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!