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Punched another hole in the Bucket List card last week when I rode the Lake Superior circle tour with my buddy Ray. Trip almost didn't happen for a couple different reasons. Ray's sister lost her battle with cancer the week before we were scheduled to leave so it looked like we might not go. Ray decided he needed a break and his wife felt likewise so, 48 hours before we had planned to leave, the light was green again. Got a call from Ray the night before liftoff saying he noticed his passport had expired. We talked about the places we could ride in the states but, while pouring over the web looking for passport info, he found that a new rapid passport office had opened in Minneapolis. He could make online reservations for an appointment so scheduled one for Friday morning at 9AM. We were scheduled to leave at that time but felt a few hour delay was worth being able to go up into Canada.

Within 3 hours, he had a new passport and at 11AM it was feet on the pegs heading for Duluth.

Self portrait of Ray with the new documentation:

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First 140 miles was interstate at a fairly high rate of speed to make up some time. We were probably about a week late for peak leaf colors in Northern Minnesota and 10 days late in Canada. The leaves turned a bit early this year and when you plan a trip a few months in advance, it's a bit of a crapshoot but there was plenty of natural beauty to be found.

Gassing up in Beaver Bay along the North Shore of Minnesota:

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Temps were in the high 60's when we left Minneapolis but by the time we got north of Duluth, they were in the 50's. Still nice for this time of the year but you could feel a 5-10 degree swing whenever you got away from the lake even as little as a few hundred feet. Winds were blowing straight down. Never seen Lake Superior so calm!

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The views and vistas along the north shore in Minnesota are frequently stunning. We stopped every few miles because the views were just too tough to pass by.

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The beauty wasn't all on the lake side with hillsides and rock formations all along the north shore.

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The islands and land formations reaching out into the lake created some amazing vistas.

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A nice couple pulled off on one of the turnoffs and were kind enough to take a group shot. The lady actually led motorcycle tours around Superior as a business and rode her own HD.

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About 15 miles north of Grand Marais, MN, between the road and the lake sits an amazing old lodge. Ray had stayed there (as had Babe Ruth and some other notables) so he pulled in to show me this very unique piece of Americana.

Shot of the dining room.

Website here - http://www.naniboujou.com/

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There's only about 20 rooms, no phones, no TV, no internet. A nice place for a retreat!

Shot of the beautiful stone fireplace.

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Shot of the building from the large yard between the lake and the lodge.

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There was a very unique pine tree in the yard between the lodge and the lake. Had to take a shot. Looked like a triton.

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Shot of the bikes outside the lodge.

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A few miles farther north is Grand Portage and we were still trying to make good time so we could get to Thunder Bay, Ont. before dusk as wild animals crossing the road is a common occurrence this time of year. We came up behind a string of about 7 cars going less than the speed limit (42 miles an hour we would soon find out).  Ray was riding point and you could see ahead at least a mile so he pulled out to pass the group. We probably topped out about 85 and as I came to the front of the group, I could see that car #2 had a nice rack of lights on the top and some official decals on the side. We slowed quickly after passing the group but out came the car and on came the lights.

The officer was a very nice man and was concerned as to why we felt in such a rush. We explained our predicament and he explained that the large line of cars was there because of him and he too, was tired of following the old lady driving 42 miles per hour. He asked us for our licenses and retired to his car for about 10 minutes. When he returned, he handed us back our licenses and suggested that if we wanted to avoid a pair of $130 fines, we would regulate our speed a bit.

Five miles later we were at the Canadian border.

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We made Thunder Bay by 6PM and got checked into a nice Best Western on the south side of town. Headed downtown to the lakeside eateries and had a nice dinner before turning in for the night. The next morning we hit Thunder Bay HD for a t-shirt, patch and dip dot, slipped into the bowling alley next door for a surprisingly good breakfast and hit the road out of town. It was about 50 miles of decent inland riding before the road began to hug the lake again. What followed was about 100 miles of the most amazing combination of roads and scenery I have ever ridden! Long sweepers over rolling hills with stunning views of the lake at every turn. It was simply an amazing display of God's Glory!

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Every corner revealed new views of bays and islands.