Lake Michigan Completed

We have had a nice respite staying in Grand Haven, Michigan all week due to the fact that there wasn't any open docking further south at the marinas for the holiday weekend. This was the last hurrah for the summer in this area and everyone was out on their boats for the weekend. There was a large lake further up the Grand River, where we were docked, and every day there was a "parade" of boats both going into the river and out to Lake Michigan. The sheriff and coast guard were always on the lookout for boats that might not be following all of the safe boating rules so we would often see them turn on their sirens and pull alongside a boater to check them out. Of course, most often the boats they chose had a bevy of bikini-clad beauties on board.

Grand Haven was a great town with all the amenities we could want or need. It was a short bike ride to Home Depot, West Marine and Meijers, which is the Michigan version of Walmart. There were 12 looper boats in the marina and we had a couple of gatherings in the picnic area during the week. We had traveled with most of the boats at some point during our journey and it was good to share that time with them. At 9:30 every night, the town presented a water show, similar to what occurs at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, only smaller. It was on a hill directly across from the marina and we could all sit on the back of our boats and enjoy the show. What a life! I tried to take pictures of the show, but all I got was black with a couple of glowing lights, so I thought you might not get a good idea of what it looked like if I shared them with you. The accompanying music was excellent and ranged from rock and roll to country to classical. One evening all the loopers had a cookout at the picnic tables on the dock. We all brought books we had read for a swap table and shared the food expenses. We have included a picture of our looper group.

We left Grand Haven on September 1st and went to St. Joseph as we made our way down the east coast of Lake Michigan. It is important to reduce the number of miles we need to travel in order to cross the lake, as it can get very rough in the middle, so we make our way from town to town down the east side of the lake. We stayed at Pier 33 with three other loopers and enjoyed their swimming pool as the day was very hot and humid. The weather looked good the next day so we decided to make our crossing because the remnants of Gustav were on the way north and we didn't want to get caught in the winds and rain. As we traveled out of the inlet to the lake, we had a convoy of nine looper boats all leaving at the same time. One after the other got on the radio and wished Flint a happy birthday, some singing their wishes. Some of them went to Chicago, others headed to Hammond, Indiana and our New Zealand friends started their trip down the river. They need to get to Florida by the end of November as they have plane tickets booked to go home to enjoy their summer with their children. We had decided to go to Hammond and use public transportation to "do" Chicago because the cost of docking in Chicago is very expensive. We are in a very industrial area and there is not much in the way of amenities here. There is a casino at the marina called The Horseshoe and all of us staying here enjoyed their buffet for dinner on our first night. We had a little party for Flint and he received a t-shirt from one of our friends that had a picture of a mangled prop on it and it said Rocks -1

Flint - 0. Now that's not right!!

The remnants of Gustav have hit us with a vengeance and the wind and rain have been relentless since last evening. We rock and roll at the dock, but at least we made our crossing and do not have to worry about the dangerous seas on the lake. Today is a day of cleaning and maintenance, which we really need to have once in awhile.

We "did" Chicago today and had a wonderful time. We took the Architectural Cruise tour and thoroughly enjoyed our docent's explanation of all the different types of architecture in the downtown area on the Chicago River. We loved the way so many of the buildings were reflected in the glass walls of the high rise buildings across the river. We left the tour and began walking down the river walk that borders the city along Lake Michigan and passed a stand that rented bicycles. We thought that might be a good way to give my knees a break so we rented them for an hour. We road to the marina and saw a number of other loopers and then walked our bikes along the Navy Pier just to say we had been there. Our foster child's daughter lives in Chicago so we met her for Chicago pizza at Geno's before we headed back to the boat. We toured a little of Millenium Park before we went to the train station and the art objects there are incredible. Our trip back to the boat was a bit stressful as our train broke down and we left Chicago an hour and a half later than expected. The buses quit running at 6 PM so we had to get a cab back to the marina. Another adventure!

We are off to start the rivers in the morning, which will be another new experience to share with you next time. We will be leaving our boat in Peoria for a week while we attend our granddaughter's wedding in Des Moines so I may wait until we return to the boat to blog again.