Riding Through the Menominee Reservation
Yesterday we rode through the Menominee Indian Reservation. The day started out busy, working to finish chores so while riding we weren’t worried about what wasn’t being accomplished in our absence. That is the first rule of biking: when you’re on the bike, allow your mind to enjoy the moment.
My husband, Gene, and I began our journey from home in Green Bay. We climbed on our bikes around 12:30 p.m. and headed northwest to Doc’s Harley Davidson in Bonduel, WI to meet up with friends and family. Once our group arrived, we decided to eat before taking off. Doc has built a restaurant next to his dealership, called The Timeline Saloon, where I have eaten the best pulled pork sandwich ever found--truly!
We had eight people on seven bikes. My husband Gene, our friend Dennis, my oldest son Zach with cousins Hank and Earl, Zach’s friend Moochy and his girlfriend Laura, and me. By 2:00 we were off.
From Doc’s we headed west on Hwy. 29 to Shawano where we turned off the highway onto highway 47. When we ride, taking the highway is faster in getting us to the better riding roads. We cut across County Road H to hit Highway 55.
Highway 55 takes us through the best riding roads in this area. All in all, at this point we are only about 43 miles from home. We really are fortunate to live in such a beautiful area.
The roads wind through tall trees, giving intermittent shade from the sun. While riding along, music in my ear (I never ride without my phone pumping out tunes), the sun at my back looking forward and watching friends and family sweep through curves with ease, a smile spreads across my face. This is what we love to do! This is where I find my peace--my thoughts sliding through my next book or scene in a book--my mind is able to fully relax while at the same time, become more creative. The scent of camp fires, flowers and trees in bloom, food being grilled, or water off the lakes and rivers fill my senses with gratitude. Of course, there’s the occasional dead animal alongside the road, but that’s part of the package (I hold my breath past dead animals).
At the sixty mile mark we stopped at a little tavern north of Hwy 64 to have a drink and discuss the next road we wanted to take. We laughed at a few jokes, the guys teasing each other about anything and everything, snapped the picture you see in this post, and took off for our next destination.
Frequently, when riding the back roads we find animals, either alongside the road or crossing the road, paying special attention for deer and smaller animals that can throw a bike down in a heartbeat, like raccoons, beaver and, of course, dogs and cats. On this leg of the journey, we encountered the one thing I hate the most--SNAKES. I was riding in the back of the group, my son Zach and cousin Earl in front of me, and a huge yellow Pine Snake slithered across the road, and we simply moved over to avoid running over it. (I have hit a Pine Snake in the car and they are so strong and dense it felt like a speed bump. I definitely don’t want to hit one on the bike.) As Zach passed it, it reared up and hissed at him. I was directly behind Zach and moved over even further into the left lane--it looked furious with us. It must have decided we weren’t worth messing with as it turned and slithered into the woods.
Next stop, only ten miles down the road, at Animals Bar in (what I believe to be) the Township of Riverview. We have stopped at this bar several times while riding the roads up there. Animal is a former Marine. Zach, Earl and Hank are all Marines, so there were a couple of drinks to the corps, a few war stories, and then we were off to the School House Bar in Mountain, WI. Some of us in the group had commitments for the evening, so we made this our final stop. Dennis and Hank shot a couple of games of pool, we had a couple of beers (Root Beer for me--I like the hard stuff) and Gene, Dennis and I made our way back to Green Bay to have a pizza at Sgambati’s Pizza. They have the best Chicken Alfredo Pizza--best pizza ever! Gene and I were home around nine thirty--dirty and tired, but happy.
Please feel free to check out the links to some of the spots we stopped.
My husband, Gene, and I began our journey from home in Green Bay. We climbed on our bikes around 12:30 p.m. and headed northwest to Doc’s Harley Davidson in Bonduel, WI to meet up with friends and family. Once our group arrived, we decided to eat before taking off. Doc has built a restaurant next to his dealership, called The Timeline Saloon, where I have eaten the best pulled pork sandwich ever found--truly!
