Monday, July 23, 2012

US Hwy 30 -- Detour: Lake Michigan Marine Highway

After a couple of fun days with Jake at Interlochen, I hit the road very early yesterday morning to make my way to Door County, Wisconsin. I really didn't want to have to drive the long way around Lake Michigan -- especially not through Chicago -- so I was very happy to find a ferry service across the lake from Ludington to Manitowoc.

The SS Badger is a 1950's era coal-fired ferry, the last of fourteen ships from the original car ferry fleet. It remains a very active crossing vessel, carrying lots of cargo in addition to tourists and other various passengers. Darth and the rest of my road rig looked pretty good -- and got the usual number of intrigued looks -- as he was driven off the ferry by a member of the ship's crew.



One of the most interesting aspects of the ferry is that it is still officially part of US Hwy 10, as you can see by the Google map routing. The US10 symbol is also painted on the ship. Pretty cool!

My slightly indirect route north through Appleton was for the purpose of picking up my niece Jennifer, who took a bus from Chicago to join me for a couple of days. We are now at the Wagon Trail Campground -- without doubt one of the very best campgrounds anywhere -- and being very well looked after by the owners, my good friends Dick & Cheri.

Jennifer has taken my bike to go exploring while I catch up with myself. I trust our combined shenanigans will continue apace this evening… Stay tuned!

Click here to see exactly where I am posting this from on Google Maps.

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