2024 Milwaukee Run – Day 5

After finishing up last night I took a nice hot shower. I contemplated using the jacuzzi tub that was in the room, not the bathroom, the room. Might have been a good idea to soak for a bit but I didn’t want to mess with filling and draining a tub. And I didn’t bring any Mr. Bubbles with me. I crashed in a very comfy bed and slept well, too well in fact as I overslept and that was with two alarms. We didn’t get on the road until 10:00am.

It was in the upper 60’s when I pulled out, just cool enough to warrant donning my jacket. It’s another beautiful morning. I haven’t seen more than a wisp of a cloud since day two. I’m not taking these perfect riding days for granted though, I know more rain is coming, I just don’t know when.

It’s a short ride to the Illinois state line and only about 60 miles to our first stop in the Chicago suburbs, Chicago Harley-Davidson. Shortly after enter Illinois the roads start to become big city roads, plenty of traffic. Finding the shop is a bit tricky though. The street I pull off on runs through a parking garage which is confusing as I’ve never seen this before and think Google has me screwed up. I have to go through the parking garage, several stories tall, make u-turn and come back through the garage to make turn onto the street I need to be on. Chicago Harley is a small shop, just a handful of bikes outside. A quick trip in for my poker chips and I’m back on the bike, sans jacket, it’s warmed up enough that I don’t need it.

Riding through the Chicago area is no fun at all. There’s a ton of traffic and I soon run into miles worth of crawling traffic. It takes a while but I finally make it to the Indiana state line traffic is still heavy at this point but we’re moving at speed. Our next stop is Harley-Davidson of Michigan City. This one is actually attached to a Honda dealership. Another quick trip in for chips and then I run next door to the Love’s gas station for some water. It’s already 1:00pm and I’m worried I won’t make it to camp before the office closes. I don’t have a reservation and can make one over the phone but I want firewood and you can only get that in store. I hopeful though because I’m close to crossing a time change and should be getting an extra hour. (not true but that’s my road weary thought at the time). But since I started late I opt to forgo the usual lunch and just grab a couple of corndogs from the snack area. It’s a quick lunch but gets something in my stomach. The extended break is good too.

Traffic has returned to what I’ll call normal highway traffic by this time and I make it into Michigan faster than I thought I was going to. It didn’t feel like I was in Indiana for very long. Getting to our next stop though is going to take some time. Our path eventually turns into two lane country highways, all 55mph. I’m moving faster than that when I can but there’s a lot of traffic on these roads. Getting around a line of cars is difficult. There’s still lot of corn fields up here too.

We finally make it into Sturgis, Michigan. Dad and I came through here and stopped for a photo with the town’s welcome sign. Funny story I think I’ve mentioned in a previous year’s entry but a good buddy of mine got me a framed map of the U.S. a few years back. Each state is a photo so you upload your photo for a specific state and have it printed at Walgreens or Walmart. The photo prints in the correct shape and size for that state. While I was on the trip that year and the girls went through all my states photos I had gotten by that point, had them all printed and put them in the frame. It was gifted to me when I got back. But I noticed one thing wrong. The picture for South Dakota, where THE Sturgis is located, was the photo Dad and I took here in Sturgis, Michigan. It was funny but the gift itself was truly touching.

The Sturgis dealership is another small one and there’s only three used bikes outside. I make my way in, head to the counter and purchase my chips. I chat with the sales lady for a few minutes and ask her if she know how close I am to the time change. At this point I’m starting to think I may not be hitting it until tomorrow. She doesn’t know really know but in talking I realize I’ve already crossed it and am now in Eastern Standard Time. And I also realize that I didn’t gain an hour, I lost an hour. Most days of the year I know this but not today.

It’s almost 4:00pm when I stop in Sturgis so I decide to call the KOA I’m targeting for the night, it’s the same one Dad and I stayed at. The front office closes at 6:00pm. I’ve got 100 miles to go to get there and Google says it’s going to take two hours. I think I can make it but being on these back roads I decide to go ahead and reserve a spot. I tell Gary, the gentleman on the phone, that I’d also like two bundles of firewood. He tries but can’t add them to a reservation. So he tells me he’ll put them out front with my late check-in stuff, we’ll settle up in the morning. Another reason I love staying at KOA’s, they are so nice.

