LIVING THE DREAM

This is the kind of boating I've been waiting for!!   We arrived on last Monday at GREEN TURTLE BAY RESORT in Grand River, KY.  There is a lot of hype about GTB from the loopers and now I know why!  This place has 3 pools, hot tub, restaurants, bars, SPA, etc, etc.  We immediately signed up for the weekly special and will be here till this coming Monday.....IF I LEAVE AT ALL!   GTB is located between 2 lakes and is most well known as the place that  people come and rent houseboats.  I am thinking if trading LeReve for a 70 footer that is for sale down the dock and just living here.  HAHA.  It also helps that the sweltering hot heat and humidity dropped and now every day is a perfect temp.  We caught up with some loopers whom we met previously and with being here a week, some that we passed are now coming in.  We are still following "Jim's Joy" as they stayed a week also for some maintenance issues .....and Pug II the other boat we've been with since Joliet, are here also, but decided to rent a car and drive home for a few days.  Their grandchildren were beginning to wonder if they were still alive!...and since mine haven't inquired on that yet, we don't plan on going  to Michigan till Thanksgiving time when our granddaughter is due to arrive also!  I have been on a spending spree of  anything PINK!  They also have a great store right here on property with everything 25% off....and tons of cute kids clothes!

Bob and I both visited the Spa and had body massages.  I also had pedicure, manicure, eyebrow wax, facial....and if they had a hair colorist, I would have gotten that done also.  The captain is complaining (?) or at least "noticing" the gray in my hair, which is in a constant pony tail.  I might have to revert to doing it myself....or just owning up to the gray!

We also ate at the "infamous" PATTIES......known for their 2 inch porkchop.....needless to say, there were several meals after on it, even after Bob had his fill.  Think "tourist trap".....but interesting.  (I had the cat fish.....I am on a mission to eat cat fish in every port we stop in, and am doing a good job of it)

As I continue to complain about that "river trip" and the damn dams and locks....everyone here tells me that is the worst part of the trip....I sure hope so.  And I guess we just "lucked out" (bad luck) with the lock timing, as people already here said they never waiting over an hour or 2 at the most for a lock, and the newbies coming in are saying the same.....our AVERAGE wait time was like 4 hours!!  (the longest was 6 hours, they can't believe it)

Traveling the rivers certainly has opened my eyes to a different culture right here in the USA.  I took the Great Lakes for granted as I grew up swimming in them every day, just walking down a few blocks to the beach.   The people on the rivers enjoy their water the same way, but I wouldn't put my feet in off the back of the boat.....muddy and full of Asian carp!  (wonder how they taste??)

If we can ever get our boating partners out of the Spa (they are in for a 2nd visit) we will take the dingies down and do some lake exploring tomorrow...like I said, might convince the captain to get a "houseboat"  Haha.....

BY THE NUMBERS

This is Captain Bob with a summary of some of the numbers and statistics of our adventure so far. No touchy/feely stuff here!

100...We are 100 days in to our journey. We expect to complete our sojourn after seeing Lake Superior next August. We left on Fathers Day making a total of 420 days, so we are a little less than 20% through. This screen shot of my chartplotter shows areas traveled...sort of.

1,460...We have traveled 1,460 miles, so far, after leaving the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair. Our trip will be somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 miles, so we have traveled about 22% of our expected total distance.

1,400...We have used 1,400 gallons of diesel fuel in the engines and generator. We were getting about 0.8 of a mile per gallon at an average of 13 mph in the lakes, and have slowed down to around 10 mph in the rivers at 1.5 mpg. I am learning that slow is good!

4...Only 4 nights at anchor so far. We anchored in the North Channel of Lake Huron and along the Mississippi River. We prefer being at the dock, but more experience anchoring will likely help in our appreciation of one of the highlights of the trip. This picture was taken after leaving our anchorage at MM 22 on the Mississippi (22 miles north of the Ohio River)...at 6:45am.

