Ozarks 2025

Day Four: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Pictured Rocks is a national treasure. We spent the whole day along the lakeshore.  Note how Buttercup and Magellan are all covered up. Magellan carries hand sanitizer on his belt, they carry their masks with them at all times, and tonight I heard Magellan complain that people who do not social distance fuel the pandemic, and he did not want to eat at a particular place because it is too congested. How about that.  Before we could get on the road this morning, Buttercup had to feed us. We had very few options, and we ended up at a bagel shop.   The bagels weren't bad, and the coffee wasn't either - as we sat outside eating and drinking by the dumpster.  Pictured Rocks To see the Pictured Rocks, you really need to take a boat. The options range from kayaks to pontoon boats to boat tours on large vessels. Since our Harleys do not do well in the water, attached are some photos by the Nation...

Day 3: Traverse City to the UP It is another beautiful morning in Michigan. While Magellan and Buttercup had a good night's rest, I spent the night poring over Harley service manuals trying to find a solution to the shifting problem on my bike. That is what I do.   Buttercup proved himself to be a breakfast ninja. He found a breakfast restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. And as you can see, he is immensely pleased with himself - smiling over a 1,000 calorie plate of strawberries and cheesecake pancakes.  The Appointment With the Harley Doctor For all of my griping about poor Harley engineering, the one redeeming quality about Harleys is the Harley community. The Harley folks are wonderful and are tremendously helpful.  We arrived early at the Harley Dealer - of course. And we started speaking with the person who turned out to be the manager of the store. Before the store even opened, he had wrenches out tinkering with the shift...

Day Two: M22 and the Curse of Harley Engineering The day began with a beautiful morning in Ludington, Michigan. Note: there are no clouds in the sky.  I walked down to the park along the lakeshore because it was so delightful. Workers were picking up the trash at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Chicago take note.  Magellan needs to eat, or he gets hangry. Eating was more important than the quality of breakfast, so Magellan wanted to stop at the nearby McDonalds. The only problem was that the dining room was not open leaving us with the prospect of going through the drive-thru on our motorcycles, and eating our food on the curb. Well, Buttercup would have none of that, so he told Magellan to continue on and see what unfolded.  Buttercup found a a fantastic local diner a few miles down the road. It was enjoyable to simply sit down and have breakfast - unusual in the pandemic. And Buttercup was so proud of himself that he was smiling from ear-t...