Gold Loopers

Our loop isn't over until Mary, John and Mary Frances are all back in Mackinaw City together.  Kris, Paul, Jess, and Jackie keep John company and they all go out to dinner at the Keyhole, a Mackinaw City institution.

Tuesday, August 14, John starts to unload the boat.  Last year we brought things to the boat for 4 months before we started the loop.  How long will it take to unload?

He stopped in Houghton Lake to visit the tank that was assigned to him when he was commander of Michigan's tank battalion:

We met at home in Shepherd on Tuesday, Mary with a cold, and hung around there doing maintenance (4 trees had fallen in our yard, our resident mole is still active, and some of the lawn could use a quick going-over), laundry-how nice to have our own washer and dryer and be able to do something else while they ran!-mail, unloading both cars (Mary's had both things she'd need in Chicago and items no longer needed on the boat that made room for Paul to use the aft berth).  We headed up to Mackinaw City on Sunday, August 19.  After many hugs-my how Shannon has grown!-we unloaded the car and settled in.  Jim, Paul, Mary, and Noreen on Jim and Noreen's new boat in the slip next to ours:

John scrubbed the deck carpets and the deck on Monday.  John and Mary came to invite us to their cottage for dinner on Tuesday:

We have been enjoying the view vicariously from their cottage for over a year by following their blog, now we get to appreciate it in person.  The Mackinac Bridge is in the upper left.  Molly the beagle is between the 2 Marys-John will expend a lot of energy throwing her rubber chicken.

After John's wonderful coq a vin, we retire to the gorgeous sunset:

John and Mary tell us that their grandchildren know it's time to go to bed when the bridge lights come on.  We agree to save the blueberry pie and ice cream for tomorrow back at the marina and head back to our boat.

"Hello, we're John and Mary from Mackinaw City.  Hello, we're John and Mary from Mackinaw City".  "Fast" and "Slow", we're all here together now.  Mary Frances and Passport are in the background.

After a year and 2 weeks, about 6,000 miles, almost 100 locks, 16 states, one province, rivers, currents, tides, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean; lots of fresh seafood and many wonderful people, we triumphantly raise the gold flag.  We did it!

Right after Mary and Mary sadly decide that our dinner together the night before was probably our last looper get-together, some loopers who are staying at the state dock invite us to join the 5 loop boats that are there for snacks and drinks.  We receive an e-mail from Boreas and they should be in Mackinaw City shortly.  We hear looper boats on the marine radio calling St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.  So the adventure hasn't ended completely, we'll relive our trip as we meet new loopers and greet again some we met along the route.