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.)
