22nd September
Once again, I wake at just after 0800 – once again it feels earlier. I pack the bike and, after making a few calls and replying to some emails, I’m on the road at 1030, heading west towards Lake Michigan…
It’s a fantastic morning - 75º F and barely a cloud in the sky. I ride the 55 to Manistee, then turn right to follow the east shore. It’s hard to think about this being a lake – it’s over sixty miles wide at this point and it has all the properties of the ocean…
…including beaches, waves and sand dunes. The road is great – at times, it reminds me of Thetford Forest, back in Norfolk. As I enter the Manistee National Forest, I notice some odd looking cattle…
Their markings are really striking. According to the sign at the farm, they’re Scottish Belted Galloways – although I’ve never seen one, in all my travels through Scotland…
A little further down the road, I round a right hand bend and swerve to avoid something in the road…
…it’s a terrapin, risking life limb and shell by trying to cross the road. I stop and carry him back into the woodland at the side of the road…
…where he’ll probably get eaten by a raccoon![yelrotflmao :yelrotflm :yelrotflm](/forums/images/smilies/250503/yelrotflmao.gif)
The road starts to follow the shoreline more closely…
…and small lakes start appearing on the left of the road. I notice this beautifully restored old lady parked in the shade…
…any guesses? (Grizz, from UKGSer, wins the prize for yesterday’s mystery car, correctly identifying it as a 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline). I eventually turn inland, leaving the shoreline behind…
…and come across a vast amusement park…
…which, unfortunately is closed. The parking lot covers a couple of acres and the park itself seems to specialise in roller-coasters.
This one looks like it might be fun…![BigGrin :D :D](/community/data/assets/smilies/biggrin.gif)
I set Bettie the task of finding me somewhere to stay for the night – half an hour later I’m checking into the Hampton Inn at Muskegon.
A good day.
Once again, I wake at just after 0800 – once again it feels earlier. I pack the bike and, after making a few calls and replying to some emails, I’m on the road at 1030, heading west towards Lake Michigan…
![8885658-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885658-L.jpg)
It’s a fantastic morning - 75º F and barely a cloud in the sky. I ride the 55 to Manistee, then turn right to follow the east shore. It’s hard to think about this being a lake – it’s over sixty miles wide at this point and it has all the properties of the ocean…
![8885662-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885662-L.jpg)
…including beaches, waves and sand dunes. The road is great – at times, it reminds me of Thetford Forest, back in Norfolk. As I enter the Manistee National Forest, I notice some odd looking cattle…
![8885667-L-2.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885667-L-2.jpg)
Their markings are really striking. According to the sign at the farm, they’re Scottish Belted Galloways – although I’ve never seen one, in all my travels through Scotland…
![Confused :confused: :confused:](/community/data/assets/smilies/confused.gif)
A little further down the road, I round a right hand bend and swerve to avoid something in the road…
![8885678-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885678-L.jpg)
…it’s a terrapin, risking life limb and shell by trying to cross the road. I stop and carry him back into the woodland at the side of the road…
![8885734-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885734-L.jpg)
…where he’ll probably get eaten by a raccoon
![yelrotflmao :yelrotflm :yelrotflm](/forums/images/smilies/250503/yelrotflmao.gif)
The road starts to follow the shoreline more closely…
![8885681-L-1.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885681-L-1.jpg)
…and small lakes start appearing on the left of the road. I notice this beautifully restored old lady parked in the shade…
![8885685-L-1.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885685-L-1.jpg)
…any guesses? (Grizz, from UKGSer, wins the prize for yesterday’s mystery car, correctly identifying it as a 1948 Chevrolet Fleetline). I eventually turn inland, leaving the shoreline behind…
![8885687-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885687-L.jpg)
…and come across a vast amusement park…
![8885717-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885717-L.jpg)
…which, unfortunately is closed. The parking lot covers a couple of acres and the park itself seems to specialise in roller-coasters.
![8885710-L-1.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885710-L-1.jpg)
This one looks like it might be fun…
![BigGrin :D :D](/community/data/assets/smilies/biggrin.gif)
I set Bettie the task of finding me somewhere to stay for the night – half an hour later I’m checking into the Hampton Inn at Muskegon.
A good day.
![8890183-L.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8890183-L.jpg)
![8885706-L-2.jpg](http://mikeo.smugmug.com/photos/8885706-L-2.jpg)