8/22-8/27/2012

Wednesday - looks like a pretty good day so we take off for Port Washington, WI.  Have read that this is the cheapest place on Lake Michigan to get fuel and we need some.  It's about 50 miles.  Have an out at Sheboygan if we need it. 

We are traveling south and waves coming from the south to southeast so not a bad deal.  And they are relatively mild, until about 2 hours from our destination.  The wind/waves are getting stronger. 

  I was not feeling comfortable getting us into the slip with the winds so Jerry did a great job.  The deck hands weren't so helpful but we made it in spite of them.

By the time we make it into the harbor at Port Washington, the pantry has spilled out, the lamp is on the floor, even though I had moved it to the floor, the table on the sundeck has turned over, the camera flew off from behind the captain's chair onto the floor, and other things were turned over. It was quite a ride. I thought I had prepared for this by securing items as necessary.





I took a night off from cooking and we ate at Beanies (Mexican) for dinner.  Made us miss La Mesa back home.  Back to the boat to clean up our mess. 


Thursday - Went into town for coffee and a roll and ended up at Harry's Restaurant for full breakfast.  Good diner food. 

Jerry wanted to find a Home Depot or Lowes to get parts to help keep the stuff in the pantry.  He found a Home Depot about 7 miles away at Grafton.  Got the bikes off and stopped at the Visitor's Center for a map.  There is a great bike trail that runs between here and Grafton, probably goes further, but works for us.  

What a great ride.  All paved paths, took us to the main road in Grafton.  The lady at the Visitor's Center showed us where Home Depot is so no problem finding it.  Got what we needed, grabbed a quick bite at Quiznos then headed back.  Round trip, 18.8 miles.  Feels so good getting some exercise. 

It's 4:30 when we get back.  Have the  AC on.  It's 86F.  Feels really good in the boat.  Chill for a bit, then have to pay for another night at the marina. 

Friday - had left the bikes on the dock next to the boat the night before.  We reserved a car from Enterprise for the weekend.  Jerry had talked about biking to the car place but they said they would come pick us up even though it was about 20 miles away.   I saw the bikes on the dock that morning then Jerry went out later in the morning and his wasn't there.  I noticed a water bottle floating in the slip next to us so figured his bike was in the drink.  Sure enough, it was.

 He tried to use our boat hook but it wasn't long enough. The marina let him use this boat hook.

Fortunately, the bike survived with no damage.

Jerry lubricated the heck out of the bike and rode it around.  He tied the bike to the boat from then on.

 

About noon we got the car.  Had lunch at Panera, I know, what a surprise.  We haven't been in a car since the end of June.  The car is one of the new Fiats.  Cute little car but lots of road noise. 

 

The big purchase of the day is new phones for both of us.  We went to Costco and got Droid Razrs.  The next few days were spent figuring out how to use them.  One selling point is that we  can use them as hotspots for up to 10 devices.  This way we can get rid of the MiFi.  That should save us a few bucks.

 

We stayed in Port Washington for 6 days.   Got some shopping done and just relaxed.  One major thing Jerry did for me was to put brackets in the pantry to hold a piece of wood as a stop for the baskets so they don't slide against the doors pushing them open.  Really should make a difference.