The first question is why bother. Why not make this a short trip up to Mackinac Island and back? Maybe take the ferry out to Bois Blanc Island, departing Cheboygan, to visit an archaeological dig that just so happens to have my surname upon it. One reason, or source of compulsion, is I've made this journey two times before. Not the exact journey but a journey along the same theme. July 2009 I drove up to Manitoulin Island by starting first in Detroit, proceeding to Toronto, driving through the night to Barrie and Sudbury and arriving at Little Current at Noon. I then proceeded to Mackinac Island. And then I returned home by US 31. I remember arriving late to work on Tuesday morning, a tardiness my boss forgave. July 2010, I reversed the order of my circumnavigation around Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. After Mackinac Island, I drove up to Sault Ste. Marie, and drove along Lake Huron, stopping in Bruce Mines and Spanish, Ontario. Visited Manitoulin Island for an overnight and a long day and then drove through Muskoka during the day. I drove through the night, and ended up slumbering in Port Stanley, Ontario, on the shores of Lake Erie. And then I made my way home to Muskegon. I am remembering the people I met during those two travels, and I'm glad I made notes so I can recall them in greater detail when I have a moment.
So I have driven around Lake Huron twice. I have driven around Lake Erie once. I've taken a train along the north coast of Lake Ontario once. I haven't driven around Lake Superior ever. I've been up as far as the pictographs on the cliffs of Wawa, Ontario. I scaled those cliffs with a friend and we slept in blueberry bushes on a flat rock surface, attached to cliff with cord and piton. I was a high school graduate, class of 1981. I had achieved seventeen years of age, and I'm calling it my first spree. We had two days and we drove up from Kalkaska, Michigan to Wawa without stopping, about a three hundred mile run, no more than five hours drive. He kept muttering, "Rock!" and kept giving me the thumbs up sign. We are talking thirty years ago. But most of the Superior coast is unknown to me, and pretty much unknown to mankind. The northeastern shore of Huron and Georgian Bay begins to show the wild, primeval side of unexplored Earth. Lake Superior has six hundred and fifty miles of wild and primeval along its upper boundary.
The Agawa Rock Pictographs:
Allow me to discuss my itinerary with you. It's really a six to seven day trip with one leg driven a day and one day given over totally to rest and relaxation. However, I have only five driving days, so two legs belong to one long day of driving. Cost for driving the trip can be calculated by two means. One is simply forecasting the number of gallons required. I'm assuming I'll pay 4 dollars a gallon and get twenty five miles to the gallon. I'll be driving a Red Chevy Cruze, which will improve on the miles per gallon. Mileage is another means of calculating motoring expense, and that's around fifty cents a mile, or a bit more than 800 dollars for the trip. However, I'm considering all expenses beside the gasoline to be a sunk cost. I would be paying them if I were sitting in my car in the driveway, which I occasionally do.
Cruzing in a Red Chevy
Leg: 1
Start: Muskegon, Michigan
Stop: Sault Saint Marie, Ontario
Miles: 300
Hours: 6
Cumulative Miles: 300
Cumulative Hours: 6
Gasoline: $48
This is a fairly simple leg of journey. I've driven it several times, know where to stop, know where to take a nap. Crossing the Upper Peninsula is always a treat because the land breathes naturally. Maybe it is because of the bogs and the peat, but I can tell a difference. This leg involves a border crossing too, and I'm always flagged for immigration because I'm a single man driving in a rental car. I'll make certain I know where I'm staying in Thunder Bay and will book hotel in advance. That usually comforts the immigration agent, but long after my car seats and my trunk and my very luggage have been searched. There will be a side trip to Mackinac Island to visit the fortress.. I'll handle this on Thursday night.
Oh, Canada! Let those chilly borders thaw!
Leg: 2
Start: Sault Saint Marie, Ontario
Stop: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Miles: 439
Hours: 8
Cumulative Miles: 739
Cumulative Hours: 14
Gasoline: $70
This will be the most complex part of the drive. It's a narrow road called the Trans-Canada Highway, and it passes through sections without towns and gas pumps for a seemingly endless time. The Chevy Cruze has an excellent cruising range, and you can be sure I'll be topped off when I depart Sault Saint Marie, Michigan. If it is like the Trans-Canada Highway between Spanish Ontario and Bruce Mines, it will be unforgettably beautiful and dangerous. For example, drivers perform some mad moves when passing people. This is where I will encounter surprises and feel the freedom of the open road the most. This leg have to begin by four on Friday evening. I'll be driving in the dark when I arrive at Thunder Bay, at least two to three hours of dark.
