Michigan

Minninsota August 3, 2002

Riding from South Dakota through Minnesota was plane boring after what we had seen in the previous part of the trip. North Central SD is just plain empty, not much of anything, not even any Antalope. The eastern part of SD is farming, and so is MN, at least the central part. The rain started about 11:00 and continued all night. We stopped in St. Cloud about 2:30 and got a motel. At times the rain came down at 2” per hour. Not much fun riding in that kind of weather. So we waited it out until Monday and left St. Cloud in great weather, 70 to 72 deg all day. Quite a difference! I did not take any pictures in MN or so far in WI. So as all you get is this text. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow.

Ashland, Wi

Monday we left Ashland, WI which is close to the border of upper Michigan heading east on Hwy. 2. There is not much to see all the way across except trees and some times Lake Superior.

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Whitefish Pt. was very interesting, or at least the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum was. There has been 6000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes since the 1850’s, one of the latest and the largest was Fitzgareld in 1975. All twenty nine crew members died in one of the worst storms in recent history 100+MPH winds and waves 30 ft. high. The Fitzgareld was fully loaded and riding low in the water.

Tonight August 7th we are staying in Paradise, MI only 11 miles from Whitefish Pt. Tomorrow we will head south then east to Sue Saint Marie, but instead of going on into Canada and around Lake Huron we have decided to go south across the Macinaw Bridge and follow the east cost of lower Michigan south.

We will follow I75 South to Lexington, KY to meet the friends we were suppose to meet in NY two weeks form now we are a little ahead of schedule. We will ride back up to NY with them when they get off work.

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Wyoming

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Yellowstone & Cody

Thursday July 4th we left Bigfork heading south on HWY 83, it is on the east side of Swan Lake and West of Glacier National Park. About 1 hr from Bigfork we stopped at a Exxon station to get some ice and got to talking to a older man that had been there since 1946. I think he owned the station, but am not sure. He was full of stories and jokes and loved to talk. One place that he said don’t miss is Holland Park Inn, about an Hour south on 83 and about 4 miles up a paved road, at least he said it was paved, come to find out when we started up it was gravel for 2 miles and oiled for 2 miles. The oiled part was almost like pavement but the gravel was rough and dusty. But he was right, it was worth the trip. See pictures of lake and lodge under trip_pictures. We continued on south to Butte and stayed in a Motel 8 for the night. In the morning we continued south and entered Yellowstone at the west entrance. Stopped at Old Faithful lodge to see if they had any cancellations for that night, but our luck did not hold out, so we had to continue on to Cody where we stayed in a KOA until the 8th. If you get to Cody don’t miss the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. It took us two days to see the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art, and the Cody Firearms Museum. We did not even see all of the Draper Museum of Natural History.

On Monday we were off to Sheridan over the Big Horns, thur Burgges Junction Hwy 14. It was very hot in Sheridan 102 we should have gotten a motel with air instead of another KOA, but it cooled off in the evening enough to sleep.

Leaving Sheridan we stoped at Fort Philkearney

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Cheyenne

Pat and I grew up in Cheyenne, and she still has a lot of family there. So we spent some time visiting. The last full week of July is Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) this year was the 106th. CFD is the largest outdoor rodeo in the world. When I was a kid we use to sneak in through the bull pins, luckely nothing ever happened, the bulls did not pay attention to us. Some other great things to do in Cheyenne the last full week of July are:

  • Rodeo Every day starting Saturday through Sunday’s Finals
  • Parade Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
  • Pancake Breakfast Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
  • Night Show Ever Daty thru Saturday starting at 8:00PM
  • Indian Dances At the Indian Village

We went to the parade twice the pancake breakfast once, the Night Show and the rodeo Finals on Sunday.

During the week we went to Longmont, Co, since we lived there my first 20 years with IBM. We still have lots of friends there.

Custer, SD

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Custer is a nice little mountain town of about 5,000. Summer has many more because of the people traveling to the Black Hills, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, and The Sturgis Rally. On Wednesday we took a little tour through Custer St. Park, Needles Hwy, Iron Mountain Road, Mount Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Memorial. There are eight Tunnels in the Black Hills we road through five of them, some not much larger than the one through the RedWood Tree in Northern California.

