Story by Jim Park
Editor’s Note: This story was originally published the January 2021 edition of the MSTA Florida Chapter newsletter, The Florida Gator Tale. The story has been edited to match the MSTA website’s style.
North Carolina, Kentucky & Indiana (2013)
For 2013, we were back in Maggie Valley, N.C., to work the Roadrunner rally. It was very similar to the previous year’s rally, and the timing was perfect to attend STAR in Lexington, Ky., afterwards.
Following a great experience at STAR, we continued our journey just a short distance farther north to my hometown of Madison, Ind., for the Independence Day race weekend. Madison hosts their annual Unlimited Hydroplane Regatta, which draws large crowds. The small town of 13,000 residents even owns their own hydroplane, which often wins!
We both always enjoy our time there. It has a downtown historic section with many homes on the National Historic register that sits directly on the Ohio River. If you are traveling through that part of the country, be sure to visit as you won’t be disappointed.
Central & Northern United State (2014)
This was the year we visited 16 states and covered nearly 8,000 miles in 41 days. Our years of two-wheel travels have taught us to take a break once in a while, so we planned several multi-day stops along our route. Our first stop was a two-day layover in Nashville. It was my first time in the Music City, and we stayed downtown to walk to many of the attractions. When we arrived at our hotel, there was a bluegrass group playing under the hotel’s foyer. Later, we spoke with the musicians to find out that they were cameramen for the Nashville Television Network and played in their spare time. Regardless, it was a nice “Welcome to Nashville” moment.
Leaving Nashville, we headed west to Rapid City, S.D., for that year’s STAR rally. Along the way we crossed the Mississippi River via the Hickman Ferry. It wasn’t exactly a state-of-the-art ferry but a unique way to cross the river. South Dakota and the STAR rally were both fabulous. We had traveled through the Black Hills area on our 2001 trip but had not spent a lot of time there. We took in many of the sights including Mount Rushmore, the Needles Highway and Devils Tower to name a few.
When STAR had wrapped up, we headed north into North Dakota. Let me tell you, there are not a lot of people in that state — which is probably why there aren’t many gas stations. We knew when traveling in the western part of the country that you always fill your tank when you see a gas station — even if you are only half empty. It seems that North Dakota doesn’t allow for such luxuries! My bike had a fuel range of about 200 miles, while Dianne’s needed gas around 150 miles. We were headed east on highway U.S. Route 2, and there just weren’t any gas stations. My GPS showed a few, but the first three we found had gone out of business.
We finally came found an unmanned station with a gravel parking lot that I think was for agricultural use. It had three diesel pumps and one regular gas pump. The credit card reader was a slot that you had to swipe your card the entire length of the pump — which was strange. The next highlight of the trip was the upper peninsula of Michigan. We stayed in the little town of Iron River one night that had a hotel, laundromat and four bars. While doing our laundry, we went into a nearby bar where there were about six patrons there who were obviously curious about us strangers. One of them eventually hollered down the bar “Are you those people on the motorcycles?” We got a good laugh while realizing that not much happens in that town.
While exploring the Upper Peninsula, we arrived in Munising, Mich., in fog so heavy it was like riding in rain. We had hoped to take the boat excursion along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, but it wasn’t looking good. We checked at the ranger station and were told that the fog would lift in just a couple of hours. We purchased tickets for a three hour tour but were very doubtful that we would be able to go. Right on cue, as the Ranger predicted, the fog lifted, and we had beautiful weather. I was able to get some great photographs of the fog layers as they hung over the lake.
Turning south we headed onto the back roads through Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. On our way to Bryson City, N.C., we rode through heavy rain in Tennessee. At that point, I opted to let my GPS do my thinking and set the quickest route. I paid no attention where the route actually took us just as long as we got out of the rain! I later realized (after it was too late to turn around) that the final leg of the route was U.S. 129 (Deals Gap aka “Tail of the Dragon”). Okay, Deals Gap in the rain, why not? It was late on a Sunday evening when we did the 11-mile with 318 curves. Surprisingly, the roadside photographers were still there even though we were the only riders crazy enough to be on the road.
We arrived that night in Bryson City — wet but safe. In Bryson City, we enjoyed riding the region’s roads, as well as the city’s Independence Day celebration. It was pure American. Heading south towards home, we took a leisurely route down a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway to northeast Georgia and finally on to home. It was a great trip.
New England & Canada (2016)
Our travels in 2016 took us back to the New England states — and this time even farther north. Our trip was leisurely, as we spent time visiting family in Virginia and Pennsylvania and attending STAR in Vermont. Leaving STAR, we continued north with stops for several days in both the small towns of Middlebury, Vt., and Bar Harbor, Maine. They are nice towns and well worth the visit.
From Bar Harbor, we continued north from Maine into Canada. We rode in rain our first two days. We arrived in Nova Scotia and were thrilled to find very nice accommodations for two nights in Baddeck — a small town on the southerly side of the Cabot Trail loop. The weather forecast was for more rain, but we decided we’d get up early to ride the Cabot Trail (Nova Scotia/Cape Breton Island) regardless of weather conditions. The following day brought gorgeous weather — the weatherman was wrong!
