I finally made it to Big Sauble Light House.

On my first visit, someone on the scooter forum mentioned that his daughter had planted flowers there, and I felt bad that I hadn’t gotten there to see them. I’d arrived somewhat late in the day, and only had time for a little hiking in the woods.

Last year I tried to rectify that, but the heat and my depression over the damaged brake lever prevented me from making it there.

This year I got there. It was a 4-mile round trip hike, and took me a couple hours all told. The season is wrong for the flowers, but I saw the plants.

On the way to the light I passed the “rustic” camp sites, which are a mile up the beach from the regular campground. They aren’t anything special, just some clearings with fire pits and pit toilets nestled among the jack pines in the dunes. But they fit the bill in terms of being in nature and getting away from the sea of RVs. And the gaggle of preschool kids in the site next to mine, taking turns shout-singing “Let It Go” and Sunday School songs. :/

I generally don’t mind the mobile-homers at state parks. There’s a saying among backpackers: “hike your own hike”, and they’re camping their own camp. I even envy them a bit sometimes, with their beds and all.

On the walk back from the lighthouse I was surprised by a young buck. I was walking down the dirt road, turned my head, and there he was: staring at me. He wasn’t more than 40 feet away. I slowly got out my good camera and got several shots of him, a few I which are OK. After a minute he walked away.

As I was congratulating myself for noticing him, I caught up with him… again not noticing him until I was almost on top of him. He was wary of me, but kept grazing. A couple of people approached from the other direction, and I pantomimed to draw their attention to him. From the look on her face, I wonder if she’d ever seen a deer in person before. Sadly she was unable to get out her camera before a family with a dog approached, and the deer bolted. I wished I could’ve given her one of mine. But I think her memory of it will last.

I managed to successfully check in at Ludington, without damaging my scooter. The weather wasn’t giving us a global-warming preview this year, and the line wasn’t as long, so the scooter stayed upright. Things are looking better already. 🙂

My ride to Ludington was largely uneventful. I took Leonard Street pretty much all the way to the lakeshore, turning north at Spring Lake. I rode through Muskegon (which is always a little depressing) and started following the surface highway that parallels US31.

I had a bit of déjà vu from my first big ride, passing Michigan’s Adventure amusement park (which I’d stumbled across the first time, not realizing it was in that area) and buying gas at the same Wesco station that I got my first fill-up of that trip.

The weather was nicer this time: the park was open, and this time I wasn’t in my rain gear at the gas station. It’s been mostly sunny, with some clouds and a bit of a breeze. Wearing a t-shirt and my riding jacket with the liner, I sometimes felt a little chilly.

The new scooter allows me to more or less keep up with traffic on the highway (55mph) but I don’t really like riding like that. Plus I’d been making good time, so I altered my just-get-there strategy, and north of Whitehall/Montague, I turned onto the side roads that run along the lakeshore. There I was treated to trees, less traffic, twists and turns, and the freedom to putt along at 35mph. With names like Scenic Drive and Lakeshore Drive, these were the roads I took on my fist ride. It ended up talking me the same 4 hours I had planned.

Continuing the been-there-done-that theme, I’ve come to the same restaurant in Ludington as last time: Jamesport Brewing Company. They even put me at the same table. 🙂 (they gave me the option of sitting outside, but I have plenty of outdoor time ahead of me.)

I understand that “selfies” are all the rage with the kids these days, so here’s an attempt at a selfie with my new bestie, Flash.

I’ve had a leisurely morning getting ready, after a reasonably good night’s sleep.  I’m in no hurry to get anywhere today: I just need to get to Ludington State Park by nightfall.  Nothing against Ludington, but I’ve been there twice before. At this point, it’s just a convenient place to spend the night before getting on the Badger tomorrow morning.  So I’ve got my departure pencilled in for “noon”, figuring it’ll take me 3-4 hours to get there with no stops for tourism… just fuel and rest and such.

