Parade Day

Each Harley celebration features a huge parade on Saturday. The route spans the city from west to east, about 6 miles and includes over 6000 motorcycles and runs for over 2 hours. This years parade started with a group riding all of the new 2014 Harleys followed by the feature of the day, representatives of Market Owners Group chapters from every state and dozens of countries around the world. It is fun to see the riders as many of them dress in costumes that represent where they are from. There were cowboys and indians , Disney characters and even a Santa. The parade concludes with individual riders that were selected by lottery to ride

 

After the parade we spent the day visiting some of the local Harley dealers. Every dealer takes full advantage of having all of the Harley owners in town. Going is like going to a mini fair as they have all kinds of vendors and attractions set up on their property. One dealer actually ha a full 2 blocks closed down kn front of their store to accomodate the vendors. It's fun to wander around and see all of the stuff, some useful and practical, some crazy and some just plain bizzare junk.

Today we leave Milwaukee, headed north to Lake Charlevoix and a visit toCherif's cottage for a few days.

A really hot day

Since I was here 5 years ago, Harley Davidson has opened up a museum and that was our first destination this morning. We were so glad that we did too. The museum covers in great detail all of the history of the company from it's beginnings in a 10x15 foot shed in 1903 to the present company that has millions of motorcycles on the roads world wide. We saw the first bike bike that was built in 1903 to the new 2014 models and virtually every model built in between. It is a really nice representation of the history of the company and was well worth it to visit.

Custom built bike with every motor by the company

Harley built a lot of bikes for the military

There is a lot of neat artwork at the museum

Every time I go to one of these events, I am struck by the people who come from all over the world To attend. I have seen people from Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Columbia, Russia, Iran and even got a pin today from a guy from Egypt. Most rent bikes here but some actually have their bikes shipped in!

This afternoon we went to the factory where they build the Harley motors and spent a good deal of time looking at 2014 bikes ( I fell in love with a beautiful orange one) and all of the new accessories too. Our last stop for the day was a dealer party but by then it was 95 degrees so we came back to the hotel and the air conditioning. Good thing too because we had quite a rain storm right after we got here.
One more day in Milwaukee tomorrow before we head out for another boat ride and the next part of the trip.

On A Four Hour Cruise

....but unlike Gilligan and the Skipper, we made our destination, Manotowak, Wisconsin.

View from the deck of The Badger. Can you find Cherif's trike?

Our passage was on Th S.S Badger, a 410 foot tri deck ferry that had a previous life as a railroad car transport before it was converted in the 1990's to an auto- passenger ferry. You drive into the lower deck and park your vehicle and spend the trip on the upper two decks that are rather nicely outfitted with everything from chafes to a bar to a theatre and a number of staterooms that you can book to sleep while you cross Lake Michigan. It is actually very comfortable and we chose to spend most of the trip lounging on the port side in some rather comfortable chairs.

After Landing, it was a 65 mile trip to our hotel and then another 11 to The Summerfest Grounds where the Harley Owners Group has all of it's activities. 

 Parking for these events is always interesting and I remembered an area under the interstate where the city actually spreads wood chips to allow for a nice parking area. 

After visiting all of the venues and listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, we called it a day and headed back to the hotel. Traffic was still brutal and poor Cherif got separated and lost for a bit. At the end of  the day he made it back safe and we turned in for the night. Tomorrow promises more events an hopefully more adventures.

On the shores of Lake Michigan

Day two of this trip looked to be a mess when I got up. The rain that the weatherman had promised would stop shortly after midnight was coming down hard at 4:30. Fortunately, by the time that Charlene arrived, it had stopped although the roads were still quite wet and because it was cloudy, they didn't dry any too soon.

London to Ludington is a mix of  so many different landscapes. From the vast farmlands of southwestern Ontario, through the edges of the rust belt and finally the lake country surrounding Lakes Huron and Michigan, we had a lot to look a as we made our way west the last long straight stretch of road a two lane passing through central Michigan.

About 30 miles from Luddington, we passed a rest stop and as I looked closer, there was our friend Cherif, "stretching his butt" after his trip down from Lake Charlevoix. It was good to see him and to be riding together a gain, our little 3 person posse.

Quite an uneventful night here in Ludington, after a nice dinner in a local brew pub, Cherif went back to the hotel and Charlene and I went to the docks to watch the S.S. Badger, our transportation across the lake tomorrow morning, dock for the night. I was quite surprised to see that the first two vehicles off the ship were tractor trailers pulling the huge stands and blades for the windmills that we so often see on the roads of Central New York. That should give you a idea of how big the ship is.

So, with the bikes all cleaned, again, tomorrow morning it's a 4 hour cruise across Lake Michigan and then on to Milwaukee to see what experiences await us at the Anniversary Celebration.

Spending the night in London

            It was a good start to the trip with a nice morning and a bit of sunshine along with a bit of fog. It is always an interesting exersize in planning these trips, getting just the right stuff and not too much of anything as there is limited space to pack. So to watching the weather is important as well as making sure that all of the maintenance is done on the bike. 

Since my route today took me through Niagara Falls and I had plenty of time, I parked and walked along the Canadian side to view the falls. It is  hard not to be impressed by the power and the beauty on display there. Since it is such an international attraction, it's also a great place to people watch. 

                                                       I always chuckle at the

boats below with their passengers all decked out in their blue bags to keep dry.

After the falls, it was a couple hours to my stop for the night, London, Ontario. Each time I have come to Milwaukee this has been my first stop. It's a nice little city with some good food and nice hotels. There are a bunch of English Pub themed places and tonight I decided to try one.

Looked great from the outside but jamblya on the menu should have been a clue. Anyway, the salad was great.

Tomorrow morning I'll meet up with Charlene and we will ride 350 miles or so to our next stop and where we meet Cherif.

So, here I go again, another adventure on the Harley.

This time I will be headed west, to Milwaukee for the Harley Davidson 110the Anniversary celebration. Harley does this every five years and I have been to the 100th and The 105th. Had a ball at both of them and expect nothing less this time. The schedule promises a lot of dealer street parties in the 3 days that I will be there as well as The new Harley Davidson Museum. I also hope to do some facility tours to see where they build these great motorcycles.

I am making this trip with my 2 best riding friends, Cherif and Charlene and will meet them as I make my way there. I'll meet Charlene tomorrow in Canada and we will catch up with Cherif in Michigan on Wednesday.

So, the Harley is loaded and I am off on the first leg of the trip. Hope you follow along.