Our night in Kankakee was a bit interesting--
We discovered we didn't have any hot water.
That didn't keep Weston from taking
a nice, icy shower!
Dad did a lot of troubleshooting, but no luck.
We put in a call to our renter...so stay tuned.
Our morning in Kankakee was interesting too.
We woke up to some rain
and when Mom checked the radar so she could time her run,
she saw a big red square over the map
just barely north of us.
Um, yeah.
That would be a TORNADO WARNING!
And we are IN A CAMPER!
And IT'S COMING OUR DIRECTION!
The rain got a bit heavier, the wind a bit stronger.
Mom and Dad were just debating
when to wake us all up
and head to the storm shelter
when the storm let up,
all the warnings were cancelled
and the morning became much nicer.
Still no hot water,
but at least we didn't get blown away by a tornado!
It was time to get out of Kankakee!
We had a bit more driving today
and we passed our first lighthouse:
Do you know where we are?
Michigan!
Our first vacation spot:
Traverse City.
Our first adventure:
SAILING!
We've been on lots of catamarans,
but never a sailboat.
After dinner at 7 Monks,
our new favorite place for macaroni and cheese,
we got our first glimpse and experience
with Lake Michigan.
Our captain, Michelle, put Dad right to work
while we got to sit back
and prepare for the ride
Before long,
we were all a working part of the crew
getting the sails ready
and "hauling" them
and "trimming" them
We learned more terminology too--
we did a lot of heeling (leaning into the wind,
which is different from listing which is when you are
tipping over! Both are leaning but one is good and one is bad.)
We tacked (switching directions in the wind
where the sail has to snap back and forth).
We squirreled (brought down sails--
more on that later)
We made sure our telltails were straight
(if the sail is trimmed just right,
all the strings should be horizontal)
Then Mom and Dad sat back
and enjoyed a drink
while we earned our keep
as the cutest crew ever
Windpower is pretty cool!
We came out for a sunset cruise
and unfortunately
our less then awesome luck continued.
More storms were blowing in
and the sun was nowhere to be found.
But Captain Michelle made the best of it,
pushing us out in to the lake
as long as we could
(we were the last sailboat on the lake)
The sun started to peak out
and then it really glowed
We'll take it!
We pushed our luck to the very edge.
Just as we were nearing the harbor
(and we were really the only ship out now),
the lightning let loose.
It was a heck of a show,
crackling all over the sky.
Captain Michelle got pretty worked up
(in hindsight, she may have been a relatively new captain)
and we quickly squirreled sails
fired up our engine,
and raced into the harbor just as the raindrops started to fall
(most memorable line of the trip--
when Captain Michelle yelled "brace for impact!"
as we neared the dock...
but then slid nicely beside it like she meant to do it)
A sailing story with this view
and these stories?
Worth it.
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