14...We have negotiated 14 locks so far (out of 105) ranging in difference in lift/drop from 4 feet to 45 feet. The picture below is a good example of proper locking procedure. I think that is a Leo DiCaprio imitation??? First mate is good for a laugh, or two. We have found the difficulty with locking isn't the locks, it is the waiting. We have had to wait as much as 6 hours for a lock, and 2 hours is quite common.

1 and 2..."I will meet you on the 1 cappie, and watch my 6" is the language of the rivers...except you need to talk real fast with marbles in your mouth with a Cajun accent! Passing a tow (tug boat pushing anywhere from 15 to 42 barges) on the 1 means I move to my right, whether he is going in my direction or coming at me. This is a throw back to when boats used whistles to communicate their intention, eventually saying "pass me on the one whistle" when electronic communication evolved. Later it was simply on my "1", or on my "2". It is a good system, because you can usually decipher a "one" or "two" out of what ever else the tug cappie is saying. "Watch  my 6" means watch out for his turbulent wake he is leaving behind him. I am passing this 35 barge tow "on the 1".

4...We have traveled four major rivers so far, DOWN the Chicago Shipping and Sanitary Canal (dug in the late 1800's to reverse flow to the south to reduce pollution of Lake Michigan), the Illinois River, the Mississippi River, and UP the Ohio River. At constant RPM's, we moved 10 MPH in the canal, 13 MPH in the Big Muddy, and less than 8 MPH in the Ohio. Current is a big factor.

2 million...That is how many fish flies were on our boat this morning in Paducah, KY! This picture was taken AFTER I sprayed them off once.

The following picture shows of some of the electronic navigation systems we use every day. The chartplotter (right half of screen) is invaluable to show our position relative to deep water (white), shallow water (blue) and land (yellow/green). For you landlubbers...blue is bad, and yellow is REAL bad, unless you are docking. It does not, however, show location of other boats, which the radar does (left half of screen)...even in the dark and in fog, both of which we have experienced. The yellow dot ahead of me is Jim's Joy, the dot trailing us is Pug II, and the blue dots to right are deep water channel markers.

4... That is how many eggs Jane just put on the table for breakfast, saying I need to wrap this up and leave the blogging to her. We will see.

Captain Bob. "Watch your 6"

The above picture is of Captain Bob's "boat shoe tanned" feet....I am encouraging him to keep his shoes off...
The above picture.....if you can see it you are not a duck....It is a duck blind on the river.

• These 3 pictures are a sample of the "marinas" you will find on the Illinois River.....All we needed was a Doberman!.....AND they charged $1 a foot....no bath facilities, but you could use their (the barge workers) shower room.....uh, no thanks!

I felt like we were zooming thru the river.....we are doing 9 to 10 hour days, much longer than Bob and I thought we would do.....but Capt Jim (Jim's Joy) gets the 3 boats going very early....6am... and he knows where we are headed.....so we continue to follow along.  The days are HOT and MUGGY and I feel like the movie "Groundhog day"....as it is the same thing over and over.   We had heard that this part of the trip is "boring".....and whoever said it was correct.  The Locks, and there are several, have proved to be a diversion from the endless muddy water.  

This picture is a good example of the barges we encounter....they are 3 wide and 5 deep being controlled  by one tug boat....an astonishing fact:  one barge is equal to the cargo transported by 16 eighteen wheelers, or 15 jumbo hopper train cars.  An eight barge (above is a 15) moving cargo one tenth of a mile is equivalent to a string of truck traffic 19 miles long!  (I read that fact in a book....Bob wants to blog a little more of HIS knowledge a little later....if he ever gets out from behind the helm!)

Actually I did drive about an hour yesterday.....he got a little shut eye....not too far from me.  I sang all the hymns I could bring to memory (to myself, ease the boredom) and then I busted into Christmas songs!  Last eve.....once we finally stopped (at Grafton, IL) in a REAL marina....we went to dinner at their bar (btw, I had OYSTERS.....from the GULF!!)   they were playing oldies, so now those tunes are in my head in case I get another chance to keep myself awake!

