The Mighty Mac

Leaving my family

We got up early.  Glenn and Becky had to go to their family breakfast and I had to hit the road to go even further north into Michigan.  I was desperately sad.  It was so wonderful to be with the people I love again, and wasn’t looking forward to the loneliness of the road again.  And, after the beatdown the weather had given me on this trip, my family had been a balm to my soul that I wasn’t ready to let go of.

I packed up Lucille, my family watching.  Becky seemed impressed that I could be so organized.  I’m usually very scattered, but when on a trip like this, it’s best to do everything the same way.  It helps to prevent forgetting things.  I got her all loaded, checked my tiedowns and got dressed in my motorcycle gear.  Glenn offered to back her out of the spot I’d parked Lucille in, but by this time, I felt it was no big deal.  And it wasn’t.  I can’t lie.  Leaving them behind was tough.  It was made tougher knowing I was headed for the Mighty Mac, the Mackinac Bridge.

Packing up Lucille.

The bridge

I’ve mentioned before that bridges frighten me, but none like the Mackinac Bridge.  Glenn had made up horror stories to tell me when I was planning the trip.  Unfortunately, they were slightly based in truth.  In 1989, a woman driving a Yugo was blown over the side of the bridge and died when her car hit the water of Lake Michigan.  In 1997, a guy drove his Bronco over the side committing suicide.  These stories are true.  Glenn told me these, but embellished and added several deaths to scare me.  In addition, only the outer two lanes are paved.  The inner two lanes are a grated surface.  This can be really tricky on a motorcycle.

I had done a lot of research on the both the bridge and on how to ride on a grate.  I thought I could do it, but if the wind was bad, that would add still an additional hurdle.  Unfortunately, the wind was blowing hard, and I was really scared.  Prior to COVID, they would drive your car or motorcycle across the bridge if you were afraid, however, COVID ended that.  Now the best you could hope for was an escort across the bridge.  That meant I would have to ride Lucille over the bridge myself.

I made it to the bridge in a couple of hours and decided not to stop before riding over.  If I stopped, I was afraid I wouldn’t go again.  I rolled in behind a CanAm and hoped for the best.  The wind was fierce and I cannot describe to you just how afraid I was I would be the next person that blew over the side of the bridge.  My plan was to stick to the outer, paved lane and avoid the grate.  Unfortunately they had some road construction going on, and I had no choice but to leave the pavement and ride on the grate.  Although I felt nothing but terror, I was at least aware enough to keep my hands loose on the handlebars, and keep my speed steady.  I actually made it across safely!

This is me, crossing the Mighty Mackinac Bridge!  My family took this screenshot from a live view of the bridge.

In case you couldn’t find me, I circled myself for you!

Here I am again, almost to the end.  I’m behind the CanAm.

There I am!!!  Proof I made it across.

Recovery

After what felt like hours of terror, but was really like 7 minutes, I rolled up to the toll booth.  The attendant asked me how I was and I told her that was the most terrifying thing I had ever done.  She agreed and said she should pay me!  But, she still took my $4.  I pulled off at the first exit to get off the bike and hopefully stop shaking.  The first exit had both gas and food, so I felt really lucky.  Both to have not gone over the side of the bridge into the lake and to have a gas and food stop.  I ate a sandwich, sitting by Lucille, just trying to recover.

Now that the terror of the bridge was over, I had to face leaving my family, and continuing my trip.  I was hoping the new tent my BFG brought me would really be waterproof, as this rainless day couldn’t last.  I was sad, but excited to carry on.  The thought of quitting had been on my mind, but I felt refreshed having spent some time with family, and I thought I might actually complete the trip!

Van Riper

While we were looking for a place for me to stay since the Ishpeming Bunk a Biker never got back to me, my BFG told me about a Michigan State Park, Van Riper.  He said it was a nice place and I made a reservation.  The ride to get there was beautiful.  The Upper Peninsula, or UP as the locals call it, had a lot of water and a LOT of bugs.  It was also significantly cooler than it was on the south side of the bridge.  While riding through the UP, I saw a loon, and couple of sandhill cranes, and a few dead porcupines.  I really wanted to see a live one because they are so adorable, but no luck there.

I got to the campsite around 1530.  This was the most expensive campsite I stayed at.  To book online, there was an $8 fee, plus the $25 camp fee.  What I didn’t know, you also pay a $9 fee to get into the campground.  This was more than I thought I should spend for a campsite, but they did have free showers and it was nice.

Lucille parked at my campsite.  I didn’t even blink at driving her over the tree roots and grass.

Glenn and I had set up the tent to make sure I would be able to do it on my own, so it was really easy to put up.

The tent went right up and I was able to relax!

All set up and the laundry is done.

Evening

After I’d showered and done the laundry, I made dinner.  A little friend tried to join me.

My new friend in Michigan.  I think she was hungry.

I, of course, didn’t feed her, but she didn’t give up.  She spent the entire evening until dark near my side.  The sun stays up for a really long time up here, so proper night happens late.  I went into my new house.  It was really nice!

A tour of my new home.

I settled into my bed and finally fell asleep.  Tomorrow would be my last day in Michigan.  I’d spent 6 days in the state, and I’d seen a lot.  It was a really pretty state, particularly the northern bits.  I liked it here, but I could imagine it would get really cold in the winter!  I was glad I was here now.

Tomorrow would take me through Wisconsin and into Minnesota.  I couldn’t wait to see what they would show me!