What You Need to Know About Visiting Custer State Park From their web site:

  • Location: park entrance located two minutes from downtown Custer
  • Hours/Seasonality: Park is open year-round.
  • Fees/Reservations: A park entrance fee is required. A temporary permit (valid for 1-7 days) cost $6 per person/$15 dollars a vehicle; annual park fee is $28.
  • Website: www.CusterStatePark.info
  • Other Attractions Inside the Park: Peter Norbeck Visitor Center, Black Hills Playhouse, Wildlife Station Visitor Center, Centennial Trailhead

Roger Wright and Peggy Williams are friends from our years in Colorado, both have retired, well sort of they still are working 40+ hours a week. We enjoyed our short stay with them.

Thursday morning we left their house and headed toward Sturgis, the rally does not start until Monday, but there were already a couple thousand bikes there and most all vendors were setup or in the process of setting up. After a couple hours riding around town and buying some tee shirts we continued on northeast on hwy 212. Thursday we did not see to many heading to Sturgis, but on Friday it was almost a steady stream.

New York

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New York

We left Lexington with Frank and Shirley Hosley heading for NY. Will pickup Dale and Carol in Cuba, NY. Franks sister and brother in law. I still haven’t taken any pictures, but will shortly. The picture at the top is taken close to Lake Placid I think don’t remember for sure.

We were headed for 1000 island area along the St. Lewarence river in upstate NY.

Clayton is a small village tucked away in upstate NY’s Thousand Island region. Located in the heart of this stunning region, Clayton, NY extends out into the beautiful St. Lawrence River as a grand peninsula. There is no doubt; this village offers some of the best panoramas in the 1000 Islands region.

Aside from providing magnificent views, Clayton’s prime location on the St. Lawrence River makes the village a perfect destination for swimming, boating and other water sports. Fishing enthusiasts find an array of bass, muskie, walleye and pike in the sparkling waters of the St. Lawrence River.

The people of Clayton are known for their helpfulness and hospitality toward vacationers and tourists. This hospitality is part of the nostalgia that makes visitors return to this quaint little village year after year.

Downtown Clayton is unique in that every street ends at the river. These streets are lined with a variety of shops and boutiques where visitors can pick up clothing, gifts and other souvenirs. Downtown also features an array of eateries, from pizza joints and sub shops to diners and up-scale restaurants. Visitors are often surprised to find out how low the prices are at Clayton’s great restaurants.

In addition to all the attractions and entertainment, Clayton NY also boasts an amazing history, dating back to the 1800’s. From its old-world buildings to its intriguing museums and landmarks, Clayton is filled with old-fashioned charm and prominent history that is well worth discovering.

Visitors looking to stay in Clayton, NY will find an array of lodging options, including hotels, motels, inns, campgrounds and more, all at affordable prices. Whether you’re looking for a relaxing vacation or a romantic honeymoon, Clayton is the perfect place to stay in upstate New York!

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Took a tour on the St. Lewarence river to see some of it’s beautiful Islands. The tour guide was great telling us all kinds of information about the islands and the homes on them. The only way to get to these homes is by boat. So they are very private. A great video is here of some of the 1700 islands and homes.

Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania

Now we are on our way home going south thru Pennyslvania on the back roads, trying to stay off the interstates and see some of the beautifull country side. One place we will stop for sure is Johnstown. It is the site of the worst floods in PA. I did not take any pictures so will put links to web sites with great photos.

Johnstown Flood

On May 31, 1889, a neglected dam and a phenomenal storm led to a catastrophe in which 2,209 people died. It’s a story of great tragedy, but also of triumphant recovery. Visit the Johnstown Flood Museum, which is operated by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, to find out more about this shocking episode in American history.

The Johnstown History

More great Photos adirondack-park

More great Photos Frank L Wright first ones of fallingwater.


Well thats all of our GREAT TRIP hope you’all enjoyed this. I will add more to this blog later. Well thats all of our GREAT TRIP hope you’all enjoyed this. I will add more to this blog later. **NOTE: The comment section does not work!