I had a close call with my preparations, the sort of thing that helps to explain why I tend to go into obsessive-compulsive mode when I travel like this.  I use the 12V outlet on my scooter to keep my iPhone charged.  The phone is a pretty essential piece of equipment, not just for the blog and taking pictures, but also for navigating.  I seriously don’t know how I’d manage without it (though I do have printed copies of my planned route, just in case).  I plugged in the phone, just to make sure the charger was working… and it wasn’t.  I was afraid maybe the outlet on the scooter was broken, or a fuse blown, but fortunately I have a spare charger in my car.  I switched to that one, and it works.

That being the case, all systems are now “go” for launch. I just need to do a last check of e-mail and such, double-check the locks, set the alarms, and head north.

I’m just old and wise enough to wonder if I’m crazy to be undertaking this trip. 🙂

After all, one reason I left this trip for “last” on my tour of Michigan is that I wasn’t 100% sure I’d even do it.  It’s a long one, it’s a remote one, and it’s a complicated one.  Doing three days of backpacking in the middle of eight days of scootering makes the whole thing harder than doing just one or the other. Heck, last year I balked: uneasy about doing it on an aging 50cc scooter, one which suddenly had a damaged brake handle, I called it off and rode home.

On previous trips, the weather has also been a factor contributing to my cold feet, but at least it doesn’t look like that’s going to be a problem.  At least not at first.  The weather forecasts for the towns I’ll be riding through for the next few days look quite nice, with lots of sun.  The story when I get up to Isle Royale doesn’t look quite so sunny, however. But those are extended forecasts at this point, so I’m not putting much stock in them. And if it rains, it rains. I’ve done it before.

And ultimately, that’s what assures me that this isn’t so crazy: I’ve done most of this before. For example, the first two days’ ride will just be retracing the end of my first big ride: to Ludington, across the Lake, through eastern Wisconsin, and into the UP.  I’ll be returning to the Keweenaw, Copper Harbor, and Isle Royale, where I’ve been twice before. I’ve slept in a tent this size, night after night. I’ve ridden in the rain and I’ve hiked in the rain and I’ve camped in the rain. I didn’t much enjoy that part, but I was OK. I’ve ridden and hiked with most of the same gear before, in last year’s short test run (two days on the trail, instead of three; three days on the road, instead of eight). There are some new things ahead of me, but for the most part, I know this stuff.

And that’s the other side of why I saved this trip for last.  I’ve had four big rides and several smaller ones to prepare me for this. I have a more cabable scooter, I have more comfortable sleeping gear, I’ve learned how to better pack a scooter, how to plan a route, how to ride, how to cope with weather, and even how to handle crises (e.g. broken brake, lost tent, unsafe bridge conditions).

In 2009 I wasn’t up to doing this. In 2014, I am.

Not quite down-to-the-wire, last-minute, or even eleventh-hour, but still cutting it closer than is good for my blood pressure… I brought the new scooter in for service today.  New scooters are supposed to be returned to the shop shortly after purchase for a special “first service”.  This is required to maintain the 2-year warranty, and involves an oil change, adjustments, and checks to make sure everything is breaking in properly.  For example, I’m told the initial break-in process can leave teeny metal shavings in the engine oil, which you don’t want to ride with very long.

The standard recommendation is to have first-service done at 500 miles.  For some people, that’s a few months after purchase; for me it was a few weeks.  My odometer was accidentally disconnected for at least 100 miles, but it read “400” this morning, which means I was right on time.  If I’d waited until after this trip, I’d be at around 2,000 miles, which is way too long.  It probably wouldn’t wreck the engine, but it could take miles off its lifespan.

When he was finished, the mechanic said that all looked well, and sent me on my way.  But not before finally replacing the temporary black front fender he’d given me during the switch-over, because the red fender from my old scoot didn’t fit the new one.  Flash II is now all set to travel: properly insured, registered (custom plate: FLA5H), red-paneled, and (mostly) broken in.

Supposedly he’ll continue to gain some power as break-in progresses, but I’m not even sure if I’ll notice. I’ve only ridden him wide-open a few times, mostly just to see what it’s like.  I did it today because I was already taking a 2-hour lunch break to have him serviced, and wanted to cover the 25-mile round trip as quickly as I could.

Also I am legally set to travel: my motorcycle-endorsed driver’s licence arrived in the mail the other day. The photo on it looks disturbingly like my father 😉 but should otherwise serve me well.