We left Sault Ste Marie with some concern about the reception we would receive from the US Custom's agents. As you will recall, the last time we did this, the agent told us we needed birth certificates, passports or proof of naturalization. He wasn't very pleasant; in fact he was an obnoxious putz about it.

As we crossed The International Bridge (Cost $1.50 US) on I-75 and inched our way towards the booth, our anxiety was distracted by a host of small bugs flying in front of our faces. It was already warm but we had to put our face shields down to keep the critters off our face, and then we weren't always successful. When we got to the head of the line, a female agent asked us the usual questions, "What is your country of birth? How long had we been out of the country? etc." She checked our license and I.D., and then with a smile, let us through, pleasant, courteous, and professional. This was what we had originally expected from our first crossing of the border in Montana and was, in fact, the type of treatment we had gotten from the Canadian Custom's agents. It was nice to know we weren't hassling our Canadian neighbors here in Michigan.

We knew today was going to be a short day on the bike since we had planned to take the ferry to Mackinac Island, a Michigan island that does not allow any motorized vehicles on the island. We wanted to return to that quieter time when life was slower and looked forward to a step back in time.

The ferry for Mackinac Island leaves from either St. Ignace or Mackinaw City. We choose St. Ignace. We parked the bike in the lot and headed for the 10:30 ferry (photos 1, 2, 3, & 4). It's about a 15-minute ride to the island and it seems all of the ferry companies are competing to be the fastest boat to the island. The truth is that a few minutes, one way or the other, doesn't make a lot of difference to most tourist. We surely didn't care which of them was fastest and, in fact, enjoyed the ferry ride. Heck, we wouldn't have minded if it had lasted a little longer.

As we approached Mackinac Island, you could see the Mackinac Island Light House guarding the entrance to the harbor (photo 5). High on the hillside, the Grand Hotel sits majestically, a huge hotel with one of the longest covered porches in the world (photo 6). This hotel has starred in the movie, " A Place in Time." Mackinac Island is an attractive and appealing community from the water and I took several photos of the old church, the marina, and other scenes (photos 7 & 8) that provided the appetizer for our visit.

As we stepped onto the main street, the beauty of the place was obvious. Trees, excellent architecture, well maintained buildings and streets, and lots and lots of people. In fact, after several hours of dodging hundreds of people just like us, we began to think of Mackinac as the Main Street of Disneyland (photos 9,10,11,12). I don't do well with large crowds but after an excellent lunch at Horn's Bar and Grill (photos 13 & 14), we walked from one end of the town to the other taking pictures of the old fort, the statute of the founder of the town, and anything else I thought would make a nice picture (photos 15 & 16). I enjoyed the seagull on the founder's head, I must admit (photo 17). After several hours of this, it was time to leave all of these people behind (photo 18).

We headed for the ferry dock (photo 19) and enjoyed the ride back to the mainland with views of the other jetboats and the Mackinac Bridge in the background (photos 20, 21, & 22). We could still make some distance south on the bike if we got going now. Maybe we can return to the island again some spring when it's quieter.

As we returned to the parking lot, Linda noticed four ducks standing guard, watching over our bike. I appreciated that, but I noticed that one was distracted and looking elsewhere, while the other three seemed to have fallen asleep on the job (photo 23).

To head south on Michigan Highway 23, we would have to pass over the infamous Mackinac Bridge (photo. The bridge is infamous for motorcyclist because it's high, it can be windy, and one lane is a steel grate that allows you to see down to the water several hundred feet below, while your front wheel dances back and forth. I did not look forward to this crossing.

I got behind a small truck and tried to stay in the paved lane. Unfortunately, they were doing construction work on that lane so we quickly were shifted onto the steel grate lane. I just held the bike steady, keep it slow and made it across without any problems at all. In fact, it's a beautiful view from up on the bridge. You can see the various islands and connecting waterway, and of course the ferries shooting their "rooster tail" water jets behind them. Oh yeah, they charged us $3.75 for the privilege.

Hwy 23 takes you through the small town of Cheboygan. Now I mention this because I saw an old movie once where Groucho Marks mentioned Cheboygan with that great New York accent and so for the rest of the trip I'm pronouncing Cheboygan with a pronounced NY accent which goes something like this, " So you think we'll make it to She-Boy-Gun," with great emphasis on the Boy part of the word. Oh well, you had to be there.

Hwy 23 takes you right down the shoreline of Lake Huron but because there are very few islands on this part of the Lake Huron shore, it actually looks bigger than Lake Superior. It's an illusion, of course, and it's because you see an unobstructed view all the way to the horizon.

The speed limit on SR 23 is no greater than 60 on the section we traveled so it was a slow, comfortable ride. We finally pulled into a local motel, the Driftwood, in Roger City, after making only 131 miles for the day. I'm glad it was only 131 and wished we had stayed in Mackinac City because when we went to unpack the trailer, we discovered that the laptop computer was missing. Oh shit.

After some hasty calls to the Sleep Inn, we found that we had left the computer in the driveway as we pulled out. They had it waiting. Looks like tomorrow we head back to Canada.

Tomorrow will come soon enough but tonight we watch the sun set from our motel balcony and just enjoy being on this trip (photo 24).

Today's Route: Interstate 75 to Mackinaw City, SR 23 to Roger City.