Today is a big day for us. We are headed to Straits State Harbor in Mackinaw City and we were there last September. This means that we have completed the Loop when we get to Mackinaw City because we will cross our wake.
It is hard to believe that we have traveled over 5600 miles and we have finished the Loop. We have met so many great people along the way and that is really a great portion of the Loop experience. This also was a completely unique way to see America that just cannot be duplicated in a car.
As some of you know, we are going to do the Loop again. When we leave Straits State Harbor we are heading into Lake Michigan and we will end up in Muskegon around the middle of August. We are going to leave the boat for a month to get some work done. We will drive home and visit with all of our doctors before returning to the boat in the middle of September. We will then head for Florida again.
We have family and friends to see in the 4 weeks at home and I am sure the time will fly by. It will probably be restful to get back to the boat and head south.
Today the sky was cloudy but the wind was light out of the southwest. As we departed Detour there was a freighter heading south in the channel. We got to Lake Huron and headed west toward Mackinaw and so did the freighter. I had never given it a lot of thought but just thought all the freighters from Lake Superior went south to Detroit, Cleveland or along the St Lawrence Seaway.
The light wind had a chop of about 1′ on the water and that eventually went down to almost nothing. The ferry traffic was busy around Mackinaw Island as we went by and the wakes we crossed again reminded me why we do not stop at the Island.
We were in Straits Harbor around 1:00 and the sun came out for us. Straits Harbor was pretty empty with hardly any boats here. I think I counted 15 boats in the harbor. There were more in Detour Harbor this morning when we left.
The dock attendant at the fuel dock remembered us from last September and that was kind of neat. I think she remembered Candy more than Lenore and I.
We will be here for 2 nights and then move to Petoskey if the weather is good. The cool days with the threat of rain and thunderstorms could pose a problem but we will wait and see.
Larry,
What a great trip, although I haven’t been a e-mailer I have certainly enjoyed being a observer of the trip. I always look forward to the e-mails and photo’s. Now that you are a experienced looper, what are you going to do differently on the second trip around?
I do hope you continue with the website and let us join you again. However it would be understandable if you went off line.
Things here at the Road Commission are the same, trying to do $10 worth of work with $5 in my pocket. Bit all in all things are ok. Take care
Dennis
Hi Dennis,
Good to hear from you. I am glad that you enjoyed the postings on the website. At times it seemed like a chore but it is really our album of the trip, where we went, with who and all the other facts. I have thought a little about the 2nd time around and I will probably continue the blog. For the 2nd time we will take some of the side trips we did not take the first time. Also by varying the day cruise length we can stay in different places along the way. Some of the marinas were really good and we will probably repeat those. I am hoping that the weather after Labor Day is more cooperative this year so we do not have to “chase” the warm weather to the gulf.
I can imagine how challenging work is, especially with all the different people involved in the process. In some ways I miss the work and in other ways it is nice to go on a new adventure every time we cast the lines off. I know you will be up to the challenge but make sure you leave some time for retirement.
Larry