Family Reunion and Mackinac Is

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27 de junho de 2025
Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Boat Prep and Ready to Head Out
27 de junho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F
Before this trip, I had an issue with my steering tie bar/cable between the main outboard and kicker. The steering tube inside the Kicker mount had froze up. This caused the small tie rod connected to the main to bend under the pressure of the steering hydraulics. I received my new part yesterday afternoon and was able to get it installed last evening. See the photos for the new install.Leia mais
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ViajanteNice… I’m looking at launching from De Tour Village. Where do you leave your rig in St Ignace?
29/06/2025ResponderTraduzir
ViajanteSent you a private msg. 😉
29/06/2025ResponderTraduzir
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Arrived Bloomer
27 de junho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
Good drive north to Bloomer. For a Friday afternoon, traffic wasn't too bad. Neither was construction. lol. Quick stop at Hixton for gas and some ice cream! Towing the boat, knocks the F150's mileage down to just shy of 10 mpg. This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, is the Chippewa Valley Airshow. Apparently the Navy's Blue Angels were getting in some practice as we saw them fly over us in formation several times near Chippewa Falls. Sorry, no photos as I was driving. However, later, while dropping the boat off at the end of our friends street where we are staying, I did get a photo of a larger formation of smaller planes flying over. Later this evening, we met several other family members and friends at Adventures Await for supper. Adventures Await is a combined campground and venue in an old barn that serves meals and is also used for weddings. It's for sale if anyone is interested....Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Bloomer Day 2
28 de junho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
Joined some family and friends for breakfast at the SS Roadhouse Bar and Grill. Otherwise spent the day relaxing at our friend's home. Rosanne did go shopping with Kelly as her and her husband, Chris, have a block party tomorrow, while we have the family reunion. Yesterday I was able to get reservations for a slip at Mackinac Island on July 1st and 2nd. Still hoping I can snag one of the non-reservable slips on the 3rd through the 7th. Also, for later in July, I now have reservations for Peninsula State Park on July 21st and 28th, along with tickets for Northern Sky Theatre to see No Bones About It and Something In The Water. Both these marinas and campgrounds are busy and tough to get reservations at and many times luck happens as dates get closer and cancellations appear. I'll start another blog later in July for the Door County trip.Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Schwab Family Reunion, Bloomer, WI
29 de junho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F
Today was Rosanne's Schwab family reunion. Her uncle, retired priest Father Frank Ruff, officiated and gave the homily at the family Mass. Always a pleasure to listen to Father Frank. 45 family members were present for the Mass, potluck and reunion. And the rains never showed up. After the reunion, we returned to our friends home and joined in on the block party. (Sorry, no photos of the block party.) I recorded Father Frank's earlier remarks leading into the Mass, along with his homily. Recorded on my iPhone from a short distance away, so I'll apologize for the poor audio. Just turn up your volume and listen carefully. (If you are interested.) Since both clips are more than 20 minutes long, I'll have to upload them to my You Tube Channel. Here are the links. First one is of the first part of the family Mass and Father Frank offering his thoughts on Church Unity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F7BhOaRCeU
The second one of Father Frank's homily:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-eIeauAjOMLeia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
St. Ignace and Mackinac Island
30 de junho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Got an early start out of Bloomer this morning and enjoyed a scenic drive up to St. Ignace. Several smaller back roads across northern Wisconsin and then into Escanaba, Michigan, where we picked up the usual routing to St. Ignace. Sadly, drove past emergency crews working an overturned semi on Hwy 8 near Tomahawk. Got to the boat launch around 4:30 local. Prepped the boat, launched and then headed over to Mackinac Island State Harbor. They did find a slip for us, after trying to assign us several different ones, that they would finally figure out were already reserved or had boats in them. This isn't the slip we have reserved tomorrow, so we'll likely have to move .the morning, but at least we have something here tonight. Got settled in, and then went to supper. Didn't get any pictures launching at St. Ignace, but did take a few coming into MackinacLeia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island July 1
1 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌬 66 °F