So now as you can see......we passed St. Louis, MO   (the famous arch) Have gone thru 2 locks, the only 2 for today and we are headed to "Hoppies" marina (?)  I understand it is quite an unusual spot....  I am just grateful we have only about 5 hours to get there...."short day"!....After that is is 2 to 3 nights of anchoring, as nothing until we get to Green Turtle Bay....From what I can tell by their website, it will seem like heaven!

Tuesday, September 19

Captain Bob made it safely back after his business trip last week.  On Friday we headed out of Hammond and into the river system.  We started traveling with a boat I had made connections with at the Marina and they were leaving same morning.  Away we went, we needed to have bridges "up" at 3 different locations right off the bat.  This made me think of our former "best boat dog Skipper" and how he used to growl and bark whenever we went under a bridge.  In addition to the 3 we needed lifted there were like 10 others we could get under....so in Skippers memory,  every time we went under I would bark and growl!.  He would have loved it (but am so glad we are NOT traveling with a dog, like many loopers do)

Our first lock....we only went 5 feet down, so it was good practice, and it went slower than we expected.  We started following 2 other loop boats that were traveling together and fell in line behind them.  Next lock, 40 foot drop, and we hooked to a floating bollard that moves down with the boat...pretty easy so far.  The WAITING for the lock to become available is more of the challenge.  The second one we had a wait of 2 hours.....they wait for the barges (who have priority) and one was coming up.  As we were waiting, as in just floating around in basin, we picked up 2 more looper boats)  the 5 of us locked down together.  We feel like we are doing pretty well with these.

Finally after a long, slow day we stopped at the "free wall" in Joliet, IN.  It has electricity, but no water available...this is when we discovered that "we" did not fill our holding tank....so we really have no water.   The harbor host came down to meet "us all"....there were probably 15 boats on the wall, and she took me and another couple to the groc story.  I bought bottled water in addition to other supplies.....and we used that to wash our faces before we hit the bed for a deserved rest.

Next morning I knew why the wall is free.....no one would pay to stay there!  it is under a lift bridge, right on the river, and the river traffic doesn't sleep and neither does the bridge! (ie: neither did we)

While I was at store, Bob made friends with a couple other boats that are traveling together and invited us to join their group.  We made plans to leave wall at 7AM.

The next day (Sat) we are up and gone by 7 ....so are most of the others.  Our plan is to go as far as Ottawa, IL.  Jim (on Jim's Joy) leads.....he is a gold looper (done this before) so he takes care of calling the locks, etc.  All is going as planned (Joy, off Jim's Joy is quite the planner, and has a schedule!)  There are tons of recreational boats on the river today (a hot day) and none of them show any courtesy to us or each other....just go as fast as you can and pass all you can!

All good plans come to an end at Marceilla (?) locks...."there will be a wait" says the lockmaster.....it is before noon, and FINALLY about 5PM we get our chance to get in .....along with all the other loopers behind us that did not get up at 7AM, but have now caught up with us  (about 8 more boats).  We finally moored to a wall and spent the hours sunning and getting to know our new boating buddies.

Here is where I "discovered" what a gem the Great Lakes are and how lucky we have been to have them to boat in all these years (guess we just took it for granted)  But to see all these people boating, picnicking and enjoying themselves in this brown muddy water (ugh)....also got a kick out of the tiki bar on shore, RIGHT NEXT to a school.  I figured this is where the bus drivers take their breaks??? or as someone else suggested, probably where the teachers go for lunch!  I would need the tiki bar in either case!  God Bless our Educators.

All the looper boats go into "Heritage Harbor" and the marina does a great job of getting everyone into the proper places.  We stayed 2 nights here as we needed a day of rest!  So on Sunday, Bob sanded and reapplied teak and I cleaned and did laundry and cooked up meals to have on the go....so much for the rest.  We had "docktails" on Sunday night and the marina took our groups picture, as we were the most loopers they have ever had together all at once.   Probably about 30 couples...you meet interesting people....the best part of the journey!  We have become friends with Jim and Joy and with their friends Ron and Janis....and continue to travel with them.

