Cracks in the Concrete: A Motorcycle Odyssey Through Modern America

The Ferry Ride to Mackinac Island The Mackinac Bridge: In Profile The Lighthouse Arrival (not to be confused with the 2016 film starring Amy Adams) Mackinac Island is a neat little place - the circumference is only about 8 miles in total. If I’m not mistaken, it was first inhabited in 1670 when a Jesuit priest wintered there. Most of the southern and western edge of the island is built up and touristy, but the north, east, and center of the island is a largely uninhabited state park. There are no motored vehicles on Mackinac Island - just bicycles, horses, and a ton of road apples (horse manure).  The Main Drag of Downtown on Mackinac Island Horses on the Main Drag - The evil empire of Starbucks/Corporate America has found a way to infiltrate even this idyllic, lost-in-time island I got a couple recommendations if you visit Mackinac Island.  The first relates to fudge. Mackinac is probably most famous for their fudge, but they charge a lot of money for it and make you buy larg...

After I left Grand Rapids, I camped on the Manistee River about an hour south of Traverse City. It rained that night and the next morning, which started a series of about 5 days of morning rain and cool (low 50s) weather that slowed my progress significantly. After a quick morning dip in the dam backwaters, I packed up and headed to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore for the day.  Sleeping Bear/Glen Arbor I originally planned just a quick stop off at Sleeping Bear but ended up doing a hike, then stopping at a few overlooks, and before I knew it I was running out of daylight.  The wind blowing in from Lake Michigan was so strong that I don't think I could have jumped off the edge of the dune even if I tried - would have been about 500 feet down to the water if I had Sleeping Bear gets it's name from an old Native American legend: A mother bear and her two cubs left Wisconsin due to a famine. Though they were tired from walking and exhausted from hunger, the mother felt their only...

In Grand Rapids I stayed with my friends Peter and Shannon and their 1 year old son Theo.  Rita's now has a gummy bear flavor of Italian ice - and yes, it does have pieces of gummy bears in it Peter’s originally from south bend, while Shannon grew up in Grand Rapids. Theo, as you may have guessed, is also originally from Grand Rapids. I met Shannon and Peter in college - both of them also made the unfortunate decision to study engineering, so I spent plenty of late nights doing homework with them. Like me, Shannon studied mechanical engineering (she studied theology in addition to that) and then decided to work in another field (IT project management), but with baby number 2 on the way soon is now working full time as a stay at home mom. Peter, studied electrical engineering, and unlike me and Shannon does not regret his choice of major (he actually wishes he had gone more technical). He now works in computer architecture for a big avionics manufacturer. Based on the books grandpar...

I left Michigan this morning (currently in Bayfield, WI), just under two weeks from when I entered it. As I spent so much time and did so much in Michigan, I figured it'd make more sense (and be much quicker) to write a series of mini posts instead of one massive one. Ann Arbor was my first stop in Michigan.  In Ann Arbor, I stayed with my friends Matt and Ming.  Matt & Ming took me to dinner at their favorite hotpot spot in Ann Arbor, Palace Tang The chicken foot at Palace Tang was the best chicken foot I've had, but I'm not sure the texture is something I'll ever get used to  I met Matt probably the first week of college. He lived down the hallway from me and while we weren't roommates, Matt probably spent as much time in my quad's common room as any of the 4 guys who actually lived there did. Freshman year, Matt worked as the dorm garbage man, and somehow the key that opened the maintenance closet also opened the common room of my quad - call it fate if y...