Got up a couple hours before Paul and got ready and
packed. Talked with Paul for a few more
minutes and left for a very cool hour ride up to Muskegon. Easily found the Lake Express Terminal and
was ready to board in minutes. Talked
with a couple on a Ducati also going
across the lake for the ferry experience.
The Lake Express Ferry is a twin hulled ferry ship. It crosses the lake in about 2 hours in good weather. I had read stories about how rough it can get in bad weather and how that can affect people's stomachs, so I went ahead and booked the "Premier" Cabin area where no kids under 12 are allowed. It only cost a few dollars more. I'm not sure it was necessary, but I would probably do that again.
Motorcycles were let on about mid way through the cars boarding. Got the bike tied down on the deck.
There were about 10 other bikes of various makes for the westward
trip. It was a little difficult to find
4 good tie down points on the ST1300 but managed to get it tied down. Attendant said the lake was calm so there was
little reason to worry. The attendants were all very helpful as well.
Once safely tied down, everyone goes up to the deck for the trip. As the boat pulled away, nearly everyone was topside. The boat slowly makes way out of the bay. Once in to open water, the speed of the boat is impressive. The wind made most of us return to the cabin area.
Initially everyone in the cabin is seated leafing through magazines or scrolling through their phones, but after a while, the time spent with little to do forces conversation with the passengers. There were many interesting people on the boat, several on motorcycles and some people going to the Osh Kosh Air show.
As we neared Milwaukee, the skyline comes into view. Once the boat is nearly docked, we all head down to our cars. All the motorcycles survived the trip which was not unexpected as it was butter smooth. The Ducati next to my ST1300 had additional straps put on it by the boat crew after we were underway. The owner didn't notice until he was about to take off. That could have been embarrassing if not worse. I helped him remove the extra straps and made my way off the boat. Once off, I pulled over to put my tip-over wings back on and do a final map consult.
Getting through Milwaukee on Saturday was pretty straight forward. The traffic was a bit hairy, but easily manageable. It was about an hour trip with one gas stop to Maria's. When I got to Maria's house, she wasn't their. I debated driving down to the lake, but ended up just waiting. Maria and Nicole came by on their bikes within 15 minutes.
This is the first time I have been to their new house, it was a little unusual and started life as a smaller ranch with lots of additions. This makes the flow through the rooms a bit atypical, but there is a huge sun room on the front of the house. It has a huge yard, mostly in the back and fenced in. Perfect for two people with their pets.
We walked down to a really nice large lake that is only one street over. I think Maria and Nicole need a boat.
We went into Madison and walked around the downtown area. A hoot of a place to people watch. We ate sushi at a restaurant in Madison. The sushi was good, but there was a worm in one of the edamame. I guess that is a risk when eating food in a pod like that. No harm no foul.
We went back to their house after ice cream. We started to watch Mystic Pizza on Netflix, but it was frankly, very slow. We switched to Four Rooms, which Nicole and Maria had never seen. Then, it was time to turn in for the night.
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