Monday morning we are up at 7am (again) and on to Peoria.  We now have 3 others in our group and we all get thru the first lock nicely (Not our first rodeo!)  This one was a manual one....where we had to hang onto the lines and hold the boat as it dropped.  After another long, very hot day, we find we are too deep for the marina we hoped to get into.....sent Pug II (Ron and Janis) ahead to ck it out and there was only like 3 feet of water depth to get into marina, so we continued on to downtown Peoria and found another wall which had space for us.  The Pinta and Nina tall ships were moored here....the ones from Traverse City....I chatted with the crew and apologized (as an official Michigander) for the rude behavior they encountered there.....they said that was the only place they were protested against and it scared and confused them as they are just a bunch of kids that donate their time!......We agreed that there are people everywhere that seem to need a cause...  The crew said they wanted to meet with the protesters and discuss the issues bothering them, but they weren't interested!   Funny how that works!    Some people just want to make noise, I guess.

So now it is Tuesday morning and we (once again) are up at 7 and "on the road".....uh, water.  We call ahead to ask lock master if we can lock down and he says call me when you get here....so 5 minutes later we are there and they are just loading in a barge and we have to wait like an hour!  Don't understand why they can't just tell you that when you are somewhere more comfortable (like my bed) instead of killing time just floating around waiting....perhaps some people say they are close and are not??  who knows.  These locks were "manual" also....must be different states have different systems??  who knows that either, will have to pay attention in the future.  Right now I am feeling a little sleep deprived!

We have also "heard" that the river is CLOSED ahead, as the water is down so far that boats are getting stuck and they are waiting for Army Corp to dredge....we hope to get as far as we can today and perhaps be ready when it is open (if indeed it is closed).....should be interesting to see what happens.   I think as much as I can at one time, that I am learning to be more patience!  We continue to be blessed to be traveling with such nice, good, Christian people.  Joy had us all over for dinner last evening....yummy.

I hope to be able to post some pics of our lock experiences....will do so in a separate post.

September 14, 2017

Bob has been gone 2 days and I am so bored that I bought Hillary Clinton's new book and am reading that!!  ACTUALLY, I am NOT bored, but I am reading her new book!  It is quite humorous!  Even though I don't think SHE meant it to be......I am only in a few chapters and she has mentioned (do they ever mention this??---) that she won the "popular vote by 2 million"....just can't get over it!  HA....well, enough of the trash talk (hers, not mine) I did hate to pay the $12.95 to download it, but anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE, LOVE books about what makes people tick.   Maybe when I grow up I will pursue some kind of job in that field!

We are on "W" dock, and they do go by alphabetical order starting with A, so this gives you some insight as to how far out we are from the shoreline, and the marina office.....so I don't take that hike unless I have to.  (really it is very far...and it was raining yesterday)  I was expecting a couple of packages from "home", so I called to see if they had been delivered to the office.   One had, so I started the trek to retrieve it.  I got there to find that the "small" replacement screen that Bob had ordered had either been packed in a very large box, or the screen sent is the wrong size.  I had no way to open box at this point, so I just ripped off the packing slip and tried to get info from that (of which there was none....just a bunch of numbers, and the notice that you need this slip for returns).   So I started the long trek back, using their bathrooms along the way....and that is when I noticed that the packing slip was missing (!@$#%)   I looked back down the docks, because now I am by dock "t" (remember the a b c's)  and I see a white piece of paper down by dock n......so I turn around to retrieve it, only to get almost there and see the wind carry it into the water beside the dock (really Lord??  did I just see that, like in the movies!)...So I look over the tall dock and sure enough there it is, floating....I decide to proceed back to W dock and the boat and see first of all if it is the correct screen....there would be no need to try and get the slip.   I go "home" and open package and sure enough, it is WAY to large....won't fit anything hatch on our boat.....ok, now what.??  So I pull off a dock pole from the bow and make my way to the end of W  (oh ya, we are at the opposite end of W dock also......so that is quite a walk)  at the end of W I realize that we have 2 dock poles.....one extends and one does not....and that I have in my hands the one that does not!....SO, back down W to get the extendable one and I know that paper in the water is farrrrr down.    Back down to N dock I go and look over the side....it is still floating (thank you God)...now, it is raining and the docks are slippery...so over the side I peek with the dock pole (that I know realize I have NO IDEA HOW to extend it) and I lean over the side and..............................................

