Day Six - A Ferry Nice Day

Today would be a short ride, well at least in the morning. After quick breakfast at the motel and with the Model A's all packed we headed off about 3 miles to catch the ferry from Ludington to Manitowoc, WI. We got the Model A's in line and soon saw JJ & Shirley in their motorhome off to the side for loading as required by the crew. We, on the other hand, were placed in another line where Dick and I would be able to drive the Model A's on ourselves. I guess the crew didn't want to take a chance with these old cars. The only unusual part was that the vehicles were backed on to the S.S. Badger, which is a 410 ft former railroad car hauler. It is also one of the last coal fired steam engine vessels still operating. The two Model A's were the last few vehicles on, JJ's motorhome was next to last, which was good because we were off first (LIFO) which got us a head of the rest of the cars.



The actual ride takes about 4 hours and covers 60 miles and today the weather was perfect, sunny with smooth water. We all enjoyed the down time and managed to relax. I know it's hard to believe but the ladies somehow managed to find the gift shop. That was OK because Dick and I got new hats. We roamed around all the decks from bow to stern and enjoyed the sun. Other than getting some soot on our clothes from the coal smoke of the engine it was an uneventful sailing. When we docked Dick and I as well as the motorcycle drivers were escorted down to the vehicles so we could get them off the ship.


Once off, our plan was to head to the "world famous" Penquin Drive-In for a Penny burger. I had seen this on a TV show (Diners, Dive and Drive-Ins) and was looking forward to lunch. The good news is we found the place, the bad news was that it was closed and for sale. Say it ain't so! We had to at least stop for a picture. JJ and Shirley soon showed up too. We bid them good by and hoped to see them along the way again.




After lunch, nothing special - Arby's, we headed west on RT 151. We got a call from JJ alerting us about some Model A's on display. OK, we would keep an eye out for them. It wasn't long before we got to the little town of Valders and sure enough we saw Model A's and had to stop. It turned out to be a photo op for a story on the 100th anniversary of first Ford dealership ( http://valderslions.org/htr_rev_up_valders.php ) in the state. We had a very nice conversation with many of the owners of the old Fords on display. One car was a 1928 Special Coupe, unrestored, which was purchased at the dealership. It was a nice stop, but we had to get moving. They wished us well on our trip and off we went.


As we traveled west I was surprised at the terrain, which was very hilly, with some long and pretty steep. And the wind was still blowing making it very noisy in the A's. We also had a great view of Lake Winnebago due to an unexpected detour of RT 151.



It was also getting warmer and we were in need of something refreshing. As if it was a sign from above an A&W shop appeared. So in we went and relaxed in air conditioned comfort sipping a tasty Root Beer Float. Hmmm, with all the wind that was blowing around we soon saw one of the benefits, windmills for electric power.




A check of the watch show it was getting late and we wanted to get to Tomah, WI. So we kicked it up a notch and let the Model A's run a little faster. The roads weren't bad, not too much traffic, but enough for me to try to find an alternative. That turned out to be US 12 which was straight and ran parallel to I 90. We arrived in Tomah and stayed at the Holiday Inn.

Tomorrow we will cross over the Mississippi River into Minnesota.