Day 19 - August 17, 2017 - Mackinaw City, MI to Tawas, MI
Day 19 - Thursday, August 17, 2017 - Mackinaw City, MI to Tawas, MI
Distance: 363km, Time: 6:30hrs
Heavy Rain, Cloudy Warm 20c to 11c - cool down
Overnight: Bambi Motel, 1100 E. Bay St., East Tawas, MI (***) Clean, very old fashion, good size room with microwave and frig. Husband and Wife run this place right out of the late 1950's Super friendly and bike parked outside my door. No Breakfast at all, go into town.
This was one of the most unpleasant mornings of the whole trip - torrential Rain! The motel was most accommodating to allow for a very late checkout at 11am, which was the only break in the weather moving from Southwest to Northeast. So at 11am, dressed in my rain gear packed the bike in 5 minutes and departed, the rain started up about 15 minutes later, but I was dressed for it and pushed on at a reduced speed, visibility was not great either.
I traveled South on I-75 for two exits before heading West to the Tunnel of Trees Road. The road is called MI#119 and runs for 44km. It is narrow and the trees meet at the centre of the road to create the "tunnel effect". Due to the rain I was not able to put out any of my cameras so I used the waterproof GO Pro to capture my journey, once I have edited down to about 2 minutes from the 40 minutes I will post it. The Discovery Channel named the roadway as one of the "Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in North America". So my only options is to come back next year when it is not raining and do this road again.
The photo is not mine, it is off of the Wikipedia site, and the attribution is below the image.
After my soggy road experience I arrived in Petoskey, MI, (around 2pm) which is a medium sized city and coastal resort community. It had a dry Starbucks - so this made a good spot to get out of the rain gear, have lunch and review the weather radar for the afternoons adventure.
So after lunch it was time to head out on I-75 South in the direction of Tawas City on the Lake Huron coast. This will take about 3hours and i will travel some 231km to reach my overnight destination. There is not much to see on I-75 nor on MI#55.
My overnight motel is right out of the 1950's, it is run by a husband and wife team who are 70+. But it is very clean, with a frig and microwave in the room, plus there is another two bikes here and later two cars, not sure if they are making money tonight or not.
There is also the Tawas Point Lighthouse, which is in the Tawas State Park, right on Lake Huron. I did a motorcycle trip in 2007 on US#23 and this was one of the lighthouses that I missed so it was on my list to visit. Photos Below.
After all this lighthouse exploring it was time to find a place to eat, but most are far enough away that I will have to take the motorcycle to get to them.
So off I go to the Pier 23 Food and Spirits on East Lake Street, OK place but someone needs to teach the cook how to cook seafood and pasta, because they failed!
Distance: 363km, Time: 6:30hrs
Heavy Rain, Cloudy Warm 20c to 11c - cool down
Overnight: Bambi Motel, 1100 E. Bay St., East Tawas, MI (***) Clean, very old fashion, good size room with microwave and frig. Husband and Wife run this place right out of the late 1950's Super friendly and bike parked outside my door. No Breakfast at all, go into town.
This was one of the most unpleasant mornings of the whole trip - torrential Rain! The motel was most accommodating to allow for a very late checkout at 11am, which was the only break in the weather moving from Southwest to Northeast. So at 11am, dressed in my rain gear packed the bike in 5 minutes and departed, the rain started up about 15 minutes later, but I was dressed for it and pushed on at a reduced speed, visibility was not great either.
I traveled South on I-75 for two exits before heading West to the Tunnel of Trees Road. The road is called MI#119 and runs for 44km. It is narrow and the trees meet at the centre of the road to create the "tunnel effect". Due to the rain I was not able to put out any of my cameras so I used the waterproof GO Pro to capture my journey, once I have edited down to about 2 minutes from the 40 minutes I will post it. The Discovery Channel named the roadway as one of the "Top 10 Motorcycle Rides in North America". So my only options is to come back next year when it is not raining and do this road again.
The photo is not mine, it is off of the Wikipedia site, and the attribution is below the image.
 |
| By Bobak Ha'Eri - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7302542 |
After my soggy road experience I arrived in Petoskey, MI, (around 2pm) which is a medium sized city and coastal resort community. It had a dry Starbucks - so this made a good spot to get out of the rain gear, have lunch and review the weather radar for the afternoons adventure.
So after lunch it was time to head out on I-75 South in the direction of Tawas City on the Lake Huron coast. This will take about 3hours and i will travel some 231km to reach my overnight destination. There is not much to see on I-75 nor on MI#55.
My overnight motel is right out of the 1950's, it is run by a husband and wife team who are 70+. But it is very clean, with a frig and microwave in the room, plus there is another two bikes here and later two cars, not sure if they are making money tonight or not.
There is also the Tawas Point Lighthouse, which is in the Tawas State Park, right on Lake Huron. I did a motorcycle trip in 2007 on US#23 and this was one of the lighthouses that I missed so it was on my list to visit. Photos Below.
After all this lighthouse exploring it was time to find a place to eat, but most are far enough away that I will have to take the motorcycle to get to them.
So off I go to the Pier 23 Food and Spirits on East Lake Street, OK place but someone needs to teach the cook how to cook seafood and pasta, because they failed!
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