I know, you think I am going to say I fell in, but I did NOT, and I did retrieve the packing slip!  But by the end of this adventure I am wet (from the rain) and worn out!  I need a cocktail!

Now, as if I planned to prolong my agony, I decide to fill out our emailed insurance forms, as once we left Colorado, we have to get a different plan....so by next month we hope to be on "medishare".  A Christian organization, non profit, that at the present time, seems like it will meet our needs....AND the young man on the phone asked if there was anything he could pray with us about!  I said, "wow" you can't mention prayer, or God, or Christian on TV, or in schools, but my insurance man wants to pray for me......and after trying to complete the forms on line, I now know why!  Haha,  I do not have my "medical files" on the boat.....or course we have a pasta maker and a bread maker....but no medical files!   Of which I need information about the last blood work done, etc... so I have to call my Dr in CO and have her "send" info to my moms house because they can't read it over the phone??  anyway....she wanted to forward to my "present Dr".....of which there is NOT one and I hope I DONT need one!...so they agreed to send to my mom and she will have to read me the numbers over the phone....nothing is easy....and I laughed out loud when it asked if "you abuse alcohol or drugs".....I thought I will when I am done with these forms!

I was so tired by the time my head hit the pillow that I slept like a log.....until I smell the glorious fumes of FOOD this morning.....I think it is coming from the casino (which, by the way, is way closer to us than the marina office!).....but after that smell, comes the "septic" smell.....not sure if the casino (which is actually a barge in the river) fans its food aromas out the window to hide the issue of emptying the holding tanks????  strange occurrence I have noticed 2 mornings now....will have to do more "investigating" on that one  (my 2nd job career choice, if the above mentioned one doesn't work out)  maybe I will become the "Erin Brockovich" of Hammond, Indiana and they will make a movie out of my story!!  I do know, OF COURSE, that either Sharon Stone, or Charlize Theron will have to play me....that is who I am sure most resemble me......at least in MY MIND!  I wonder if anyone ever asked them if "they realize they look like Jane Macomber??"   well, no one has actually asked me if I realize I look like them, but its a good end to a bunch of nonsense that made up my blog for today!!

Will keep posting as to when and where we move to.  As of yesterday, the AGLCA notified us that lock 52 was closed and could quite possibly be closed for 10 to 20 days!  so not to rush down (by St Louis)....they don't need a back log of boaters waiting all in one area....  we will see, we are quite far from that at present... and like I said, I am getting bored here!

PS...that is the marina office ...NOT the white one, but the brown brick one that you can only see the top of roof and windows behind it.....and docks A thru W in between.....versus the casino..only a few docks over!!   no boredom, just no money!  haha.

