Well I'm back in Chicago after a couple of weeks away from the Pelican. I rented a car, drove home and visited family and friends. Had some great quality time with family and also was able to visit ECYC and swap stories with the gang. Attached is a picture of the grand kids, which was one to the primary reasons for the visit back to NC. Mary Helen came back with me and we spend several days in Chicago doing the tourist thing. We visited the Marion B. Wade Museum which houses all of C. S. Lewis's writings. We also visited down town Chicago and Navy Pier. It was really crowded with a lot of people.
On the way back to Chicago we stopped off at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. I am ex Air Force and really enjoyed visiting the Museum. Attached are pictures of a couple of planes that I worked on while in the Air Force back in the early 60's. The two planes are a RF 101 and a RB 66. This really brought back some good memories of times past.
Yesterday I had the first opportunity with the Pelican. The macerator pump with out and we were without a toilet. Not fun. Today I replaced the pump and we are back in business. We turned the car in and are leaving Tuesday morning to continue the trip south on the river system.
Later,
Carl

This is the lock that locks us into the Chicago River.

It has been several days since I've updated the blog. Last Friday we were in St. Joseph, Michigan and stayed at Benton Harbor. This is in the lower part of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Saturday morning we left and cut across the bottom of Lake Michigan to Chicago. The weather was great when we started but as the day continued the weather turned a little ugly. When we arrived along the shore of Chicago, around 2:00, it was so foggy I would frequently loose sight of the city. The temp was around mid 50's, rainy and breezy PLUS FOG. Not the best entrance to Chicago. Once I entered the outer harbor I could see the city but at times could not see the tops of the buildings. The following pictures are of the approach to the city, from inside the break wall. As indicated above, there is a lock that has to be passed through before getting into Chicago. It only raised us 2 feet. The purpose of the lock is to keep the waters from the river system out of the lake. Once I locked through the traffic, fog and rain were so bad I failed to get pictures of down town Chicago, which I think is beautiful, from what I could see.

I lost Internet service so have been unable to update the blog. Also I don't seem to have the next computer chart needed to begin the river system south to Mobile Al. So I need to get a couple of things done with the computer before moving into the Illinois River. I also am homesick for my family and friends, so I came home. I'm doing this update from New Bern. It is great to be with my family and friends. I plan to return to Chicago and begin the trip again around June 29th. So there is no need to check the blog until after the 29th.

This is an awesome trip and I'm having a great time, as if you couldn't tell. I truly appreciate all the help from all the people that have participated in helping me with getting ready for the trip and keeping the computer up while on the trip.

Thanks,

Carl

The weather has broken, the wind is from the North East at 5 to 10 mph and the lake is beautiful. Today we left Charlevoix and traveled down the east coast of Lake Michigan to Frankfort Michigan. The following pictures are of the east coast. The information available says Lake Michigan has sand dunes along the east coast. The following 3 pictures show the hills which are sand dunes. They are a little higher than the ones at Cape Lookout and have more growth on them.

The picture below is another light house at the entrance to Frankfort, Mich. This is one of the largest light house residents that I've seen. The light keeper had nice digs, during its time.

The picture below is across from the marina. Michigan has provided, approximately every 20 miles or so, a safe refuge for boaters. Frankfort is one of those locations. This is an inlet into a small lake with a city marina. This is a beautiful little town that is approximately 4 blocks long and the rest of the area is very rural. Apparently this is a popular area, as are many other along this part of the lake, for summer vacationers. I can understand why people come here to visit during the summer. Today the temp got up to around 65 degrees and it was quite pleasant. However the gnats and bugs are awesome. They are all over the boat and thick in the air. When one hits the water, little fish grab them up. I guess it is all part of the food chain. Hopefully the weather will hold out and we may be in Chicago by Sunday or Monday.

