Jammin Jane Travels: Lake Superior, NOT gonna happen...But that's OK

The plan was to head up to Lake Superior mid June. The plan didn't go as planned! First we waited a bit too long to order our new life jackets, so by the time they arrived we were already one week behind schedule. Then wouldn't you know it, I ended up getting the flu. Not the way I wanted to spend the week we were supposed to be cruising north. This cut 2 weeks from our 5-week trip, quite a big deal for us since we travel at 10 knots (slow and steady wins the race!) and we need those two weeks just to get there and back. So...what do we do? We listen to the forces that seem to be holding us here, we decide with this... "Lake Superior will be there when we return, so we will keep this on our 'must complete trips' list." After all, we ARE leaving in August to begin the adventure (The Great Loop) of a lifetime. Besides, this will give us something to look forward to when we return.
(Bonus: Planning and research are already complete) By then, maybe it won't be as scary to me to cruise the largest AND deepest of the great lakes.

Instead of sitting around in the harbor we took a week to visit some of our favorite spots and one we have never been to previously. We started our week with a two hour run to Cedar River, MI (we have never been here) with our friends Charlie, Jan, and Charlie Jr. Ben, Crocket and I enjoyed a dinghy ride up the river then grilled out that evening. This was all there was to do in Cedar River, while the marina is very clean, well maintained and provides gorgeous sunset views, if you arrive without food you better hope your fellow boaters have extra. We split from our friends the next morning, they went back to our harbor while we headed to Escanaba, MI (3-hour run) for a couple of days. This happens to be one of my most favorite spots. They have bikes for use, the best pasties around, wonderful history landmarks along the shore, and great people. This particular day I was feeling overly excited to arrive in Escanaba, and maybe a tad bit anxious for a pastie, that while handing Ben our power cord, I dropped our shore power splitter into the drink. NOT GOOD! This happens to be an expensive item that also happens to be brand new. Let us not forget Ben just reminded me not to do this very thing not two weeks ago! You know what it is like, it happens in slow motion and all you keep thinking is how you wish you could rewind and do over. Nope, not today! Great! Now we are both bummed (and maybe some other emotions I will not mention here) about the darn splitter. After numerous tries with a hook (a fellow boater helped me for a good hour) to drag the very muddy and weedy bottom still no splitter, it is gone we conclude. Not going to let it ruin the rest of our day, we take Crocket for a walk, enjoy a fabulous dinner at the Stone House and snuggle in for the night. Our second day brings us better luck! There happened to be a diver about 8 boats down from us that was planning a dive for the marina...how lucky can we be? No sooner was he under water did he reappear with our lost splitter! Thank You!!! The very gentleman that helped me drag for the splitter happened to supply Ben with his new toy, a concertina...oh boy, I hope he learns how to play that thing quickly!

Next stop Fayette, MI...another amazing spot. Once one of the Upper Peninsula's most productive iron smelting operations producing charcoal pig iron (from 1867-1891), now the town is a historical state park. No shore power here and no generator after 11pm. This is what we love about it. There are numerous historic buildings and homes to walk through, all reconstructed to show you what life was like back then. Lots of hiking trails and a large campground are located on Fayette. A MUST stop for everyone! We love to come here every year to relax, walk around and enjoy peace and quiet. Ben was the fishing pro (yet again, but only because I did not fish...hehehe!)catching us a yummy perch lunch. In my opinion, there is NOTHING better than eating fish within hours of catching it. Even better... Ben cooked! There is a cute gift shop a short walk from the dock that happens to carry ice cream, I couldn't resist even though the temperature dropped and rain was imminent. Always worth the calories in my book! After two days we headed back to our harbor (storms and high winds predicted for the next couple of days) under a gorgeous morning sun, minimal to no wind and the bay to ourselves. The 4-hour run flew by as we pulled up to our slip with smiles on our faces and new memories to share.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel blessed. I've learned that things don't always go as planned, but they go the way they are supposed to. While we were not able to make it to Lake Superior and I almost lost our splitter, we still have smiles on our faces...and now with the extra time we will be getting more tasks complete on the boat!