I’m doing the map on the main page just a little bit differently this year, to make it easier to follow.  The counties I’ve visited on previous rides are now in lighter washed-out colors, and the counties I ride through on this trip will be in darker saturated colors.  That way you can see my progress this year, and also see the counties fill in as I “finish” the map of Michigan.

(That should happen on the 26th, when I reach Gogebic County at the western end of the UP, and continue on into Wisconsin.)

I’ve also added a yellow dot to indicate the location of my latest camp site.  Click the map to embiggen it, if needed.

The map is pre-programmed, of course.  I just made a series of maps that reflect the planned itinerary of each day’s travel, and programmed the web site to select the appropriate one.  Conveniently, when the web server’s internal UTC date changes, it’s 6pm CDT/7pm EDT, which is when I’m usually finished riding for the day, so if you check in the evening, it’ll show how far I’ve gotten.  24 hours later, it automatically switches to the next map.

Be aware that no new counties will be filled in for three days, after I arrive in Copper Harbor on the 21st; only the yellow dot will move.  The following day I go to Isle Royale, which is also technically part of Keweenaw County (but administered by the National Park Service), and I’ll be returning to Copper Harbor on the 24th.  I won’t be getting back on the scooter and riding until the 25th.

I’ll be departing in 11 days on my 11-day expedition to the western UP.  Which puts it in perspective, I guess.

It’s kind of a long time to be gone from home.  The standard modern American vacation is 7 days, and I’m padding an extra weekend and another day on either end of it. It’s the longest scooter (and hiking) trip I’ve taken.

But I’ve done trips this long – and longer – before.  My most recent visit to Isle Royale (in 2006) was equally long, spending 9 nights on the island, plus a day before and after driving to and from by car.  About 20 years ago I spent a similar amount of time visiting Iceland and London, and I took a couple of shorter trips to Europe in those days as well.  Which is to say nothing of the month I spent traveling around western Europe in 1986, before spending a three-month term at the University of Aberdeen, or the 5+ weeks Adam Pinsky and I spent traveling by bicycle (and train) around the UK three years before.

But of course those were different times for me.  In the 1980s I was a student, with my parents taking responsibility for the few aspects of my life that needed tending to while I was gone.  In the 1990s I was still young and carefree enough to trust that all would be well, just as I left it, when I returned.  Nowadays, life is stressful, and taking a break from it… is stressful as well.  I need to arrange for things to be done at work in my absence, I need to secure the house, I need to set up the web and mail servers to operate without me, et cetera.

It’s trouble.

But it’s worth it.

Because for 11 days, I’ll be able to leave it all behind. I’ll still be facing challenges: dealing with hundreds of miles of unfamiliar roads, unpredictable weather, and so on. But they’ll be different kinds of problems, and the problems I leave behind (for 11 days) will all be too far out of reach to even think about.

I just need to get through 11 more days first.