Prepping For My Longest Trip Ever
The yellow lines show the general route and the green dots show my stops.
I’m going to be leaving Monday on what will be the longest motorcycle trip I’ve ever taken. Should be interesting.
It started off when I decided I wanted to go to Vintage Motorcycle Days (VMD), an event the American Motorcyclist Association puts on each year outside of Lexington, OH.
When my brother in Ohio got wind of that he decided he wanted to tie my trip in to his latest business venture. He and a friend have started a winery and tasting room/cafe up in Northport, MI, and it has a biker theme to it. It’s called Motovino Cellars and their wines have names such as Cruiser, an un-oaked chardonnay; Thumper, a dry riesling; F-Head, a red table wine; and others.
Come visit our winery and write about it and help get the word out, he said. So I added Michigan to my itinerary.
Then I looked at a map and found that Northport is way up in northern Michigan, so that got me to thinking. I have friends in northern Wisconsin who I haven’t seen in a long time. I might as well run my route up that way.
Then things really started happening. I ended up with this: First night out to Gordon, NE, where I’ll stay with the first of four Motorcycle Travel Network (MTN) families. From there to Sioux Falls, SD, to see a high school friend I haven’t seen in 40 years. On to Minneapolis to another MTN house, then to northern Wisconsin to see those friends.
From there it will be through the Upper Peninsula with a night in Wells, MI, and then on to Northport. From Northport to Cedar Springs, MI, and another MTN family. Then to my brother’s in Yellow Springs, OH, for one night and then three nights at VMD, the original purpose of the trip. Follow that with another night at my brother’s in Yellow Springs and then on to Peoria, IL, to see a good friend–the best man at my wedding–who I haven’t seen since the wedding.
From there it’s on to Lawrence, KS, and the final MTN stop and the next day, the longest day of the trip, I’ll blast home. That’s 16 days and about 3,000 miles. Then, just for kicks, I’ll be home for one day and then off again for another week on the annual OFMC ride.
Oh man, I’m looking forward to this.
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Adventure is what happens when you thought you were going to have a good time.
Tags: Vintage Motorcycle Days
