Today I was able to redeem myself from the failed attempt to make it to the Merrimac Ferry last weekend, due to weather.
This time I only had two takers, Brian and Kevin. It was the perfect summer-like day for it as well. Ah the smells and sights of flowers, full foliage, etc. It was perfect!
We left Fondy around 11 and I had planned almost the same route to Fox Lake as last weekend, except this time we dropped south right after Horicon Marsh since Hwy 68 is closed. For a change of pace, we stopped for lunch at Mullin’s instead of Karen’s.
From there we headed south of Hwy 33 on Cty P to Pardeeville, then Hwy 22 to Hwy 33 into Portage. Just beyond Portage we took Cty U into Merrimac. Surprisingly the line for the Ferry wasn’t too long when we arrived. However, as Kevin pointed out, it probably wouldn’t be since we were taking it south. And, sure enough, the line going north was around double the size.
We made a pit-stop at The Merrimac Scoop on the south side for some ice-cream. Again a perfect day for that as well.
From there we took Hwy 113 to Okee, then Cty V, Cty J, Cty CS through Poynette, and then Cty B back into Cambria. However, we continued on Hwy 146 north out of there and then some roads around the south and east side of Green Lake to Hwy 23 into Ripon. We planned on taking Olden Road out of Ripon, which we told Brian about ahead of time and he was on a bit of a schedule to get back around 4:30. When we continued through Ripon to get to Olden, he stayed on Hwy 23.
It was an awesome day and although we fell just shy of 200 miles and that was okay because it was still the bomb!!!
Oh, I also realized that it was 4 years to the day Nicky Hayden passed away. So, I felt compelled to take a photo of the sticker he gave me which my bike now dons.
