Ural Trip to Door County, WI

[echo4bravo]

Well, it's that time of the year when I usually like to get away from the daily grind and just get the hell out of town for a while. So me and my wife Jodi decided to go to Door County, WI and check out the area. I have always heard that it is a nice place to go and see, and there is a lot to do. So....we loaded up the Ural and got the heck out of Faribault....

And so begins day 1 of our trip.

[echo4bravo]

Ok..I don't really plan ahead for stuff like this...it makes it more interesting, so I believe. I generally ride about 6 to 8 thousand miles a year between my Honda and my Ural. Anyway after about 198 miles and a little over 4 hours of driving and about 1 hour of short stops. I had about enough for the day. Keep in mind that this is a Ural and not really built for speed. We stopped for the night in Abbotsford, Wi and stayed the night in a hotel...no camping for me (my wife) on this adventure.


So ends day 1 of our trip..

[echo4bravo]

Up and ready to go bright and early in the morning. With the sun at our backs we chased our shadow to our destination for the week, Sturgeon Bay. From here we plan on seeing Door County while returning nightly to our room at the AmericInn of Sturgeon Bay.



We traveled another 197 miles to reach our destination of Sturgeon Bay. We got a room at the Americinn in Sturgeon Bay and stashed our gear and then took a little walk to stretch our legs. After our walk we hopped back on the Ural and rode about another 20 miles or so to check out the area and plan our next days ride.

[echo4bravo]

Today we decided to head up the penninsula and maybe see a state park or two. We wound up hitting Penninsula State Park and riding around the park for a good share of the day.





We spent about 3 hours driving around Penninsula Park. I would recommend to anyone who is visiting Door County to spend some time driving/walking/biking the park. They have a ranger tower that you can climb and get some wonderful pictures.

[echo4bravo]

Time to check out some of the sites so we stopped in Egg Harbor.



of course our GPS showed us a little closer to the water than we actually were.


Day 3 also brought on 15,000 km on the Ural so I had to pull over for a picture of that monumental occasion.

[echo4bravo]

It's always nice to tour a lighthouse. While getting the guided tour of this lighthouse I learned that the lighthouse caretaker was put out of work in 1926 because they had a solar powered light to keep the thing running. How about that! automation taking folks jobs even back in 1926...? solar power?

[echo4bravo]

We pulled into Sister Bay and, well, I have been a number of different places, seen a lot of stuff....including buildings with sod roofs...but this is the first time I ever saw goats keeping the grass trimmed.





yes...they are real goats....

[echo4bravo]

Today we started out by heading up the east side of the Penninsula. We stopped at Whitefish Dunes State Park then headed to Baileys Harbor by way of Jacksonport. We then went to Cana Island Lighthouse and checked out the area. After we left the Lighthouse we went to Rowleys Bay, if your ever considering going to Rowleys Bay to see what is there...save your milage for a different destination. There is not much to see at Rowleys Bay. We then headed back to the NW side of the penninsula and made a pit stop in Sister Bay for lunch. We stopped again in Ephraim for some Gelato (good stuff). We then headed to Penninsula Center for some wine tasting at Stonesthrow Winery. After leaving the winery we rode around a bit eventually stopping at a motorcycle memorial for Wisconsin cyclists that have passed on. We put on about 145 miles today.




Oh! I almost forgot...we also made it halfway to the North Pole....and here's the proof...


Riding, Riding, Riding.....


Cana Island Lighthouse




Wine Tasting time..


Wisconsin motorcyclist memorial


I climbed another ranger tower in Potawatomi State Park




All in all this was a pretty good day of riding..and visting the sites

[Liberia]

Great photos of a beautiful part of the country. I just bought a 2004 Ural in the same colors as yours. Waiting for it to be picked up by a bike hauling company. Seems to be taking forever.

It would be great to see your bike in some of the pictures as well as how you and your wife pack for longer trips.

Keep up the great work.

[echo4bravo]

Originally Posted by Liberia

Great photos of a beautiful part of the country. I just bought a 2004 Ural in the same colors as yours. Waiting for it to be picked up by a bike hauling company. Seems to be taking forever.

It would be great to see your bike in some of the pictures as well as how you and your wife pack for longer trips.

Keep up the great work.

Ya, sorry, I never really plan ahead and take pictures of the bike like I should be. I bought a waterproof bag at Cabela's and I secure it to the spare tire mounting bracket, the bag sits on the spare tire. I use some 10' rachet straps to secure the bag and then I use some elastic nets to secure other stuff that I may need on the road. I keep about a third of the trunk for tools and extra parts I bring along....innertube's...elbows (carb to air cleaner). The rest of the trunk I usually try to save for items we purchase along the trip. I believe you will really enjoy your Ural. They don't go that fast but getting there is half the fun, and I believe that you see a lot more along the way by taking the roads less traveled.

[echo4bravo]

Today we woke up to...a very heavy rain. We decided to put on the rain gear and head to the maritime museum in Sturgen Bay, about a mile from our hotel. We spent about three hours in the museum and when we left the sun was shining. We stuck pretty close to Sturgeon Bay today seeing some of the sites. We did stop by the Red Oak Winery for a little wine tasting.

The Day began with rain


Maritime Museum


Can be seen for miles....I was about 8 feet away..


Wine Tasting


Checking out the sites and just riding around the area








I cound have watched this little fellow for quite some time.....man...it's great just being on vacation and not having much to do...

[ktmklx]

Those are some nice photos, brings back some nice memories. My wive and I honeymooned in Door county. If you go there a little later in the summer there are alot of goodies to be sampled (cherries and apples).

[echo4bravo]

Today was a very nice day of riding around the penninsula. The only thing we had on our agenda was to hit the Door Penninsula Winery. We hit a few other shops in the area of the Winery but otherwise we just rode around the area. Here's an FYI...the Door Penninsula winery will ship cases of wine for 1/2 off the shipping cost to those of us on bikes. Great tasting wine also. Both my wife and I really enjoyed touring this winery and there weren't too many of their wines that we did not like drinking. No, I don't work for them.....I just really like the wine, and that's saying a lot. I am a pretty devoted Beer drinker...


The Winery is an old school house building. The whole operation is run from this building.


Just Riding....and Riding....




and an occasional break

[echo4bravo]

Well, all good things must come to an end. We did not really have a plan for returning home. The wife had to be back to work Monday morning, I did not have to be back to work until Wednesday night. We left Sturgeon Bay at about 11am on Saturday morning and made it back to Faribault, MN at about 8pm that evening. We traveled about 350 miles on a Ural. Now my wife who was riding in the sidecar rather enjoyed the ride back. I on the other hand had some serious ass burn by the time we got home. The Ural did not seem to mind the trip and had no complaints at all....gotta love those Ural's, just wash it with with some Russian vodka from time to time and it will treat you well. Here are a few pics Jodi took while riding home. She took these before we rode into the severe thunderstorms that were surrounding the counties where we live.








Thanks for taking a look....Ride safe!!!!

[Klay]

Sounds like a great trip.