I pulled into this Live Bait and Tackle store in Presque Isle and was dragging off my helmet when a guy in a big black pickup leans over and says in a deep Wisconsin accent  "Aren't you glad its stopped raining?" . So I looked up at him, "Does it rain here every day?".  "Yeah" he replied.  "Every day. Got to do with the magnetic fields. We are on the divide between the Lake Superior watershed, and the Mississippi. Rains more here than anywhere else in Wisconsin. " He was right too. It rained all that day, and the next.  

My cousin Anne Chartier Coates lives near here . She and her husband Jim had invited me down to see them on my way through. Unfortunately Jim passed away suddenly last Tuesday -- throwing Anne and her family into shock. She graciously confirmed the invitation however, saying that she would be at the house on the lake (known as Chaska) with friends and family. So I came. And I am so glad I did. She and her husband Jim's family and her friend Cecilia were so kind and welcoming, while remembering Jim in his favorite place, and I needed a place to rest after 1,200 miles of road.

The day started with the crossing of the Straits of Mackinac. While I really like this bridge, I had forgotten that one lane was metal grating -- unstable for motorcycles -- but the other was concrete, which saves us two wheelers from disaster. 
 
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is littered with Iron names: Iron Mountain, Iron River, Ironwood -- memories of a defunct mining industry. The region is devoted more to tourism, farming and hunting at present, with the forests of Hiawatha and Sault St Marie covering a large share of the area.   

 Fun to ride. Wide one lane roads through the forests with no traffic and no cops.