Leg: 3
Start: Thunder Bay, Ontario
Stop:Duluth, Minnesota
Miles: 190
Hours: 3
Cumulative Miles: 929
Cumulative Hours: 17
Gasoline: $30
A second night in Thunder Bay is indicated, especially since I'll be arriving there so early in the morning. However, my itinerary is tight, so I'll push on to Duluth and make it a short day on the road. Duluth is a great Great Lakes town, so I'll have some leisure to walk around, enjoy dinner, maybe catch a show. Mackinac Island is one high point of the trip. Duluth might be the second. It will be Saturday night in a town totally not my own. I hope I might some great locals.. Crossing into Duluth will entail a crossing border from Canada to the United States. The officers might not understand the meaning of road trip. I'll sound like a travelogue at the customs booth.
We want them on our border. We need them on our border.
Leg: 4
Start: Duluth, Minnesota
Stop:Green Bay, Wisconsin
Miles: 330
Hours: 7
Cumulative Miles:1259
Cumulative Hours: 24
Gasoline:$53
I have this idea of stopping around Rhinelander, visiting the hotel where John Dillinger and his associates tried to drop out of public and government eye for a few weeks of rest and relaxation. Dillinger barely escaped with his life. Somewhere in Northern Wisconsin, there's an strip of land that separates the Great Lakes watershed from the Mississippi River watershed. I once studied this on a map. I am such a geek! There's no need to look for the Little Bohemia Hotel or this historical crossing known to canoe voyageurs.. Wisconsin is filled with charming villages, and I'll have no difficulty finding places to rest, fuel up, dine. Looking for a good conversation will be as easy, too. If I can find a few towns as charming as Mishicot, Wisconsin, I'll be happy.
Dillinger only left because he had to!
I had time to stop and think a few thoughts in Mishicot, WI
Leg: 5
Start: Green Bay Wisconsin
Stop:Chicago Illinois
Miles: 206
Hours: 3
Cumulative Miles:1465
Cumulative Hours: 27
Gasoline:$33
Speaking about charming villages, the road from Green Bay down to the Illinois border reminds me of Frankenmuth and Holland and Beaver Island to the stronger level. Frankenmuth is German. Holland is Dutch. Beaver Island is Irish. The Green Bay Ethnic Trail has many, many more towns, around thirty in all, the have deep ethic roots. Belgians, Luxembourg immigrants, Slovenians all have their cities on this route. Maybe I can find a Luxembourg restaurant? This is also a place where I can pull the plug on the journey by taking a ferry across the lake. I prefer the Badger, which will only cost me around 140 dollars for my car and I.
The Green Bay Ethnic Trail:
Leg: 6
Start:Chicago Illinois
Stop:Muskegon Michigan
Miles: 187
Hours: 4
Cumulative Miles:1652
Cumulative Hours: 31
Gasoline:$30
The run from Chicago to Muskegon is familiar now. I usually take 41 out of the city until I reach US 12. I believe it is called the Iron Brigade Highway, which connects to the Red Arrow Highway around New Buffalo. I have wanted to visit Valparaiso, Indiana, but it's a drive south of US 12. Maybe this will be the time I veer south and find myself a spot of dinner in Valpo. I have never met a person from Valpo I didn't like. In fact, every single one of the Valpos away from Valparaiso have charmed me deeply. I did drive by Valpo on the east side when returning from watching Sandhill Cranes, thousands, landing in Pulaski County. I still regret not making a dinner stop. Was it late September of 2005? I'll have to check my Moleskine road journals.
The Blue Star Highway will take me home as far as Holland, Michigan
So there is the skeleton of a trip around two Great Lakes. Almost 17 Hundred Miles and more than a full day behind the wheel. I haven't even though about the five nights in a hotel the journey will require.
1 comment:
I've never been on the north side of Lake Superior. Seems like an excellent adventure, Bill and Ted. Now I see where you get your name, WW. Thanks for sharing.
Hugh
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