Stats for August 12, 2018

Origin:  Beardrop Harbor Anchorage

Destination:  Blind River Marina

Distance:  17.2 miles

Speed:  8.4 mph

Time on the Move:  2 hours and 2 minutes

 

We rushed out of Beardrop because the weather was great for traveling and we have a hard deadline of arriving in Mackinac Island on 8/15 for cousin camp.  We didn’t really want to leave, but we haven’t wanted to leave most places we’ve stayed.  The weather was right, so off we went.  The interesting thing about today is that we weren’t really sure where we were going.  We had about 5 possibilities mapped out, but we just couldn’t decide so we figured we would just pick one along the way.  All 5 were in the same general area and they were all about 40+ miles away, as we were hoping to put some miles behind us.  Sure enough, just when we get in the groove, moving along, Mike says “let’s stop and buy some potato chips.”  I couldn’t believe he said that ridiculousness, but he has this crazy idea he needs chips for and apparently he likes to practice docking.  I would rather keep moving and avoid the stress of docking, but I quickly lost that battle.  It’s funny how just when you think you have a *plan* you end up on a completely different path.

So we ended up docked at Blind River about 4 pm on Sunday.  The friendly dockhands were worried the grocery store might already be closed, but we hoped for the best and hightailed it to find some chips in town about 20 minutes away.  Sure enough, the grocery store was open until 5 and the beer store was open until 6, so we had plenty of time for a quick ice cream stop before we began our chores.

Now, our plan is to pick up some quick provisions and be on our way quick as quick can be.  However, ice cream always fits into our schedule.  Ice cream turns to grocery shopping, which turns to fried chicken for dinner.  We still had to make it to the beer store before 6 and we did pass a few playgrounds on the way.  We quickly realized our “quick stop” was becoming quite lengthy and that our shopping habits were healthier than our muscles that needed to carry all of this stuff back to the boat.

To make a long story short, we ended up stopping by the playground for a bit and hauling way too many groceries all around Blind River.  With every car or truck that drove by I would secretly wish they would stop and give us a ride back to the boat.  Surely people could see we had bought way too many potato chips and beer, right?!  Just about 5 minutes from the marina some very nice ladies stopped and offered us a ride.  I was kind of shy about accepting but Mike said he had just silently said a prayer hoping someone would stop, so he figured he couldn’t turn them down.  The kids and I finished the scoot back to the marina empty handed while Mike lived a life of luxury getting a ride to the marina.  THANK YOU for the ride ladies, and I sure do hope you’re following.  🙂  What nice people there are in Blind River!

We enjoyed a delicious fried chicken dinner on the boat, put away the groceries and the chips, and got ready for bed (after another frog catching session–of course.  This kid is a maniac!)  Mike tried fishing and I read on the sundeck.  There were lots of people coming back to the marina on a Sunday night after enjoying their boats for the weekend.  I’m sure most of them were getting ready to head back to “normal life” the next day with jobs and houses and day care and such.  It was a great feeling to know we would be off on another adventure the next day and not heading in to work at all.  Every day is a lot of work on the boat, but it sure is a lot of fun!!  Thanks for reading about our spontaneous stop for chips that lead to another night in a marina!