September 11, 2017

We are across the Big Lake!.....We finally got some good weather/water days and headed south.  Our first stop after we escaped Ludington was Grand Haven.....the municipal marina was filled there (when isn't it?) so we stayed one night on the north side in a mediocre marina where no one helped us at dock or with anything as far as that goes and they charged the most per foot so far on this journey!!  I am soooo over Grand Haven ....this is where we lost a nights fee (due to bad weather) thru the DNR website as you need to cancel reservations at least 24 hours in advance!...obviously a rule made by a non boater. So in addition to losing a reservation and you can't get in the municiple without one, it seems, you end up in a crummy place with a high price.....can you tell I am on a soap box!.....  So we headed out of there early the next morning and made a long trek to New Buffalo.   The Last stop on the southern end of Michigan.  That marina was a nice surprise and we wished we could have had the time to spend more than one night there. Right in their booming tourist town with all the attractions.  This is where I met up with my sister and retrieved the mail.  She and Sue had us over for dinner to the cottage high on a bluff that they were renting. It was a beautiful place.  Like I said, this was a new area to us and we would like to return sometime.    Sunday the lake was to be a good day to cross, so we took advantage of the weather.   It was a little bumpy, but not too bad....the bigger, more stressful, issue was that the Capt. decided to wait to get to Indiana to get fuel as it was a cheaper price.   This is what the fuel gages looked like with about 20 more miles to go....

I told him IF he ever did this to me again, there would be a mutiny!!...He knew there was plenty of gas, even though the gages read E.......of course, there was!   BUT WHY DID WE HAVE TO PROVE IT!!   and out in the middle of Lake Michigan!! Well we made it, with probably a few gallons to spare....but I had my eye on the dingy and a life jacket...  We are presently in Hammond Indiana, just south of the windy city....it is quite a view of the Chicago skyline.  We chose here at the recommendation of the Chicago Harbor Host (thru the AGLCA) as a good safe place for me to be for a few days alone as Bob will fly out of Ohare tomorrow and do some business in Montana....(helps with gas $$)...plus there is a casino just up the docks....so I can earn some gas money also!   Haha,  I'd be better off getting a job emptying the trash or something inside....

We are 3 miles south of the river inlet where we will pick up the Calumet River that will start us on our next portion of the journey....we have decided to not take the "downtown Chicago route", as there is a bridge that could be a few inches too low for us to get under...so we won't attempt it.  (after the gas incident, this surprises me that he wouldn't want to try!!)  But Capt bob tells me 3 inches is A LOT!  So we will take the alternate route around.  We met some loopers in New Buffalo, and believe we saw a couple boats crossing in front of us also.  Once in the river system I am sure we will see plenty more loopers like us.  So far we all are excited to see one another and exchange info.

Today we spent the whole day cleaning....Bob outside, me inside....everything looks and smells better....including the two of us.  I'm looking forward to a few days of reading and relaxing....as they say "when the captains away, the crew will play"...actually I just made that up, but I like it!

September 5, 2017

As you can see by the above picture of the "infamous" Badger.....the coal fired car ferry that crosses Lake Michigan 2 times a day....we are STILL in Ludington!   We attempted to get to Grand Haven on Sunday, but after the dishes fell our of the cupboards just a few miles out, we  (mostly the first mate) decided to turn back to Ludington....Captain decided that 4 hours of 3-5 ft waves are too much for LeReve.....and I agreed...This is suppose to be a FUN journey, not a fight with the waves.   So back we came into Harborview Marina and have been here ever since.   The waves have gotten bigger each day!  When you "rock and roll" in the slip, you know the big lake must be worse.

Our plans have not changed as far as route, but as far as dates....and we really have no schedule....want to connect up with sister Lisa in New Buffalo by weekend, as she has our latest mail delivery.

Dock life here was booming during the holiday weekend and we have met new people each happy hour.....so it could be worse and they are not too many nicer marinas to be "stuck in".  Bob feels like he is coming down with a cold, or it could just be allergies from the coal dust....he is trying to cure it with Pepsi!!!   those who know him, understand!  I need to get out and replenish a few necessities, and there is a great grocery store within walking distance. Captain Bob always has projects to work on....so here we are, safe and secure....the wind will eventually die down, or the ice will start to form around us and we will put skis on the bottom of boat!   Either way we will get to Chicago!

September 2, 2017

How did September slip in here soooo fast??   The last few days nights sure seem like autumn!  Bob suggested we turn on the heat last night (He meant the real thing....as in heating unit!)...I said not yet...hoping to never having to use it!  Throw on another blanket.

