To Duluth Minnesota and Devils Lake North Dakota

Two great days of riding with a few adventures I will recall for you.

On Friday morning, after a few sips of very bad coffee at the Budget Host Inn in Manistique, Michigan, I rode off on Highway 2 along the north shore of Lake Michigan through Gladstone.  Had breakfast at Barb's Café in Florence Wisconsin.

And shortly after this was where the first adventure started.  I hadn't been paying too much (any) attention to my gas gauge so when the low fuel warning came up on my GPS unit I began to check for gas stations in the vicinity. Well, there weren't any real close but, what the heck, I figured I could get the nearest one that Lucy (you remember Lucy, she's the lady that lives in the Zumo 660 GPS on my bike), was suggesting, As the miles piled on, I began to think that maybe we might not make it,  But, after two detours down some admittedly nice side roads and having dodged 2 herds of deer (well ok, a mother and her baby, and a group of 4, what looked like teenagers) crossing the highway without looking either way before they leapt in front of me, I arrived at the promised BP station in Waucedah. By then the GPS was telling me I was out of fuel, and the bike's own 'low on fuel' warning was flashing. Note to self; self, check fuel gauge, OFTEN.

The rest of the ride to Duluth was uneventful.  At one point I rode through the Ottawa National Forest, a significant chunk of real estate.



The view of the southern tip of Lake Superior from Ashland Wisconsin is impressive, as is the part of the shoreline one sees east of Duluth.  As I arrived there early I was able to settle into my room at the Downtown Duluth Hotel and then go for a nice walk along the waterfront which has been made into a beautiful urban park. I had an interesting cold fish (trout) salad and a Superior Beer at Fitger's Brewhouse, which is in a huge restored warehouse on the lakefront that also houses many stores, a hotel and restaurants.


I left Duluth this morning before 8 and continued my journey west on Highway 2.  Traffic was light, the temperature around 25, and I arrived in Devils Lake at around 3:00 having crossed all of Minnesota and a good chunk of North Dakota,  While the first stretch of Highway 2 is through small forests, the stretch from Bemidji Minnesota to Devils Lake is very flat farmland so you can see a long way.