Nice sunny day out, a bit breezy. After some more confusion on slips, we were able to move over to slip 66, which is our slip through at least Thursday night now. Originally I was able to get reservations for July 1 and 2, and last night, July 3 opened up. We are on the list now to extend into July 4-7, so keeping our fingers crossed that we can stay here for fireworks. Rosanne went to Mass this morning and said there were about 60-70 folks there. So a very active Catholic community, most likely many visiting tourists. This afternoon we rode our bikes around the island, an 8 mile loop. One of Arnold Transit’s smaller barges came into British Landing with two dump trucks bringing in sand for construction. The barge dock/ramp isn’t very level with the barge, and I noticed they used a forklift with a heavy cement block on it to help bring the barge bow down so the trucks could get back on the barge after dumping their load. (They could use heavier weight, as the barge was still about 12” higher than the ramp…) The state harbor (marina) here is pretty lumpy during the day with the ferries hauling into here. Been that way forever, and boaters still complain about it…but things calm down at night when the ferries stop. Best to tie boats up with several dock lines, use plenty of fenders and use the extra posts between slips to tie in such a way to keep the boats from hitting the docks while bouncing around. Before supper we walked around watching the fudge makers and sampling fudge. Also did some shopping finding Rosanne a nice dress and a couple barrettes. (Shhh, don’t tell her, they’re presents for later. Lol) Then after supper we had to go back out for some ice cream. Mackinac Island is well known for its ice cream and fudge!Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island July 2
2 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F
Another sunny and breezy day. Woke up this morning to see the cruise ship Victory I on the main ferry dock. With the cruise ship in port, the town had many more folks milling about. Rosanne attended Mass again at the Catholic Church here, but said there were only around 20 folks attending this morning. While she went to Mass, I walked over to Doud’s Market to buy a few groceries and get some Dramamine. The rocking and rolling here in the harbor hasn’t set well with Rosanne… After lunch we went for another bike ride. First I had to get Rosanne’s bike a new back tire. We found the tire flat and closer inspection revealed that the tire itself had delaminated in one spot. Fortunately it didn’t happen while riding around the island. And fortunately, one of the bike rental shops also has a small bike repair section and had a new tire in the right size available. After I replaced the tire and installed a new tube, we started our ride today clockwise around the island. I wanted to see the Island’s Equestrian Center, so turned off at British Landing Road. Since it’s uphill for several miles, Rosanne chose to return back the way we came, while I continued on. I had not been to the Equestrian Center before. It’s mostly a 4-H operation and also provides horseback riding lessons. However it’s open to the public for tours or to walk around and visit the horses. After walking around a bit, I proceeded on and stopped at the Grand Hotel Carriage stables. I’ve been there before, but always interesting to visit. Looked around a bit then headed back down hill, past the Grand Hotel, and on into downtown and back to the marina. A few things I’d like to share. Mackinac Island is really a cool place to visit. Also nice to just relax on the boat and watch folks and the horses go by. Enjoyable to bike the 8 mile loop around the circumference of the Island, as it’s mostly flat and level. You can turn onto inland roads that go past the airport and stables and such. Also the back side of Fort Mackinac. There are several interesting cemeteries to visit and pay your respects. Some history on the Battlefield of 1814 where we tried to capture Mackinac back from the British. Fort Mac has a lot of interesting history if you desire to visit it. The Butterfly Museum is fun and if you desire you can rent your own horse to ride, or even drive your own carriage. We’ve visited or done all these things in the past. So now we mostly come to just relax and ride our bikes. We’ve yet to see the inside of the Grand Hotel, but don’t care to dress up and pay the cost to tour or stay there. Plenty of shopping available and famous for its fudge. And of course Ice Cream…Leia mais
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Mackinac Island July 3
3 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Got some rain last night. I had the bimini top up, but not the window piece that goes between it and the cabin roof. So while Rosanne got up to close our v-berth hatch and windows, I went out to put the window piece in quickly. All just in time to have the brief shower pass over and end… Today was another beautiful day. The cruise ship in yesterday departed last evening, and we woke up this morning to another one in its place. Warm and sunny and not quite as breezy. Rosanne attended Mass again at St. Annes Catholic church here, and said today there were only about a dozen in attendance. After lunch we took another bike ride around the Island. I took a few photos of a couple homes along the perimeter road. There are a lot of very nice, big, homes here. But there are also some smaller homes in neighborhoods away from the shore. Came back to drop the bikes off near the boat, then walked back into the main down town area to sample and buy some fudge, and then get some ice cream! We had planned to watch a movie in the Mission Point theater, and thought it would be “Somewhere in Time”, showing at 5pm for 90 minutes. Then I thought there would be music in the park at 6:30. While in town we stopped at an information booth, and found out the music in the park doesn’t start back up for two more weeks. Ok, we’ll just do the movie…. Got to the theater and found the movie to be more of a documentary on the Island, titled, “Mackinac, Our Famous Island”. Only 60 minutes. And then after that several previews played, and then the movie “This Time for Keeps” started. We watched a few minutes and then left to fix our supper. I found the Mackinac Island Arts website, and now know the movies and times…. But they only play on Wednesdays and Thursdays… Walking on the outer dock today, I saw one boat that had three, 600hp outboards on it. And then later today we had one with four, 400hp outboards pull into the slip next to us. Unfortunately, I’ve already had to ask the one slipped next to us to turn their music down a few decibles! (Fortunately, they complied without a fuss.)