We had eight people on seven bikes. My husband Gene, our friend Dennis, my oldest son Zach with cousins Hank and Earl, Zach’s friend Moochy and his girlfriend Laura, and me. By 2:00 we were off.
From Doc’s we headed west on Hwy. 29 to Shawano where we turned off the highway onto highway 47. When we ride, taking the highway is faster in getting us to the better riding roads. We cut across County Road H to hit Highway 55.
Highway 55 takes us through the best riding roads in this area. All in all, at this point we are only about 43 miles from home. We really are fortunate to live in such a beautiful area.
The roads wind through tall trees, giving intermittent shade from the sun. While riding along, music in my ear (I never ride without my phone pumping out tunes), the sun at my back looking forward and watching friends and family sweep through curves with ease, a smile spreads across my face. This is what we love to do! This is where I find my peace--my thoughts sliding through my next book or scene in a book--my mind is able to fully relax while at the same time, become more creative. The scent of camp fires, flowers and trees in bloom, food being grilled, or water off the lakes and rivers fill my senses with gratitude. Of course, there’s the occasional dead animal alongside the road, but that’s part of the package (I hold my breath past dead animals).
At the sixty mile mark we stopped at a little tavern north of Hwy 64 to have a drink and discuss the next road we wanted to take. We laughed at a few jokes, the guys teasing each other about anything and everything, snapped the picture you see in this post, and took off for our next destination.
Frequently, when riding the back roads we find animals, either alongside the road or crossing the road, paying special attention for deer and smaller animals that can throw a bike down in a heartbeat, like raccoons, beaver and, of course, dogs and cats. On this leg of the journey, we encountered the one thing I hate the most--SNAKES. I was riding in the back of the group, my son Zach and cousin Earl in front of me, and a huge yellow Pine Snake slithered across the road, and we simply moved over to avoid running over it. (I have hit a Pine Snake in the car and they are so strong and dense it felt like a speed bump. I definitely don’t want to hit one on the bike.) As Zach passed it, it reared up and hissed at him. I was directly behind Zach and moved over even further into the left lane--it looked furious with us. It must have decided we weren’t worth messing with as it turned and slithered into the woods.
Next stop, only ten miles down the road, at Animals Bar in (what I believe to be) the Township of Riverview. We have stopped at this bar several times while riding the roads up there. Animal is a former Marine. Zach, Earl and Hank are all Marines, so there were a couple of drinks to the corps, a few war stories, and then we were off to the School House Bar in Mountain, WI. Some of us in the group had commitments for the evening, so we made this our final stop. Dennis and Hank shot a couple of games of pool, we had a couple of beers (Root Beer for me--I like the hard stuff) and Gene, Dennis and I made our way back to Green Bay to have a pizza at Sgambati’s Pizza. They have the best Chicken Alfredo Pizza--best pizza ever! Gene and I were home around nine thirty--dirty and tired, but happy.
Please feel free to check out the links to some of the spots we stopped.
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Rochelle,Great to hear from you. Yes, it's a wonderful place. We just love riding through there several times a year. I hope you get to come back and camp again.
I'm going to assume that Johnsruds and Sparapanis are relatives?
My grandmother's maiden name was Johnsrud, and after she died my mother spent summers with her Uncle Pete and Aunt Gertie Johnsrud. I'm fairly sure some of his kids and grandkids live in and around Green Bay. Two of my aunts married Sparapanis and they were up in Iron Mountain, but I know a few of my cousins are in and around Appleton and all through northeastern Wisconsin and, of course, the Iron Mountain area. One's even a Shopco manager, and of course, we had our obligatory Lutheran minister. ;-D
But something else you need to watch out for in those woods are Johnsruds and Sparapanis. There are a lot of them up there. You can hardly swing a cat without running into a cousin of mine! ;-D