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"IN MEMORY OF MARY LOGSDON" - IN NOTE SECTION OF CHECK

AUGUST 16, 2006 -  "LIFE'S A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION…."

Most of you are going to wonder what got into my breakfast this morning. I have to add to my "must revisit list". I will offer a review of those places that I would love to revisit, in no particular order. I would like to revisit Charleston, S.C., Key West, Fl., San Antonio, Tx., Santa Barbara, CA., the stretch of route 1 from San Luis Obispo to Carmel (90 miles of beautiful mayhem) and, you're not going to believe this, DULUTH MN.

I am serious. When I got out of the motel parking lot, I drove around a bit, and there is some neat stuff going on around that town. There is a skywalk, not unlike the one in Grand Rapids that allows you to move around the city above the bustle of the traffic. Shipping docks right in town so you can observe the goings on around the huge freighters if you want. The architecture is truly fun to look at. It is a small town with a big town feel to it. I thought it was cleaner than I expected it to be.  Just be careful if you go in with a motorcycle. There are some San Francisco type hills there that will cause problems for you and your two wheeler.  The bridge that takes you over the bottom of Lake Superior is an impressive sight all by itself. It is large enough for the freighters to slip underneath without tickling the underside. That's good, you don't want to be on a bridge once it starts laughing. There is NO controlling those things.

Not much of Wisconsin occupies the south shore of Lake Superior. It is a somewhat narrow front for that state. It is unique, however and has a "flavor" all its own. This is wine country. It is near the water, so the wineries take advantage of milder temps for growing grapes. I have to believe that the growing season along the Superior shoreline, whether in Wisconsin or Michigan is much shorter than similarly placed wineries in New York and California. Does that mean that with a shorter season, the wine only comes in Pints of Half Liters?

While I was cruising the roads today, I ran across a small town called Herbster. This was a REEEEEEAALLY small town. After I pumped my half tank of gas, I asked it the place across the street was open. It was. I drove across to Tracy's By the Lake Café. When I opened the door, I stepped back in time to the 1930's. The waitress was very accommodating in giving me a short history of the town and the restaurant (six owners in since 1930). The town of Herbster was named after the logging camp cook, Billy Herbster. There was a photo of the entire camp personel with Billy off to the right in his whit(ish) apron, hands on hips. The logging camp became a more permanent habitat and it celebrated 100 years of being a viable collection of businesses and homes earlier this summer.

I drove along the shore of Lake Superior here in town. There were camping facilities right on the lakeshore.  There is a photo that will be seen in another submission. I have to say that Tracy put together a remarkable BLT for me. It was a nice light lunch. Eastbound and down, kept beckoning me so off I went to explore the road ever closer to Michigan.  There was a sense of familiarity as I continued through Wisconsin. When I hit Ashland Wisconsin, I discovered the "Timeless Timber Company" buildings. I did not stop, but I did take a picture.  Timeless Timber is logs that have been retrieved from Lake Superior and then kiln dried to be able to work the lumber. What this means is that there is a source of slow growth wood that provides excellent material for fine instruments and furniture. I have a DW drum set made from Timeless Timber Hard Rock Maple. The set is not only a visual treat, but the sound of those drums is unbelievable.  I just got to thinking; I haven't had sticks in my hands for over two months.  Hmmm I have to fix that.

I also was an early stock purchaser of Timeless Timber. I bought the stock at a real good value of something like $6.00 and some change, per share. I had the pleasure of seeing that stock virtually SOAR to, oh $0.39 or so per share. I can't wait to cash it in…..

Yeah right…when pigs fly.

I continued east and soon realized that the familiar feeling was also due to the fact that, having driven through the Pacific Northwest, this area was very similar to that. If I put some of the photos from the logging areas of the west coast alongside the photos from Eastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, there would be some confusion as to which photos went with which geographic area. 

AT 2:45 PM TODAY, THE HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYLE WITH ME ON BOARD, HIT THE MICHIGAN STATE LINE WEST OF IRONWOOD WITH 28,614 ON THE ODOMETER. I HAD LEFT HOME AT 4:00 AM ON JUNE 1ST WITH 14,620 ON THE ODOMETER. I find the juxtaposition of mileage numbers very interesting.  I was able to get a picture with the Welcome to Michigan sign.