We did stop and get a picture of Rosanne and I by Devil’s Kitchen. Devil’s Kitchen, a group of small sea caves, is one of the youngest rock formations on Mackinac Island. This large mass of brecciated limestone was formed about 350 million years ago. Wave action of the last few centuries eroded the softer parts of the limestone creating the smooth bottom surfaces.
We also stopped and got a picture in front of the pony statue at Mackinac Inn. There is a story behind that. During our first trip here, Rosanne and I stayed at that hotel. And we took our picture in front of that pony. Now, most every time we come here, we take another picture in front of it.Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island, July 4
4 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
Another very nice day. Sunny, warm, and a stiff breeze out of the southeast. Temps for these nice days have been in the mid 70’s. Checked in with the harbor master this morning, and he was able to find us a slip (our reservations ended this morning). We moved over to slip 2, which is also shoreside, and next to the Watercolor Café. Rosanne attended Mass again this morning and said about 25 others in attendance. Rosanne read some good reviews about Watercolor Café, so we decided to buy lunch there today. It was pretty good. Then this afternoon we headed out for another bike ride around the Island. Rosanne decided 4 miles was going to be enough for her, so she turned around after about 2 miles. I continued around the island. A little more challenging as I chose to go clockwise, which put me into the wind once I reached the east side of the island. Rosanne made supper and afterwards we walked into downtown for some fudge tasting and ice cream. Yes, we do a lot of that here. Lol. Fireworks at 10pm this evening, so just hanging out and waiting for that now. Pictures tomorrow, hopefully. We may or may not, decide to leave here tomorrow and go to one of three other marinas. Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, or Cheboygan County. Some friends of ours (John and Eileen on Cat-O-Mine), that are doing parts of the Great Loop, are currently in Cheboygan for the weekend. We plan to head home Monday, and they plan to leave Cheboygan Monday, possibly going to St. Ignace or here, Mackinac Island. So we are hoping to meet up somewhere before we leave. Also, the rocking and rolling here in the Mackinac Island Harbor is getting old. It snapped one of my dock lines today. Another observation. While staying in marina’s is nice for the amenities, and sometimes socializing with other boaters, I sure wish some folks would respect the quiet! Another disrespectful boater with his music and base beat turned up… Some marinas are good at enforcing their quiet rules, but once the office is closed…Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island Fireworks
4 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ 🌙 66 °F
Fun watching fireworks at both ends of the harbor tonight.
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island, July 5
5 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
Another warm, sunny and breezy day. I think today was the warmest day we’ve experienced here yet so far. I believe it was in the low 80’s. We decided to stick with plan A. That is, we will stay here the next two nights, and then leave on Monday as originally planned. Our friends, John and Eileen, from the Tomcat, Cat-O-Mine, took an Uber from the Cheboygan marina where they are slipped, up to Mackinaw City, and then the ferry over here to Mackinac Island. We visited for a short time, and then they explored the historic Fort here, and down town, before heading back on the ferry. The harbor master found us another nice slip, shoreside, that we are able to stay our last two nights, so that helped us with deciding to stay here, rather than heading over to one of the mainland marinas. The rest of today was just spent relaxing. My knee has been bothering me some, likely from all the bicycling, and Rosanne is a little sore also. (We don’t do this much biking at home…) It’s nice to just sit, read, relax and watch the people and the horses. However, I did ride a very short distance to check out a couple of Protestant churches for service tomorrow morning. This evening I attended Mass with Rosanne. We’ll attend an Episcopal church tomorrow morning, if it isn’t raining. (Rain in the forecast for late tonight through tomorrow morning.) Earlier today while moving the boat from slip 2 to slip 7, which I was just going to use the kicker to do, I was having issues with keeping the kicker running. Ended up having to use the main outboard. Once set up in the slip I started looking at the kicker. Found the kicker’s small inline fuel filter had a crack in its seam. This was letting air in. I do carry spare filters and such, so replaced it and that seemed to fix the problem.Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Mackinac Island, July 6, last day
6 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
Woke up today, our last day on Mackinac Island, to rain and fog. It’s been cloudy and cool all day with on and off sprinkles. 5pm, and currently 68 degrees. However, not much breeze, but since the winds were suppose to be out of the north and we are on the south end of the island, that would be expected. We went to church this morning for worship and communion at Trinity Episcopal Church. After church we spent a good part of the afternoon walking around downtown. Window shopping and walking through some of the stores, watching the fudge making and tasting fudge, getting lunch at Sea Biscuit Café, walking around some more, and then Ice Cream at Ryba’s. Did see something interesting today. The changing out of a horse team in the middle of town. I asked one of the livery employees and he said normally they change the teams out mid day at the barns. But this team didn’t get changed out and according to the livery employee, were getting a little rough. So they just unhitched them downtown and another livery employee walked the team back to the barn, and then brought a new team back to the carriage.Leia mais