I’m fairly certain I can beat this two hour window Google is giving me. These roads are slow going but I can get going pretty good sometimes. The roads have turned into very backroad kind of roads. No shoulder and though they aren’t in bad shape, they haven’t seen much maintenance. There’s also a stop sign every once in a while. Still some corn but mostly tree line fields of grass and roadside homes. Sometimes the road is swallowed by trees which is probably my favorite.

I’m still trying to get to camp before the office closes so I can settle up on this firewood and not worry about it in the morning. I’m moving as fast as I can without being reckless, I do realize that I don’t HAVE to make there on time. We’re running for a few miles down one two lane road the turning onto another for a mile or two, then another turn onto a two lane for several more miles. At one point the road I’m on comes to a stop sign, my path continues strait and the road ahead is all dirt and gravel. Dirt and gravel is not ideal to ride on, parking lots and campgrounds are OK but you’re moving slow through those so it isn’t always a big deal. Well, on 1000lb bike it’s kind of always a big deal. I probably should have taken a left or right and rerouted but I’ve got getting to camp on time locked in.

The road isn’t to bad, it’s pretty compacted and though there’s loose gravel I can ride at a decent speed. Decent being about 30mph. But things change quickly. The ridges you often find on dirt roads appear and the are nasty, I’ve never experienced a road this bad, even on four wheels. The ridges are so bad I can feel the back end moving from side to side which means I am not in control of the bike. This all happens in a matter of seconds. I slowed to a crawl and made my way to the next stop sign. The road was maybe two miles long but my arms were jelly. Our path continued forward but the road ahead was blacktop again, which is good because if it wasn’t I was making either a left or right turn.

We do get a few slow spots, 25mph twisting into a lake area, but most of the rest of the way stays at 55mph. I finally make it into camp at 5:59pm. I walk up to the door just to see if it’s open and Gary appears. He’s already locked up but comes out to give me the info I need. MY site map and fire wood are located in an old phone booth, complete with phone. I find this really cool because when was that last time you saw a phone booth? Or, for some of you, have you ever seen a phone booth or even know what a phone booth is?

Gary is a nice guy, we chat for just a minute. I ask if we can settle up but he’s already shut down so we’ll settle up over a cup of coffee in the morning. My site tonight is very accessible, I can get the bike in and out easily, mostly because I’m the only tent camper and can drive through other sites. It doesn’t take long to get my tent up. It’s still extremely dirty from being wet and of course placed on the ground. Then it’s off to get a real meal.

The camp site is just off the highway, as many of them are, but the closest place to eat is at least ten miles away. I head north to a nice little restaurant called the Great Lakes Eatery and Pub. They’ve got a great selection of craft beers but all I want is a cold Miller Lite and glass of water. Dinner is very tasty post roast meal. I don’t have much of an appetite at this point but I know my body is hungry so I eat as much as I can which is most of it. The restaurant sits right by the highway and there’s a big rig parked on the shoulder of the exit ramp by the parking lot. I meet the trucker and his wife on my way out. We chat briefly. He’s hauling a load of potatoes and would much rather be out on the road on two wheels instead of eighteen.

Back at camp now. It’s the middle of the week so not a lot of campers here. I’m next to one camper but otherwise secluded. I’m going to get a fire going and relax for a little while before heading to bed. We start south tomorrow. Lunch should be at a pizza joint in Jeanette, Pennsylvania which is the last place I know Dad and I stopped at on that trip, aside from Nashville. In a couple of days we’ll start heading west towards home.

And for those of you reading, thank you for following along. I’d probably still write about my days even if no one was reading it. Overall it’s fun and exciting to be out here on the road on my own, but it is lonely. It’s nice to know I have you with me. And with that, Good Night.