We are presently in Ludington at Harbor View Marina....where we had our last 3 boats in slips here...and a condo that I thought we would "retire to"....(the Lord had other plans....) anyway, it was like "coming home".....we anxiously awaited the "Badger" car ferry coming in last eve... and caught up with old friends who still keep their boats here....I was surprised that anyone remembered us.....even the harbormaster.  We were also greeted by the "harbor host" thru AGLCA, and several other Loopers in progress   (one is flying the Florida flag today (game day) so  Bob got out our UM flag to proudly display)   This is the first time we have been greeted by a "harbor host"....who brought over a goodie bag filled with snacks and info on the area.   Great Idea.   We also had contact with a host in Chicago area, because when we get there in the next weeks, Bob is flying out on business and I will be alone on boat for a few days and definitely want somewhere safe....the host there called us back and gave us  info on the harbor where they are and that will be our plan...and I will at least have a connection to someone there....So this "harbor host" program is a great idea, maybe some day I will be one in a harbor where we "end up"??

Update since the last blog......we left Traverse Bay the morning of Aug 29.  We drove back to TC in a rental car (a BMW by the way, Jane picked).....after spending the weekend with family and "showering Molly" with baby goods on Sunday afternoon.  I had spend the previous week, as mentioned, in Cape May, NJ with my gal-pals.  We had wonderful weather and lots of beach time and lots of great food and drink, etc etc.   So after "off the boat time" I had to re-orient myself to being "first mate".  

Lake Michigan sure has treated us well as far as waves and water are concerned.  We left the Bay and arrived in Leland Harbor on the 29.  I love Leland (fish town) and we lovingly call the harbor "fish bowl".   A tremendous amount of people walk the docks and talk to people on the boats.  I also bought a fresh Lake Trout filet that the captain grilled and said it was the best fish he ever had....it had to have been the freshest,  that's for sure.  Leland has a live web cam and it was pointed directly at our boat, so I called the kids and they got to see me waving at them on the deck!   We also had the
smelt basket at my favorite Leland Bar....the Bluebird.....I told the bartender that we used to come in at night and eat smelt and drink beer and party down.....now we were there at 4pm (retirees!) because we go to bed early!  haha.  (and we don't party like we used to either)

We left Leland the following morning and headed to Jacobsons Marina in Frankfort, MI.....probably one of the nicest marinas we are familiar with....they have a swimming pool and great slips that back up to tables, grills, trees, ....it is privately owned and they work hard to make it a destination marina.  The water, once again, was calm and the weather was sunny.  We stayed 2 nights so Bob could golf Arcadia Bluffs...he compares the views to Pebble  Beach at a fraction of cost....but it is far from inexpensive....so to "even out the playing field" I went shopping!  Just picked up a few t shirts (ya, like I need them!)  but we have to support these small town businesses.....

Friday morning we left Frankfort to flat seas again and headed for Ludington.  So here we are, will stay a few days....they are predicting big seas in the next few days so not sure what that means for our plans to head to Grand Haven, then South Haven, and then New Buffalo where we hope to catch Lisa and Sue...... we will miss the kids as they will be there over the weekend only.  We will be watching the forecasts as we then need to cross the lake over the Chicago for the next "phase" of the rivers....That will certainly be a different way of boating for us "great lakers"....Lots of loopers fear the Great Lakes....only because they are not familiar with them....we are blessed to have lived in such a beautiful state surrounded by beautiful water....Oh YA.....we are OFFICIALLY Michigan residents once again.....did all the paper work over the weekend in Ann Arbor and THEY TOOK US BACK!
Not sure how I feel about that....it is like making a commitment and I wasn't sure I wanted to commit just yet.....but legally we had to give up our residency in Colorado....so our drivers license say "Rogers City, Michigan"...I guess what goes around, comes around!!

top pic:  Arcadia Bluffs                                      Bottom:  Sunset over Ludington lighthouse.