Month: August 2017

Great ride under the Mackinaw Bridge ; the Big Mac, the Ole Lady, Ole Man River (copy right, Clark Griswald  – 1997) !
Calm seas & a short 40 mile ride to Beaver Island.

Ride along with us, we have video entering & exiting the bridge (click on links below).
Entering the bridge = https://youtu.be/uK70aQQEqW8
Exiting the bridge = https://youtu.be/UPJfPhgrvQU

We would have taken more video, But we were interrupted by a Coast Guard vessel who did not like our initial route under the bridge. He did not hail us on the radio, but did turn on his lights. We later over heard on the radio that there were men working on the base of one of the pillars of the bridge. the CG was keeping boats clear of the work area.

Next stop = Beaver Island

Friday Aug 4th
Highlights of the day included;
1. Taking a taxi to St Ignace & spending 4 hrs in a medical clinic for Nellie to get some drugs for an infection (nothing urgent).
2. Biking around Mackinaw City looking at expensive houses & the Mac Bridge (we will go under it tomorrow ! )
3. Watching the Sheppler’s, Mackinac Island ferry boat negociate tight turns at their dock (my dream job).
3. Biking to & walking thru a local outdoor indian fair with lots of Furs & Wooden hade made items.
4. Dinner at a unique bar – The Keyhole Bar & Grill.

Mackinaw City Bike Ride

Mackinac Island Ferry Video =  https://youtu.be/R3tz2Sf7-Kg

Outdoor Indian Fair

Keyhole Bar & Grill

Saturday August 5th (Mike’s Birthday !)
Highlights of the day included;
1. I received about 25 birthday wishes via, Facebook, Texts, and Calls (thanks a bunch everyone). Some from FCA folks I had not spoken to in 2 years, some from ole family I had not spoken to even longer (Mississippi cuz Judy Murphree Brackeen). I am not a frequent Facebook user, but it sure is good for birthdays !
2. We spent the day with new friends, and current Loopers “Tom & SueAnn Rushing” from Galveston Texas. They began their Loop last November out of Mobile Alabama. We also learned that they were very close Looping friends with the people we bought our boat from, Dave & Michele Sylver. We spent the day on Mackinac Island with Tom & Sue Ann. We all took our bikes on the ferry and went on a nice Mackinac ride seeing sites such as the Arch Rock, Fort Mackinac, and the Grand Hotel. We experienced the Grand Buffet Lunch at the Grand Hotel and had drinks in the rocking chairs on the balcony of the Grand Hotel. About 3 pubs later, we were on the ferry ride back to Mackinaw City when we received a video call from family attending the wedding of our cuz Jayme Cicchelli to Mr. Don Blevens. We understand that we missed a grand party, Congrats Jayme & Don !

Wind, Wind, Wind & Rain !
Based on our warnings from wind APPS “Windy & Sailflow”, we left Cheboygan early in the morning yesterday. The short ride (15 miles) was not fun. 25mph winds, kicking up 4-5ft waves hitting us in the starboard/rear.
Arrival at Mackinaw City was fairly un-eventful thanks to 4 dockhands ready to receive us. The staff at the Mackinaw City Marina is awesome.

https://youtu.be/ozMw6dEsVLw

We left early because the Wind APPs said the high winds in Thursday morning would only get worse as the day went on, and over the weekend, not calming until late Sunday night.
The APPs were again correct, by 2pm the wind had picked up to about 35-40mph, and from about 4pm to 8pm it rained very hard with high winds. I believe downstate had similar weather.

Before the rains kicked in at 4pm, we did get to see a little of the city. Same ole Mac City – Gift shops & Fudge.

Weather forecast for today is also crappy, but a nice start to today with a beautiful rainbow.

After all the fun & action with my family on Sunday in Presque Isle / Alpena area, we departed for Cheboygan on Monday.

It was a nice easy 55 miles.
Cheboygan is a nice little town with it’s history in the 1800’s being a lumbering town.
The downtown area has many restaurants, pubs, small shops, parks along the river, and intermittent art in the park areas.
The shopping/eating area covers anywhere between a 5 to 30 min bike ride, we have taken the bikes out twice for dinner (Mulligans is recommended by most in the area).
The beach is right next to the county marina where we are staying.

Overall another nice small northern Michigan town.
Looking forward to the west side of the state

Next stops = Mackinaw City, Beaver Isle, Harbor Springs