July 25, Tuesday Gwinn to Seney, Michigan

We got up at the crack of 8:00 and headed across the highway for a great breakfast and to get some sandwiches packed for the day.  

We left downtown Gwinn at 9:00 and just knew the day was going to be 100% perfect.  Well, that lasted until county road 444.  Until then, the county roads were sand or gravel and just great.  But then the sign that we have began to hate showed up as we rounded a corner.  DEAD END!  I told Jon, well that can’t be because it shows it going through on my GPS.  So off we went to the dead end and once again found out that the road kind of went through but that was about 100 years ago.  Jon, being the explorer he is, said I know we can get through and connect on the other side.  So about two hours later we had about 1000 mosquito and black fly bites and were stuck in a sort of swamp.  THANKS JON!

So once again, I took total charge and got us out of the mess.  We back tracked about 10 miles after asking the expert advice of John, Jordan and Patrick.  After much chin scratching, the three suggested we head back and start again on a different route.  So we did and it worked and we got to where we wanted to go in an hour or so.  We finally got to Munising around 2:00 and met the great folks at Munising Pro Sports.  Amanda was in charge and she held a hammer over Justin’s head to make sure it changed our oil and filter properly.  This Arctic Cat dealership has new owners and they bent over backwards to get us on the road quickly.

As we were ready to leave, Tom Flannigan from WLUC TV 6 out of Marquette showed up and we spent a half hour doing an interview for the nightly news.  Then the Nelson boys arrived on the scene.  They have been watching our site since the start of the trip and when Bob’s wife saw our trailer she passed the word on and they rode with us from Munising to Seney.  They are two great dudes! Bob worked for Ford Motor Company in Detroit and moved back to the area after retiring.  Bill worked under ground, mining iron ore for 6 years and then for 30 plus years in the open pit Empire Mine in Palmer, Michigan.  They lead the way to Seney and I was glad they showed up by the end of the day. 

We arrived at Seney at 7:00 and had put 147 miles on for the day.  That doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’re in the swamp with Jon for an hour or so, it takes up valuable time.  If you’re in Seney, stop at the Fox River Motel for the night.  The rates are good, it’s very clean and Don & Diane make you feel right at home.  

I should add that we have all of our trails on my Lowrance GPS saved, including the wrong ones.  This will work out great for next year when we do the 2nd Annual Portland to Portland ATV Run!  
 
 
 

Click Here Photos from Today!!!