Upper Peninsula "National" Road Meet, September 2015

Started by bulldog1979, September 04, 2014, 11:13:34 PM

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SSOWorld

Quote from: Dougtone on August 13, 2015, 10:43:41 AM
Quote from: getemngo on July 28, 2015, 05:33:06 PM
Quote from: Brandon on July 27, 2015, 04:44:56 PM
Well, you can add one more to the posse of those going and even walking the bridge.  I'll be there.  :bigass:

Yay! Now we can annoy everyone else by talking about what's changed on Michigan Tech's campus.  :sombrero:

Here's an idea for those of us following the Houghton -> Marquette -> Sault Ste. Marie hotel itinerary: we should have a drink at a local brewery every night. First Keweenaw Brewing Company, then I dunno, Blackrocks?, then Soo Brewing. It'll be our own beer tour! :cheers:
If I were going to the meet, I'd be in favor of this. I'll be on vacation the 2nd half of August, so I wanted to spend Labor Day Weekend closer to home. So instead, I'll find another brewpub and have a beer in honor of the U.P. road meet
Same - It is likely that the brewpub will likely be on Beale Street in Memphis.
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.


bulldog1979

Based on replies on Facebook, I have 12 attending so far. I just need to know if anyone from here is RSVP-ing who hasn't done so on Facebook so I don't double count you because I don't know your real name.

getemngo

Are we still thinking about having 2-way radios with us, for the areas with no cell reception? I have access to at least two of them.
~ Sam from Michigan

codyg1985

Quote from: getemngo on August 21, 2015, 05:38:15 PM
Are we still thinking about having 2-way radios with us, for the areas with no cell reception? I have access to at least two of them.

How many cars are we looking to have at this point? Maybe two will be enough. A third one couldn't hurt, though.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

rawmustard

Quote from: codyg1985 on August 22, 2015, 01:39:01 PM
Quote from: getemngo on August 21, 2015, 05:38:15 PM
Are we still thinking about having 2-way radios with us, for the areas with no cell reception? I have access to at least two of them.

How many cars are we looking to have at this point? Maybe two will be enough. A third one couldn't hurt, though.

I'm thinking everyone who drives to Houghton for the first night and then stays in Marquette the second night would necessarily need their own vehicle for the portion of the itinerary between those two places. The same would apply between Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie.

bulldog1979

As of last count, we have 12 attendees. Assuming 4 per car, that's 3 cars if everyone is going on the tour. As noted, there will be more cars caravanning between the two cities later in the evening, but there's decent cell reception between Houghton and Marquette in case we need to communicate with each other. Keweenaw County has terrible cell coverage, and part of the day 2 tour north of Marquette goes through part of the county without reception as well.

A word of note though: the UP only has AT&T and Verizon for carriers. I think T-Mobile may have roaming up here on AT&T's network, but I've been told by guests at the hotel that Sprint doesn't work at all.

SSOWorld

Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

bulldog1979

I'd like to send out a big thank you for everyone who made it to both days of the meet. Excluding my drive up to Houghton yesterday morning from Negaunee, we drove about 330 miles in four counties over both days. I hope everyone had a great time, and I'll see you at some meets in the future!

For those who couldn't make it, the highlights of day one included the Portage Canal Lift Bridge, a pair of embossed cutout markers for US 41 and M-203 in Calumet, the Snow Thermometer near Phoenix, the M-26 Timber Bridge and two historic bridges in Eagle Harbor, Brockway Mountain Drive, and the northern terminus of US 41 near Fort Wilkins. Some of us also stopped and walked on the Peshekee River Bridge, also known as Trunk Line Bridge No. 1, the first state highway bridge built by Michigan.

On day two, we saw the location of the first highway centerline in the US, a section of old M-35 that's now under a luge run in Negaunee, a non-embossed cutout US 41 shield, old alignments of US 41/M-28, a Pennsylvania through truss bridge from Pennsylvania, the old M-35 (now CR 510) and Blind 35. We also stopped at Thomas Rock near Big Bay for views of Copper Harbor in the distance before heading back to Marquette for a quick drive along the lakeshore.

For those who couldn't attend, I'm considering doing the Marquette County portion of the meet again in a few years after our next set of highway roundabouts open.

P.S. Brandon, make sure you post the various group photos someplace!

bulldog1979

From Governor Snyder on Facebook:

QuoteThe National Weather Service forecasts a near certainty of rain during morning hours of Labor Day in the Mackinaw City area. People hoping to participate in the traditional five-mile walk across the bridge should take precautions and dress appropriately.

Thunderstorms and lightning remain a possibility and could force a delay or cancelation of the bridge walk. Authorities are working with the National Weather Service to monitor probable weather patterns and conditions for the walk.

A.J. Bertin

Thanks so much to Michael for hosting this meet! We saw a lot of nice things throughout the U.P., and it was good to see everyone.  :spin:

I just thought I'd give a summary of what happened with the Bridge Walk. On Sunday evening as Cody and I were driving to Sault Ste. Marie, we were paying attention to the radar and weather forecast for Labor Day morning. Plus Cody pulled up MDOT's Twitter feed for the Bridge Walk, and the forecast was looking pretty crummy with rain and thunderstorms in the morning. Our original plan (and I think Brandon and Brian R.K.'s plan as well) was to leave the Soo by 5 or 5:30. We were all going to leave our cars in Mackinaw City and hop on one of the school buses to head to St. Ignace. Well, Brian was the only one who ended up doing that. Cody looked at the radar at about 4:30 and the rain was pretty heavy, so he and I decided to wait a couple hours. At 6:15 or so, the radar looked better so we decided to go for it. He and I had breakfast in our hotel around 6:30 or 7:00 and made it to St. Ignace a little after 8 where we met up with Brandon who was gracious enough to for us for at least an hour. Cody and I followed Brandon to the Little Bear East Center where bridge walkers could park their cars and hop on a free bus to the starting line in St. Ignace. That was nice.

Despite how nice the parking situation was, the weather still looked iffy. It was drizzling and we learned that umbrellas were not allowed on the bridge. We frantically had to find ponchos so we went to the grocery store in St. Ignace. Of course, by that point, all the ponchos were sold out so we had to buy trash bags to use as ponchos. It was hilarious! Brian R.K. was prepared because he'd bought a poncho at Walmart the night before. It didn't even dawn on me that umbrellas wouldn't be allowed. Oh well...

Cody, Brandon, and I met up with Brian R.K. at the starting line - but Brian had probably by this point been waiting something like three hours for us. We started walking at around 9:30, but as it turned out, we didn't even need our garbage bag ponchos because the rain had stopped by 9 or so. The walk itself was nice and the sun gradually came out as the day progressed. The four of us had lunch at Audie's at around 11:30 and walked around Mackinaw City to buy t-shirts. We met up with a friend of mine and (except for Brian) rode one of the school buses back to St. Ignace - and then rode one more bus to get back to our cars. The bus ride across the bridge was interesting because we saw the last two walkers and also saw the last lane open up as we were on the bridge. (By this point, it was around 2:15 or so.) By the time Brandon, Cody, and I got back to our cars it was around 3.

Altogether, the road meet was nice but the Bridge Walk was also quite the adventure!
-A.J. from Michigan



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