I hunkered down in Marquette, MI, for a day thinking the low pressure system would move off and give me a rainless ride the next day. I was wrong. So I rain geared up and left early in a 51 degree steady drizzle. The winds were white capping Lake Superior and blowing rain into any crack of my rain gear that I didn’t have zipped up or buttoned down. I am sure that sometime during recorded history the sun has shone and the temps reached 60 degrees during the last week of July in the MI UP, but not based on my 3-day experience.

Marquette is a major port on Lake Superior, primarily for shipping iron ore. It is the home of Northern Michigan University and was listed as one of the 10 best places to retire by CBS Money Watch (for those who don’t mind if the sun doesn’t shine). During my down day in Marquette, it did stop raining for a few hours, which gave me a chance to gas up and explore the annual arts festival at the Marquette waterfront park (photo). There were hundreds of artisans exhibiting beautiful crafts. Next to the arts fair was Thill’s Fish House (photo). I bought a nice piece of smoked lake trout to add to my dinner fixings.

Twenty miles this side of Sault Ste. Marie, the skies broke open for an occasional beam of sunshine. Before crossing the US/Canada border, I stopped at Country Kitchen for hot coffee and pancakes. It’s amazing how, after 3 days of rain while motorcycling, a sunbeam and hot coffee can pick up ones spirits.

The traffic for entering Canada was minimal, but traffic entering the US was backed up a mile all the way across the St Mary’s River Bridge. The last photo from the waterfront park on the Canadian side shows the back up on the bridge (look closely). Now—on to Sudbury.