But beneath the t-shirt slogans and the projects, a struggle is occurring in the psychic of man. It is a battle between man's pride and the reality of the ages. The desire of man to be completely self sufficient moves in his inner being "Oh to be capable of handling all life's problems alone!" Yet man is repetitively brought to his knees by the reality that their are problems he cannot solve on his own. This reality, this age old truth cannot be denied for " No man is an Island".
To wrestle with this truth the Nobody Motorcycle Club applied for a grant from the Collaborative Motorcycle Council Of Intellectual Thought. Our proposal, which was accepted, outlined a motorcycle trip to Madeline Island to explore the island mentality of man. We invited all the Nobodies to participate. Four including one of our female members took the challenge.
Along with me (Kickstand), Smelty, Jawa The Putz and Gutts (left to right) headed over to Wisconsin along county highway 13 to Madeline Island. Madeline Island is a 14 mile long island in Lake Superior. http://www.madelineisland.com/index.shtml
Forty miles into the trip, Smelty and Gutts felt a great heaviness, which they attributed to the purpose of the trip. They decided to turn back. I just wondered if they were getting tired of Jawa's and my company.
Fifty miles into the one hundred mile trip the highway started paralleling the shore of Lake Superior.
The weather was spectacular with temperatures in the low 70's.
Both Jawa and I still have some boy humor in us. This is an artesian well.
A sailboat leaving the marina in Cornucopia.
To get to Madeline Island one needs to take a ferry from Bayfield Wisconsin. http://www.superiortrails.com/bayfield.html
The ferry ride takes about 25 minutes as the Island is only 1 1/2 to 2 miles from Bayfield
Bayfield has a marina too.
Before heading over to the island we had supper and looked around this quaint town. This must be a Norwegian gnome. A possible mascot for the Nobodies.
Bayfield is a nice place.
Jawa on the ferry. This picture was taken just as we were departing Bayfield.
As we departed, I realized that this trip was going to require me to think. I started to feel anxious, as thinking gives me a headache.
That is Bayfield in the background.
Another shot of Bayfield and its Marina.
That is Madeline Island in the background.
Another view of Bayfield
We are approaching the island
We camped at the state park. The next day we discovered the town campground which was fine and a lot cheaper.
The advantage of staying at the state campground was the fantastic boardwalk that paralleled the beach. It had interpretive stations that identified flora and dealt with the formation of the sand spit and the lagoon.
Lake Superior
Jawa and I initiated our dialog about man's desire to be self-sufficient while on our evening hike.
As the sun set, we felt we were living out a metaphor about man's struggle to be an island. We stopped talking and allowed nature to teach us.
The evening sky, calm lake and the sounds of the forest resurrected in us the spirit of man as the hunter. We crouched behind bushes and silently crawled until we could not see any more.
The next morning we felt that the wind had spoken to us. That made us both very hungry so we had a man breakfast of oatmeal and potato chips.
After Jawa had a cup of coffee, he spoke the song that he had heard during the night. "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by Lake Superior, Bayfield is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of your Nobody friends or of your family; any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the motorcycle rumbles; it rumbles for thee. "
Whoa! That song hit me like a ton of bricks! So even if I think I am an island; yet am I bound to mankind. Ok, so we have come to the truth. Good, now we don't have to think any more. Let's just ride around this island. I prefer to be mindless.
The road out of the state park
Madeline Island has some fine roads.
Some streatches parallel Lake Superior and have beautiful views.
I liked this tree.
Map of the island on a sign in town.
Jawa and I enjoyed a coffee and muffin in town.
There is an ancient indian cemetary on the island. Here is a site for more information : http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=88286
We took the 11:00 am ferry back to Bayfield on Sunday.
Leaving Madeline Island
Waterfront Restuarant on the island
Jawa the Puttz was so hungry that he decided to eat a ferry!
We passed this ferry, which was heading to Madeline Island.
Approaching the harbor at Bayfield.
The end of our ferry ride. Back on the mainland in Bayfield.
We stoped for a late lunch in Cornucopia. Fish Lips had good food. It was a fantastic day in the mid 70's.
This is our last leg of the ride. It is along a county road just southwest of Duluth. I love taking pictures of roads, because motorcycling is all about the roads traveled.
The Puttz had a great time on his first Nobody Motorcycle Tour. " The planning by Nobody Inc. was like nothing I have ever experienced. I believe every motorcyclist needs to go on at least one Nobody Tour. It changed my out look on life. Now I know no man is an island unto himself", exclaimed The Puttz. We are going to make this an annual Nobody Tour. Next year we hope that other Nobodies will join us for this great overnight trip.
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