Day 21: Milwaukee, WI to Niagara Falls, NY 424 miles

My morning started so long ago, I scarcely remember it. I was awake before 4am, earlier than I needed to be, but that's not unusual for me. I left a little before 5, as I just had a short, 10 minute ride to the ferry terminal. I had a reservation on the 6 am crossing of Lake Michigan, from Milwaukee to Muskegon, MI, and we were supposed to be there 45 minutes early. As I was waiting at a stop light a couple on a BMW R1200RT rode past. Since I never got their names, I'll have to refer to them as "the RT couple". They were also headed for the ferry and I was just in line behind them. Small world story: the security agent who checked me in saw where I was from and said he'd spent many summers in Northampton with relatives. He wanted to go to school in Amherst, but for financial reasons had to stay in Milwaukee.

The RT couple struck up a conversation once they noticed I was also on a BMW. We ignored the Kawasaki guy behind us. They were quite nice and helpful, suggesting places around the Great Lakes I ought to ride someday. One of them was from Wisconsin, the other from Michigan, so they were very familiar with the Lake Express Ferry and the region. They had come over last Thursday and wanted to go home yesterday, but couldn't get a reservation on either crossing (there are 2 per day until July and August when there are 3). The ferry holds 15 to 18 cars and up to 20 motorcycles. There were only the 3 motos this morning. The ferry company is holding a special "motorcycles ride free" promotion which the couple mentioned hadn't been available before this year. A sign of the poor economy, I guess.

I got on the ferry without incident. I've only been on the Nova Scotia ferry and the deck there was pretty slippery. I was a little intimidated this morning, but needn't have been. I managed to secure my motorcycle with the provided tie downs. I was pretty nervous during much of the crossing as it was pretty rough, and I wasn't sure I had done a good enough job stabilizing the machine. Passengers aren't allowed back to the auto deck once the ferry is in motion, so I couldn't go check.

Otherwise, the crossing was uneventful. I was glad I was there early as the ferry actually left the dock around 5:45. Apparently all reservations were accounted for! I got a few views of Milwaukee as we pulled out into the Lake. It was much too windy to spend time on the viewing deck, so spent the crossing reading. I never did see the RT couple again on board. There is a "preferred passenger" area (more expensive tickets), so I'm assuming they were in there.

The ferry arrived in Muskegon right on time. The crossing is about 2.5 hours and with the change back to the Eastern Time Zone it was almost 10am when I was on the road again. The Michigan side is much less developed. There were some pretty sand dunes before we entered the harbor channel. A few people were out walking on the path that edges the lake in this area. It looks like a nice area to explore one day. Once we were allowed back downstairs, I was relieved to see that my motorcycle hadn't budged during the roughness. The RT couple rematerialized and offered to show me the fastest route to I-96, my desired road heading east. It corresponded with the way my GPS was routing me, but I appreciate their thoughtfulness. I enjoyed their escort for a few miles until they turned off for home.

Meanwhile, I was cold and getting colder. The temps were in the low 60's, the sky was quite overcast and it was windy. After about an hour of shivering, I stopped and changed into my heated gear. Even then, it took me quite a while to feel warm again. It's funny how 60's with bright sun feels refreshing and 60's with gray skies is cold! I had a very boring trip across Michigan on I-96 and I-69. It's flat with a lot of farmland, the same as I have been seeing for the past several days.

My only excitement came at the border crossing into Canada at Port Huron and again back into the US at Niagara Falls. Why are border agents so humorless and ask such dumb questions? Both times, after studying my passport which clearly states my address, I was asked where I was from. Then I was asked where I was coming from. I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking in return, "At what point in time?" An hour ago? This morning? Last week?