riding with my niece

[drbuzzard]

my niece lisa came by saturday about nine, it was a bit later than i wanted to get started but this ride was for her. it was sunny but still cool at 63f when we hit the road. first stop was at the gas station to top off the wing and fill up the Mighty ST 1300. after leaving the gas station we rode over and took I-96 west, it was a bit windy which made it seem cooler than it was. with lisa on the wing and the wind i kept my speed down to 75mph though i did touch 80mph a few times. to avoid mall traffic we took m-14 west over to us-23 then headed north to pick up I-96 and continue our west bound travels. about two miles west of m-52 traffic started slowing down, i was just hoping to make it to m-52. traffic was moving pretty slow and about a mile from m-52 i spotted a few bikes on the shoulder so we pulled over to see if we could help but there was nothing we could do, the guy had a clutch problem and had a tow truck come pick up his bike

 

[drbuzzard]

with the tow truck there we got back on the road and made it up to m-52, traffic had come to a complete stop just west of there but my plan was to take m-52 anyway, i like taking lisa on roads she's never been on before. we took m-43 west and as we got out to lansing, mi. we were sitting at a stop light, i pointed to the street sign. it read " grandriver ave. " the same grand river ave, she see's every day back in the city. out on the west end of lansing we picked up us-127 going north passing through the cities of ST, John and Ithaca, MI. we took a short break at the rest area we made our way up to ST. Louis, MI. i stopped at the church then took her over to the dam. for a few pic's

 

[drbuzzard]

with the GPS set on each bike we took off for our next destination but our GPS seem to be going in different directions. we did find " the hippie tree " though that wasn't our destination.

 

[drbuzzard]

we never did find what we were looking for so after wandering around and going 15 miles out and around the area we back tracked and went back to ST. Louis. for some more pic's

 

[drbuzzard]

as we headed out of town i spotted the building that houses the historical society, looking at the building i realized what it was so i turned around for a closer inspection. it was just as i thought it was, an old train depot

 

[drbuzzard]

once we made our way back to us-127 we headed south, i started getting a dry mouth so we exited us-127 in ST Johns and stopped at burger king for food and something to drink. once done with our meal we got back on the road. it was later than i thought so i wanted to take I-96 east for home. what ever had I-96 backed up on our way west was affecting traffic comming off of us-127. ah but there it was again so we took it east this time, m-43. we made good time until we reached Howell, mi. i thought it might be better to save some time and hop back on I-96, i stopped for this mural on the way

 

[drbuzzard]

out on I-96 we were making good time in the dark, the sun had gone down a couple hours ago. we exited the expressway at Novi rd. because of a back up. we took Novi rd. over to M-43 aka grandriver ave and headed east and arrived back at my house about 21:30, lisa was happy with our ride and we had a 312 mile day

 

[STJohnS]

These are fantastic - both the story and the pictures! Would have been cool to one of both of you. Thanks for sharing. All these towns and stops are what makes motorcycling so great!

 

[ToddC]

Nice report sir... T

 

[JohnK]

Really a great day for you both and so happy for you to have the young ones to ride with. Thanks for the report!

 

[drbuzzard]

Really a great day for you both and so happy for you to have the young ones to ride with. Thanks for the report!

my niece is only 7yrs younger than I am, not exactly young but I do like to get her out and take her places she's never been before

 

[drbuzzard]

These are fantastic - both the story and the pictures! Would have been cool to one of both of you. Thanks for sharing. All these towns and stops are what makes motorcycling so great!

let me know if you are coming up to or near the motor city so we can meet up. I was heading down to Athens this weekend but my nephew Jerry bought his first house and i'm helping him move and it looks like i'm headed to Indy on the 9th

 

[STJohnS]

Hey that sounds GREAT!