Update

Quite a lot has happened since this time last year.  We obviously didn't go to the East Coast as planned, but we did take a six week vacation, hitting a few different major ports.

We started in Washington Island where we stayed almost a week.  It was our second time visiting and we really love it there.  The island itself is absolutely gorgeous.  Even after visiting twice, I don't think we've seen everything.  The marina owners at Kapps are so kind, too.  It's great to just sit at the restaurant and chat with them.  I'm sure we'll be back again this year.

From there, we went to Beaver Island.  (I'd never actually heard of it before we decided to visit)  The water here was incredibly clear.  When we were going to the marina, I was worried we would hit bottom, even with eight feet below us.  It was insane.  This island was a lot larger than Washington Island and we definitely didn't see that much of it.  What we did do was take an insane bike ride to a gross beach as suggested by the tourist center.  It really didn't feel like we were on an island while we were there which is pretty cool.

Then we went to Mackinaw City where we stayed for three weeks.  We got to go and do a lot in Mackinaw City.  There were far more options for shopping and food than the other cities we visited and I thought it was most like home.  There were a couple other cities pretty close- we actually biked (16 miles) to Cheboygan and back (another 16 miles) on gravel.  It was difficult for sure but I thought it was fun.

While in Mackinaw City, we visited Mackinac Island twice.  The first time we took the ferry and brought bikes.  However, after biking around the entire island (and having someone WALK RIGHT INTO ME) and having lunch, we decided to call it a day.  There were so many people you could barely walk down the street!  The second time, we took the dinghy.  I believe it was about 6 miles.  The way there was great!  We had following seas, maybe 2-4 footers.  The returning trip wasn't as fun, but pretty entertaining.  After a couple hours of ferry crossings (they throw a huge wake since they refuse to use trim tabs to get their bow down) the waves were 4-6 with the occasional 8 footer.  I had to turn the pump on 3 times to get water out, but it was awesome.  We probably could have died or something, but we didn't.

After Mackinaw, we hit a few other Michigan ports while heading south, Charleviox, Leeland, Pentwater, South Haven, and Benton Harbor, before heading back across.

We moved out to the boat for the season this past weekend and have already faced some problems.  A large one was the battery dying, so the port engine would not start.  We did get that fixed last night, though.  Mina (parrot) and Sully (tortoise) both really enjoy being back out here and have been a lot more active recently which is of course great.

We plan on spending all of this summer up in Green Bay.  We're leaving for that on June 8th, so hopefully the weather cooperates.

Cassandra