We rode the Trail counterclockwise as that kept us on the ocean side of the road for the best views — and it did not disappoint. We headed north the following day and crossed the Saint Lawrence River on the easterly (or gulf end) via ferry. The river is very wide at this particular location, so it was a more than two hour crossing. That evening we stayed in the town of Baie-Comeau, a French-speaking district. Our dinner that night was an adventure. The restaurant staff only spoke French, it was a Greek restaurant and we ordered Italian!
The next day we traveled westerly along the northerly shoreline of the Saint Lawrence River to Old City Quebec. Our “inn” there was perfect. It was located next to Old City — with restaurants and pubs just step from the front door — and covered parking for our bikes. We spent three days in Quebec enjoying its sights, restaurants and walking tours — a “très bon” stop!
We then made our turn south, traveling back roads through upstate New York and Pennsylvania to Front Royal, Va., where we picked up Skyline Drive. Skyline is similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway with limited access and no commercial traffic, and it eventually connects to the north end of the Parkway. So, we rode the length of the Skyline, and once again, the length of the Blue Ridge. After 36 days on the road, we arrived home with lots of great memories.
Western United States (2017)
It was back to riding through Western states for 2017. STAR took place in Colorado Springs that year, but our plan was to stop for sights along the way. Our first day on the road, we hugged the East Coast and spent the night in St. Simons Island in southeast Georgia. It’s a quaint little town with lots of shops, restaurants, pubs and many sights. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway, give it a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Heading northwest our next stop was Sparta, N.C., where we attended the MSTA TRISTAR rally. TRISTAR is one of the MSTA’s top regional rallies that is well planned and has great roads in the surrounding area. Put it on your bucket list.
When we left Sparta, Dianne had a little problem during the morning. It seems that she forgot to secure her tailbag. After dragging it many, many miles, a passing motorist honked and pointed out the oversight. A pair of tennis shoes, jacket liner and a few other items lighter, we continued west.
I had read the book “Dodge City” by Tom Clavin earlier that year, so a stop in Dodge City, Kan., was a must. We did all of the tourist stuff — attended a staged gun fight and rode the tour bus around town. It was a little bit hokey but still fun and informative. Oh, and our bed and breakfast even overlooked Boot Hill.
We spent the next week at the STAR rally in Colorado Springs. There’s some fantastic riding in that area, and I spent some time with several MSTA riding buddies (you know who you are) putting some miles on those roads. After STAR, we headed north into Rocky Mountain National Park then on to Rapid City, S.D., to take in the Badlands National Park. With the exception of some very heavy wind in South Dakota, Mother Nature was pretty kind to us for a change. We stopped in the charming town of La Crosse, Wis., and then Galena, Ill., a cute tourist town, and then Madison, Ind. We pretty much “super slabbed” it home to beat the July heat.
Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan (2018)
This is the most recent iteration of our long distance touring. We were on the road for 46 days and covered about 6,600 miles. Our route took us along the Mississippi River with some wonderful sights to see along the river. We stopped for the night in Galena, Ill., where we stayed in a historic hotel — ,the Desoto House. From Galena we crossed the Mississippi River and took the Iowa side up to La Crosse, Wis., for that year’s STAR rally. Surprisingly, there were many rolling hills and sweeping curves in Iowa, so it was time well spent.
Leaving STAR, we headed north into Minnesota’s Iron Range. There were no particular sights we wanted to see there: it was just another side of the mountain that neither of us had been to before. Our impression of the Iron Range region was as a hunter’s and outdoorsman’s paradise. Deer and other wildlife were plentiful, and with numerous lakes I suspect the fishing was also pretty good. It was not a disappointment, but not an area we care to rush back to see.
After Minnesota we headed east to ride once again through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and took a northerly route along Lake Superior. We spent our first night on the U.P. in Houghton, a nice college town where we took in some live music overlooking the waterway. That night we were awoken by banging on our hotel room door around 3 a.m. It was the hotel manager telling us we needed to evacuate our room as the ground floor of the hotel was flooding. We quickly gathered our things and moved to the second floor. Just a few minutes later I went back to our first floor room to check that we had all of our belongings and found the room’s floor had four inches of water sitting on it. The (covered) bikes were wet but fine the next morning.
We headed north over flooded roads the next morning to Copper Harbor, Mich., situated on a peninsula overlooking Lake Superior. We spent two nights there and visited many of the sights in that area. Leaving Copper Harbor, we headed south across the Mackinac Bridge where we spent two nights in Mackinaw City. The town is touristy, but the hotels are very
inexpensive. Early the next day, we left the bikes at our hotel and took the ferry to Mackinac Island. The Island allows no vehicles except horse-drawn carriages and bicycles. We visited the fort then rented bicycles to take the 8.2-mile loop around the island.
Heading south the next day, we traveled along the easterly shoreline of Lake Michigan and rode the famous “Tunnel of Trees” route. We saw many sights and stopped in several quaint towns, including Charlevoix. We both had the feeling of being in New England, except that the water was not saltwater, and there were no local lobster restaurants. The last leg of our trip we again took in a small section of the Blue Ridge Parkway where we spent two nights at the Peaks of Otter Lodge. We enjoyed perfect weather before heading back home to Florida.
My Dad was a traveler, and it’s true that the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree. My mom in her 90s, told me to keep traveling as long as we can because when you get old, all you have are those memories. We have more trips planned in our future, God willing, to see that other side of the mountain and create more fond memories.