Today’s Stats:

Origin:  Harrison Township, MI, USA

Destination:  Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Statute Miles:  48

Average Speed:  10.4

Time on the Move:  4 1/2 hours

 

We planned to leave first thing on Thursday, July 19th, but Mike realized late Wednesday  night that his new phone wasn’t working properly.  Luckily, we’ve got amazing friends, and Melissa Lipski offered to come to the marina so our kids could all play while Mike used her car to run to Verizon (yeah–at that point we had no car so we were stuck!!).  The Herbon Trifecta love playing with their friends Mason and Ava, so it seemed like a genius solution, and it got even better when Adam Lipski brought us pizza lunch before we set off.  Thanks, Melissa and Adam!!  Then kids made a big mess played in the boat while we got every last thing tucked away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the kids said a tearful goodbye with their friends, Melissa recorded us pulling away from the dock.  We were full of nervous anticipation and excitement at that point, and it was hard to believe that we were actually, FINALLY leaving!!  FOR REAL!!  FOR 13 MONTHS!

 

Thanks to Brad and Irene for getting this great shot of us pulling away from the marina.  All loaded down with EVERYTHING we could possibly want, right?!  😉

 

Felt weird/strange/fun driving past the lunch crowds at Bumpers and Crews Inn.  “See you next year!!”

 

Hayley frantically waving goodbye to her friends…

 

There were (probably) anxious tears in my eyes behind these sunglasses.  I’ll never forget Mike turning to me and saying I was “going to have the best birthday and year ever.” And then he turned back to me and said “I hope” with a big smile.  We both laughed with the hope that we weren’t making a big mistake, lol!

 

We had a beautiful trip up the south channel and St Clair River!  In the picture below Canada is on the right and Harsens Island, MI is on the left.  You’ll notice we have 2 burgees (flags) on our bow right now.  The one on the left is The Great Loop flag to signify we’re part of America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association (AGLCA) on our first trip around The Loop.  The one on the right says KB for “kid boat.”  This is a kickstarter campaign we were proud to support and shows other kid boats that we have kids on board who would love to play!! (As if they could miss the Lily Pad and all the bikes, lol!)

 

 

 

Robert and Claudia Cartwright (Mike’s 2nd cousins??) were staying at Algonac State Park and they set up camp by the river to watch us go by.  It was awesome to see people we know out there supporting us!!  Thanks, Robert and Claudia!!  <3

 

Then our friend Scotty Uplegger came out to see us pass by his house in St. Clair.

 

 

 

Mike is from Marine City so we were passing right through his home waters, and little did we know that we really had a much bigger following on the banks of the river watching us go by.  It was great to see comments and pictures of us passing by the homes of Karen Price, Dean Zimmerman, Craig Zimmerman, and Diane Zimmerman on our Facebook page.  You guys seriously made us feel like ROCKSTARS along the way!  Thank you so much!!  <3

 

On board we did a little bit of looking out the windows, a little math homework, a little “Shut the Box”, and a little complaining about the heat.  We enjoyed admiring the houses we passed by and the boats that passed by us (we’re not fast–it’s a marathon, not a sprint when you’re leaving for 13 months!!).

 

 

 

 

Before too long we were pulling in to Sarnia Bay Marina in Sarnia.  After we got tied up, Mike went to the phones to call customs to check us in to Canada.  They took our passport numbers and collected info from the kids’ birth certificates and said “Welcome to CANADA!”  Here’s Mike coming back from making the call to get us cleared in.  Thumbs up!!  🙂

 

 

We had some celebratory champagne and headed off to the closest playground we could find.  Luckily there was a delicious homemade, small batch, craft ice cream store close by as well.  Perfect way to end night #1 of our journey–especially on my birthday!!  What a great start to an awesome adventure!! <3