Arrival into Michigan meant the the clocks on the computer and the motorcycle would be in synch with the rest of the people around me. I had never changed those clocks so that I would have a sense of what was happening at home. I knew, based on the "home" time, when it was ok to call or make contact with my circle of friends and family. Now, things are happening in reverse. I have friends that I have made all around the country, and the clocks are all wrong for most of them. The neatest thing about this time change thing is that my phone was automatically changing time zones within FEET of the borders for those time zones. I am curious about how that works…… (what movie is this quote from - LOGSDON COUSINS ARE NOT PERMITTED ENTRY INTO THIS CONTEST)

"I gotsta know?"

This is easier than you think. The prize is … uh … dinner. When I eat, EVERYBODY eats.  When I pay, EVERYBODY pays……

Slipped that one by you, didn't i?

Dinner in Michigan would be a treat. I was looking for a place that would be "interesting". I checked the GPS unit for restaurants close to where I was.  Ms. GPS voice just started laughing hysterically when I punched in the request. There were none listed.  I was beginning to feel "weird" so I pressed on. I had stopped and had consumed an orange from the motel in Duluth (one of the juiciest oranges to date) and an apple, so I wasn't in too much trouble.

I passed this little place called "T & J's RESTAURANT AND MOTEL". I pulled up and there was no one in the lot. When I got off the bike, a fellow (T?) came out of a room with a vacuum cleaner (ORICK), so I asked him if the place was even open. It was, so I went in. The time was 5:15 PM, so either the geriatric crowd had already left having had the blue plae special, or everyone else was eating 30 to 50 miles down the road. I ordered a hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potato and gravy. Man, was it a treat. The guy even had REAL mashed potatoes… NO KIDDING.  The down side was that I asked for a glass of water and the waitress (T?) said, oooohhhhhhh noooooooo, you don't want to drink the water here. It is just horrible and vile.

I was afraid to drink my cup of coffee, because it was made with W A T E R .  Actually, it was pretty darn good, too.  I started skirting the coast again. You know, with the fact that the population isn't all that dense up here, there must be a whole lot fo really shitty drivers. I can't tell you how many Michigan State Troupers I saw speeding in the opposite direction to stop a pickup. They were ALL pickups.  I think that the two girls in the last one to go by me were too. (THAT WAS A JOKE - NO ANGRY EMAILS PLEASE)

I am in downtown Houghton Michigan tonight. I have a clean, yet small motel right on the river. It has internet and one of the largest Hemingway cats I have ever seen. For those of you who have seen the cat at the Gonko house, this cat looks like Lori's cat, except that it outweighs it by 3 or 4. The cat lady here says it is 26 to 30 pounds.  Can you make corndogs out of that?
That's ok, Lori is in Italy, and she knows I like cats anyway!!!!!

Tomorrow I will be joined by Bob Perry. He and I have known each other since we were in second grade being batted about by the likes of Sister Mary Hippolita, Sister Mary Regis, Sister Mary Uglier than those two, Sister Mary Joe Louis, Sister Mary Antenelle, Sister Mary Kick My Ass Again, Sister Mary Mark (She/He had to leave the order) Sister Mary Sebastian Cabot, Sister Mary Joel Sebastian and Attila the Nun. We both went to Our Lady of Great Agony. So did Frank Zelecki, Luigi Legghio, Don McGaugh and Tom Derocha.

We still manage to have breakfast together. Not bad for a bunch of guys who, like Thomas Edison, had their ears boxed around. Not to worry, though, none of us went deaf. I did go blind later in life, though. Bob thinks he's Don Juan, Tom thinks he's Virile, Luigi, well, he's Luigi, one of the funniest guys I know. Don, has been visiting virtually every country on the planet since those experiences in a physiological attempt to escape the onslaught. Frank may be the only normal one in the group.

How the hell did I get on THAT subject?

Oh, yeah, Bob is meeting up with me at the Soo Locks and finishing the trip around the lower part of the U. P., Wisconsin, Illinois, and the mitten of Michigan. There were many who thought that it couldn't be done within three months. There were a few that thought it could be. I just knew if I had to head for home, I could take a GPS reading and finish it up next summer.

I don't think I will need to do that