I"m getting ready to leave Mackinac Island. There are many passenger ferries that bring people to the island from Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. The rooster tail that you see above is behind a 150' ferry. It is quite a sight to see. They have two speeds. Wide open and stop. Nothing, that I saw in between those two speeds.
The above picture is the Grand Hotel. It is the largest wooden hotel in the world.

We left Mackinac Island, went under the Mackinaw Bridge, which is a major bridge. It separates Lake Huron from Lake Michigan. Once under the bridge we started a slight southern route. I'm ready to go south again. The wind was 10 to 20 mph and on the beam at times. I rocked and rolled more than I wanted to but was committed to going south. Tonight I'm in Charlevoix, Michigan. The above picture is a couple of homes that have built in boat shelters that are a part of the house. The doors role up and the boats are inside the boat houses.

This is another boat house that has individual stalls to keep boats in. This concept is a little different than what I'm use to seeing in the Trent River.

I do not plan to travel tomorrow (Monday) as the wind and waves are not cooperating. Hopefully Tuesday will be better. Charlevoix is on a lake which we may take a trip through Monday.

This is pretty country. It needs to be a little warmer. The water temp is in the high 30's and today the air temp did not get above the low 50's.

Later,

Carl

Additional pictures of Mackinac Island.

The gray building is the Mackinac Island Yacht Club.

This is Fort Mackinac.

CHECK OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL OLD CHRIS CRAFT. THE COLOR IS A PALE GREEN. THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL OLD BOAT.

The Coast Guard is serious up here. There is a machine gun located on the bow of this small boat. Yesterday a 40 plus footer came into the harbor with a similar machine gun on the bow.

These pictures are out of sequence and I don't know how to move them around. While on the horse carriage ride around Mackinac Island we visited a butterfly conservatory and the following pictures are of some butterflies we saw.

The govenor of Michigan has a summer home on Mackinac Island. She was here today as the flag pole had a Michigan State flag flying, indicating her presence on the island.

We are at the top of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. This first set of pictures are of Mackinac Island, one of the most beautiful places we have visited. This island has no cars and everything is moved around with horse and carts or carriages. The other means of transportion is bicycles. There are more horses and bicycles here than anyplace I've ever seen. The other amazing thing about Mackinac Island is the smell. There are many many fudge shops and the aroma from the fudge and the horses make for an interesting combination.

We took a carriage ride around the island today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mackinac Island has the largest wooden hotel in the world and some great food as well. There are large ferries constantly coming and going at high rates of speed. They throw a large rooster tail of water behind them. This is an impressive sight, however it makes for a constant chop in the marina, so the boat is steadly moving.

The last set of these pictures are of the northern end of Lake Huron. There will be other Mackinac Island pictures to follow after we finish our visit.

This is a part of the main street in Mackinac

Another shot with a horse drawn carriage.

This is a picture of the Pelican tied up at the marina. The temperature is in the low 50's (darn cold to me) and there are not a lot of boats here at this time. Tomorrow is Saturday and I expect there will be more boats in the marina.

This duck was sitting on the dock next to us in Cheboygan, Michigan, which is on the northern end of Lake Huron. If you notice he only has one leg. He has his other leg tucked up under his left wing, so tight that you cannot see it.

This is the light house to the entrance to Cheboygin, Michigan.

This is the first time I've ever been mooned by a goose. Apparently the water is very shallow and the geese are eating things from the bottom.

We are approximately half way up the west coast of Lake Huron. Tonight we are in Harrisville, Mich. The picture below is of the entrance into the state controlled marina, which are located along the coast to provide areas to get out of the weather. If you live in Eastern NC, don't complain about the heat. The water temp. is around 42 to 45 degrees and the air temp. is 51 degrees. With the wind coming from the north it is COLD to this old southern boy. If the weather cooperates we will be at the top of Lake Huron by the weekend. Hopefully we will spend some time at Mackinaw Island. The country is beautiful, the little towns we have visited are very clean and quite. The people are extremely nice.