Saturday 8/25 – 9/8
Our arrival back at Bill & Janny's in Wisconsin began a two week mix of events and experiences sans waterways. We were able to take advantage of our landfall to work on Puffin including installing a new stereo. There were more repeat 60th birthday celebrations, a trip to Milwaukee's waterfront and an awesome antique car show. Next came a trip to Chicago to visit relatives, Joyce & Robert as well as Shauna & Richardson who really took us on a whirlwind tour of the city's entertainments and highlights including an acrobatic show called Circus Shanghai , an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River showcasing the awesome and numerous downtown skyscrapers, the Museum of Science and Industry featuring a captured German U-boat, a tour of the home and studio of Frank Lloyd Wright, drives along Chicago's waterfront and a visit of the incredible sculptures at Millenium park.. We were also given a special harbor cruise aboard Carrie Rose, a Nordic Tug belonging to Dean & Charlotte (good friends of our Chicago relatives) who are planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest and the Loop.
We returned to Bill & Janny's in Wisconsin to pick up Puffin and prepare her for the road trip to the Cumberland River in Tennessee. Our journey south thru Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee included visits to Kikkapoo State Park, the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, Jim Beam Bourbon facility , Mammoth Caves and the Corvette Museum. We arrived east of Nashville along the Cumberland River at Cherokee Resort Marina where we would launch Puffin and store the truck & trailer.

Thursday 8/23 - Friday 8/24
Today is a turning point as we are ending the first leg of our great adventure and are looking forward to the new experiences to come. Using the boat ramp at the marina, we put Puffin back on her trailer and spent several hours preparing her for the road. We are taking advantage of having a trailerable boat by sightseeing along the way as we portage to our next waterway. With everything secure, we were on the road again with our destination being Mackinaw Island, located below the upper peninsula of Michigan. Catching the first early morning high speed catamaran ferry from St.Ignace, we arrived on Mackinaw Island where automobiles are not allowed, so people and products are transported by horses. Horse poop and fudge are plentiful! Hmmm? Our tour of the island by horse drawn wagons included many historic sites such as the Grand Hotel, the Fort and the State Park.

Wednesday 8/22
Arising at “0” dark thirty, we departed at first light for Harborview Marina. After securing a berth at the marina, we got a ride to town to rendezvous with Joan and Marylou to catch our car ride to Penetanguishene. As planned, we met up and after a 5 to 6 hour road trip with some sightseeing along the way, we arrived at the Bay Moorings Marina where we found our truck and trailer in fine condition. Upon paying our storage fee, we hit the road and arrived back at Little Current that evening.

Tuesday 8/21
Our destination for this morning was Heywood Island, a location nearby Little Current. We spent most of the day relaxing on board and enjoying our last day at anchorage as we had reluctantly decided to leave these wonderful cruising grounds to move on to the river systems of Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama.

8/20Monday
Our Snug Bay anchorage was just as the name implies. After breakfast, we hauled anchor and headed for Covered Portage Cove, which is on our list of favorite anchorages as the cove has granite formations similar in shape to Half Dome in Yosemite, but of course not as tall. Royce and I hiked to the top and enjoyed the vistas as well as the bird's eye view of Puffin anchored below. Royce wanted to howller something from our pinacle, so rather than the typical YAHOO, we coordinated our voices with a robust BONZAI !! Later, we explored the shoreline with a cocktail cruise on our dinghy and had yet another barbeque for dinner.

Sunday 8/19
Bill and Janny took off for Wisconsin this morning so the Puffin crew prepared for departure for other anchorages, but not before phoning Marylou and Joan on Catnip Too about catching a car ride back to Penetanguishene to retrieve our truck and trailer. The plan was to meet on Wednesday morning back at the marina, so our cruise itinerary was a loop to several anchorages and back again to Little Current, where we decided it would be a good location to haul out Puffin for her further adventures South. So off we went to Snug Bay, described as a prefered anchorage to be sheltered from unfavorable winds which were forecast for later that afternoon and evening.

Saturday 8/18
With the winds finally calming, the Puffin crew and guest headed off for a day trip to Baie Finn, a beautiful fiord . After about a 12 mile trip, we arrived at the beginning of the fiord and continued on for another 6 miles to the end, awed by the towering walls of rocks along the way. After a barbeque and dinghy exploration, we departed back to Little Current.