8/17/17

Left Rogers City @ 9:30AM.  Arrived Mackinaw City about 1PM.  Little chop but not a bad ride.

First Harrisville.  It was truly a dark & stormy night. 💨⛈ Waited till about 10:30 for a break in rain to take Riley out.  It was pitch black.  Silly me, no flash light.  Riley was spooked as was I.  Turns out it was the invasion of the toads!!  They were every where.  Riley picked one up & spit it out.  Guess they are not tasty.  I can not confirm that. The morning was sunny & nice. 😎 The lake started out nice, but turned into 2-4's & capping.  Craic handled it well.  It was about 4.5 hour run to Rogers City.  The water line sprang a leak.  Bilge was spitting & when we arrived Rogers City, Tim found the problem & fixed & hand pumped 2 five gallon buckets out.

We arrived Mackinaw City on 8/16/17 about 1PM.  It was sunny & 69 degrees.  We walked all over.  Have never seen so many fudge, popcorn & ice cream shops.  Who eats all that fudge???  Was hoping for more outside dining so as not to lock up Riley.  Really wanted to try out O'Reilly's Irish pub, but no go.  Found one place & ate there. Today I am making chicken tortilla soup.  It fits the weather. Looks like we will be here a few days.  Storms forecast for the next few days at least.  I planned some runs with Riley as he misses that.  No luck today. ☔ Do not want a smelly wet dog aboard.🐕 Hope the rain gives us break so we can get over to Mackinaw Island.  Fun fact:  dogs ride free on the ferry.

We are running pretty hard to get over to Lake Michigan & beat weather.  Will hopefully slow down when we get there & for sure once we get to the river system.

Random musings:

 Windmills as far as the eye could see on the lower MI peninsula, forests on the upper.
quite a difference from what we are used to seeing on the Erie coast.

Met a gentleman in Rogers City.  He was sitting on a bench & invited Riley & I to sit & talk.  He is 96 years old & lived on a sailboat with his daughter, son-in-law & dog. We also eventually talked with the rest of the family.  A joy.

Met another gentleman (is anyone sensing a theme here?) 87 years old.  He & his wife & dog are also live aboards in Mackinaw City Marina.  They have a group that gets together to cook out in the evenings. He offered an invite &  his car if we needed to go anywhere.

The flower gardens are beautiful & plentiful.  They are truly impressive considering the short growing season. I'm waiting to see someone out in their yard to ask the secret.


8/18/17

We are still in Mackinaw.  It rained most of yesterday, with a slight break in the afternoon to get out & walk.

Most MI harbors have a walkable break wall

The swans came up the boat to hiss at Riley. He of course went crazy

When the sun shines the sunsets are beautiful. this one is at Port Austin

The Mackinaw Bridge. Taken on the nice day of the Mackinaw visit

The bridge at night