain fell briefly on the Dempster Hwy and then the heavier rains in the earlier days of the trip. A further delay of 20 minutes and then a break in the heavy rain and I headed east for Oshkosh. I rode for only 1 mile and the pavement was dry, it was just a line of heavy clouds moving through... but more were coming. Near Oshkosh, I turned onto hwy 43 north towards Appleton and encountered stiff cross winds for about 10 miles before turning off east again on Hwy 10. A long detour and I was headed straight again. Gassed up before entering Manitowoc and found the ferry dock deep in the town at the waterfront. I purchased my discounted ticket, (they are on sale for the late sailing in July) – 20% off, enquired where a good meal could be found and headed for dinner. On the way, I discovered a moored American submarine on display next to a Maritime Museum. Took a photo and went for dinner – a nice big T-bone steak with a Bloody Mary to compliment it. After dinner I rode the 2 blocks to the maritime museum to view the submarine closer and read the various plaques on display. Manitowoc was, during WWII, a place where 28 submarines were built. They had various fates, 5 were lost, the remainder had different degrees of success. One sub sank the second most tonnage of any sub during WWII, while others had several rescues to their credit. Many were transferred to different countries after the war to countries such as Greece, Turkey, Argentina, Netherlands, etc.
There was public WiFi at the Marine Museum area... but for some reason, it did not work. It is Sunday evening, this town is dead – no traffic, few people wandering and walking dogs, there is 2 couples chatting on a moored yacht nearby and a few tourists looking at the submarine moored here.
I rode around town looking to kill time. At the waterfront I stopped to take several photos, then cruised further along until it started to rain. I stopped in a Dairy Queen, and had an ice cream treat and then rode around a little more before heading back to the ferry terminal with still 3 hours before boarding. There were many cars there already and 1 motorcycle – a guy was delivering it to someone across the lake to complete a sale. The terminal has free WiFi, so I used Skype to contact my wife and daughter in Whistler BC, checked email, read some of a trip report of my friend Steve’s start of his trip on Adventure Rider forum and sent him an email with some crazy comparisons about our trips and bikes. Other bikes pulled in to the ferry terminal, and looks like they are going to have a half full ferry. Battery is nearly over on the computer.
I will make the last leg of the trip home starting from the ferry landing on the other side of Lake Michigan.
Manitowac Ferry Terminal
Martime Marine Museum
western shore of Lake Michigan at Manitowac
Were you able to talk with a WWII submariner on the sub? I was blessed with meeting one on my visit about 5 years ago.
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