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
Last night in Mackinac, now back at home
7 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Woke up early today to a nice clear sunny day. I blogged a little too early yesterday, and thus have a few things leftover from yesterday to start with. While walking through town after we had lunch at SeaBiscuit Café, we walked past Yankee Rebel Tavern. Rosanne noticed a meal special posted, a Prime Rib Caesar wrap. That kind of stuck with me the rest of the afternoon, and while we hadn’t planned to go back out for supper, I just couldn’t get past having that Prime Rip Caesar wrap. Rosanne still had some of her lunch sandwich left over that she was going to eat, and I was ok to just go do the wrap as a takeout. However, Rosanne said she’d walk back over with me, and maybe get some fries. So we walked back over to the Yankee Rebel, and then sadly found out that wrap was just a lunch special. Not available at supper time. But they did have a Prime Rib Melt on Sourdough that looked pretty good, so figured we’d stay and order that. It came with fries, but Rosanne saw on the menu that they charge an $8 to share a plate. So she figured she would just order an $8 cup of soup and still share my fries. I’m starting to think I should have just walked over for takeout. Lol! The Prime Rib Melt was good, and Rosanne enjoyed her soup. Walking back to the marina and boat, we passed the Grand Hotel carriage again with Jake and Elwood. I asked the driver if I could get a picture with the horses, and he obliged. After Rosanne took my picture, another lady walking by offered to take a picture of both of us in front of Jake and Elwood. Fairly friendly horses, as Elwood was either nuzzling me, or trying to see what was in my pocket…. Getting back to the boat, saw the wave action had broken another one of my dock lines. It’s not so much the motion that is bad, but rather the jarring jerk/stop as the end of the rope stretch is reached. (Most these waves are the results of the ferry boats running in and out of the harbor.) The boat swings from side to side, and then also glides back and forth. Regardless how tight I made all four dock lines, there was still enough stretch and slack in the lines to allow for quite a bit of movement. Some of the motion was rather violent! Fortunately, I do carry plenty of line, so pulled another one out, this one a bit larger diameter, and I placed a snubber on it. Things finally calmed down around 10pm, as usual, once the ferries stopped.
After a quick breakfast of cereal, I started getting the boat setup for the 5 mile run back to St. Ignace to load out. I have a small 3 gallon gas tank I keep in the bilge as an auxiliary tank, and I only put non-ethanol gas in it. I had planned to run on that over to St. Ignace, and then run the kicker into the boat launch harbor to flush the ethanol gas out of it. Normally I leave the kicker tilted up unless I’m using it. However, with the positioning of the stern dock lines at Mackinac, I had to leave the kicker trimmed all the way down. I guess I need to make myself some tags to keep at the helm when I have the kicker in the down position, so I don’t forget. This morning I ended up running on plane, at 15 kts, about half way over to St. Ignace, before I remembered I had not raised the kicker. I also leave it in gear when it’s not in use. I have no idea what RPM’s that prop was spinning the motor, but it didn’t appear to have any damage. I’ll check the oil content tomorrow….But it did run ok when I started it up. Which brings up the second snafu this morning. I wasn’t paying attention to my fuel flow while running on plane with the main, as I usually get 2.0mpg and with 3 gal in the little tank and 5 miles across, figured I had enough gas. But apparently running the first half across with the kicker in the water, I must have been using more fuel. So when we got close to the boat ramp harbor, I wasn’t able to get the kicker to start. And then the main died. Didn’t take me long to realize that I had ran out of gas in the aux tank. So, switched back to the main tank. So much for flushing and leaving the motors with non-ethanol fuel in them…
Got the boat loaded back on the trailer, stuff put away, and then a nice drive home. We had a great time on Mackinac Island. Weather was nice, other than the one day of rain. And even that wasn’t a bad day. Nice fireworks display. And plenty of fudge and Ice cream! This ends this trip. Next one planned is last week of the month to Door County.Leia mais
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ViajanteCoby it was great seeing you and Roseann. we are now in Sturgeon Bay and wiil stay a few days. love the trip so far. Will follow you on your next adventure.
11/07/2025ResponderTraduzir
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Family Reunion and Mackinac Is Viajante
The End
8 de julho de 2025, Estados Unidos ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
Just a photo to complete the routing of this trip. C-Traveler back in our driveway. Yes, that is corn in the field across the street. It grew another 2 feet in the week we were gone!
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Final da viagem
7 de julho de 2025