Today was our longest day of so far.  About 340 miles.  We rode from Mackinaw City to Copper Harbor and back down to Houghton where we’re spending the night.  We were on the road by 10:00am and didn’t get back to our hotel until after 10:00pm. It was a haul and worth every minute of it.  By the time I opened my laptop to download video and type this entry, I was ready to tuck in.  But I wanted to get all of this down.

Big disappointment of the day:  My helmet mounted camera didn’t start when I pressed the button as I started over the Mackinaw bridge.  Only the handlebar mounted camera facing me was running. Uly said he got pictures and video from his cameras, so I’ll be asking to use that!  This was my first time riding a motorcycle over the bridge and I wanted to capture it.

Best part of the day: Making it to Copper Harbor, the most northerly part of Michigan, and the reason I called this the Long Way Up.  I really felt like we ‘got there’ and did what we were planning to do.  A sense of accomplishment is important in an adventure and this was one of the key goals for me.

Bonus of the day: Taking M26 along the north shore of the UP on Lake Superior.  The best, windy, curvy, scenic road we’ve been on so far the whole trip.  And because it was going to get us back to hotel later (and we’d be on the road back to Houghton at dusk – prime time for deer running out in front of motorcycles) we almost didn’t do it.  The road less travelled… and it made all the difference.

As Uly put it in his Facebook post ‘We seized the <expletive> out of the day.’  No exaggeration.  We left nothing on the table (except at dinner, I was stuffed). We will lay our heads down happy that we did what we came to do and got every last bit we could.  Tomorrow will be pretty laid back, running down to Escanaba and then Green bay.  More coast roads on the shores of Lake Michigan, so I’m expecting more great scenery. The camera batteries are charging…