Day 70 - Sat 6 Aug 2016
Docked - Petoskey, MI

[photo: one of the Victorian homes along the biking trail]

We slept in until almost 0700 and then enjoyed a nice, cooked breakfast to jump-start the day. Before I got all hot and sweaty, Diane suggested I take my clippers up to the facilities and trim my hair and beard. The showers here are pretty clean an adequate, but water pressure is low for some reason.

By 0830 we were pedaling our bikes E along the biking trail. Going with the wind at our backs, it was still a bit of an effort for we were gradually climbing uphill. We crossed the city limits into Bayview and what a pretty place that was, too. One stretch had rather large, older homes that were just covered with Victorian 'gingerbread' and looked impressive (although I can't imagine the work to keep that scraped and painted).

We turned around after a few more miles and then had to face the rather strong wind. These little bikes give you quite the workout with any significant resistance. Not wishing to completely retrace our path, we walked the bikes up a steep hill to get into downtown from the back side. It was a gorgeous day and we both enjoyed strolling many of the busier streets. We have been good at avoiding the temptations of all the fudge, chocolate and ice cream shops so far, but we finally broke down and bought some good chocolates at Wilkins.

Diane checked out a number of stores while I watched the bikes and then it was time to ride (downhill) to the marina. This time the bikes got stowed away until the next opportunity. Lunch was a bit of this and that, including some samplings of the cheeses we bought yesterday. Maybe not the best choice since we had another happy hour session with Building Our Wings planned, but so good.

After the exercise of the morning, we didn't feel too guilty being lazy in the afternoon. I had to do more planning of our next several stops based on the forecasted wind directions, with the goal of identifying where we will be to receive the return shipment of our repaired chartplotter, which can be shipped out this Mon.

I was also looking at our expenses and was not surprised to find that they are rapidly mounting. We are now in the part of our cruise where marinas are almost mandatory every night and each visit to a town usually means some expenditure that might not otherwise be necessary. We are still below budget, and a little excess won't hurt us, of course.

I washed the boat and filled the water tank and then we greeted John and Sharon from Building Our Wings for cocktails. We always enjoy their company and said goodbye until we meet again along the way, as they are Looping, too. When they left, I quickly got or supper prepared; it was a repeat of yesterday and every bit as delicious.

Afterwards, Diane cleaned up and I went on the flybridge to read, but wound up taking a short nap. I sense that she had, too, when I came back down below. The weather forecast may or may not be accurate, but we are going to try to make tracks S all the way to an anchorage in Bower's Bay in Grand Traverse Bay. It will be nice to be anchored and away from the bustle of marina and town life for a night.