Day Four Michigan Trip. Onekama, Mich to Neilsville, WI

Sunday, August 18.  We had a tight schedule this morning in that we needed to get to the Ludington Ferry by 8:00 AM.  Since the town was an hour away we awoke before dawn to load up and be on our way.  It was a cool yet pleasant morning and the sun was up by the time we were packed and on our way.  Nice morning for a ride.

We followed my GPS to the dock which sent us down some nice country roads, no arguments here!  As we pulled into the town of Ludington and headed towards our destination, Keith waved adieu and headed further south on US31.  Keith was heading to Chicago to visit his daughter living there.  They had tickets to a Sox game this afternoon.

The rest of us found the dock, checked in and queued up with a bunch of other bikes who had the same goal today:  get to Wisconsin without having to drive all the way around that big lake!

The SS Badger is a fairly old boat that was first commissioned in the 40's to haul freight trains across Lake Michigan.  It is a coal burner which doesn't make the EPA very happy.  They have been wanting to close it down as a polluter but fortunately for us they haven't been successful yet.  We eventually were allowed to ride into the belly of the ship, lashed the bikes down (bring your own ratchet straps) and headed up for breakfast.

It is a four hour ride across the big lake but since we cross a time line the clock only moves three hours.  It was cool on deck, warm in the dining rooms.  We unloaded at Manitowoc Wisconsin at noon.  A couple of Fossils needed to hightail it home yet this afternoon.  So now we waved goodbye to Steve and Rick who were taking the superslab all the way to Mpls.  The rest of us (five in number now) found our way out of town and headed west on US 10.

Our immediate goal this afternoon was to get over to Appleton WI to the home of a friend of mine, David.  David had been in a bad motorcycle accident in Wyoming this summer and had just got home from the hospital.  He said he'd be happy to get some company even from some old Fossil bikers so we pulled in front of his house about 2:30 after a stop of sustenance at a DQ we found on the way.  We had a nice visit and were able to tour his "man's garage" where he rehabs and sells old Honda Silverwings as a hobby.

The afternoon was getting warm to hot and we had a ways to travel before we sleep.  We continued west on US 10 and found a Super8 in central Wisconsin.  Before this I had found a no name motel just east of town which almost caused a five bike pile up when I slammed on the brakes and swerved into the parking lot.  They weren't expecting that, sorry guys.  Anyhow the motel and restaurant was closed on Sundays, though for some reason, unlocked.  That was strange....!

After checking in to the Super8 we found a local Pizza Hut and had a pleasant meal and conversation.  Back at the motel we continued our bible study on "A Good Servant of Jesus Christ".