This last week has been another fun adventure – complete with transiting through 23 locks on the eastern end of the Erie Canal. Whew! The Erie Canal winds its way from the Hudson River near …
Malleable Murphy here “chillaxing” to the max because, well, there was this one little incident last week. The one thing about hanging on the trawler is that when you see your buddy far off in …
As we head west on the Erie Canal, there is a junction where loopers often head north along the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario and north to explore Canadian waterways. With the Canadian border still …
This past week ended with a great treat – a trip to Niagara Falls. Although many shared that in their opinion the view from the Canadian side is much better, we still greatly enjoyed the …
What are the odds that our friends from St. Petersburg, FL, who have been out cruising the last 3 years, from Florida, the Bahamas and all around the Chesapeake, would be in Erie, PA the …
The coolest thing about motoring along the Loop with Mom and Dad is all the friends… new and old! So yeah, we’re meeting lots and lots of new friends, and last week, Mom and Dad …
This past week we departed Ashtabula, OH and headed for Geneva-on-the-Lake State Park, located… wait for it…yep, you got it, in Geneva-on-the-Lake (GOTL). This historic harbor town is open year-round, with an amusement type atmosphere, …
As we conclude our tour of the US side of Lake Erie, our first stop this week was at Kelly’s Island (KI), just about 10 miles off the coast from Sandusky, OH. As we were …
You know, I thought I was really getting the hang of this looping thing. Traveling to different stops almost every day. New areas to explore on my jogs with Mom each morning, lots of new …
I’ve learned so much geography on this adventure. I didn’t realize Lake Erie was connected to Lake Huron, first by the Detroit River, then Lake St. Clair and then the St. Clair River to Lake …
This week’s highlight was a stop at Mackinac Island near the northern tip of Michigan. At first, we couldn’t get a slip reservation at the island’s marina, so we were staying 3 days at Mackinaw …
Ok, I need to acknowledge my ignorance in America’s geography. I did not know Michigan had an Upper Peninsula “UP”, jutting out of the northern tip of Wisconsin. I thought the state of Michigan was …
And the loop continues… Before arriving in Door County, while still in the upper peninsula of Michigan, we stopped at Fayette Historic State Park, recommended by several locals we spoke to. It was a great …
This week we moved on to Sturgeon Bay, WI where we met up with fellow loopers on Betty Gail and War Eagle. We enjoyed “docktails” in the marina’s boaters lounge, which had two large seating …
If you have been following along on my mom’s blogs, you’ve probably seen pictures of me swimming, and usually with a stick. I am a retriever after all. Once we hit the Great Lakes, I’ve …
While navigating the Erie Canal, Dave and I heard a loud thud under our boat. It knocked us out of our enjoyment of quietly cruising down the canal. We had hit something submerged, typically it’s …
During our last week cruising down the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan, we visited: Sheboygan, where we went out to dinner at the yacht club with two couples who are just starting their loop and …
It’s River Time! Traveling on the river system is our next learning adventure. We departed Chicago and headed south down the Chicago River to the Illinois River. Prior to arriving to our first overnight stop, …
Our river adventure continues, from the Illinois River onto the Upper Mississippi River. Our first two stops, Grafton, IL and Alton, IL were very similar marinas. Grafton is on the Illinois River and just 17 …
After spending a delightfully quiet night at anchor off the Mississippi river in a side canal, the crews of Slo Pace and Betty Gail awoke to a foggy morning. Although departure was planned at 7 …
As we were getting ready to depart Clarkesville (and no, it wasn’t on the last train), DeeDee (Murphy’s BFF on War Eagle), me, and Murphy went for a walk and some ball playing. Murphy was …
This week we continue our inland rivers explorations, headed south on the Tennessee River, which is actually a tributary of the Ohio River. The 652-mile-long Tennessee River is formed near Knoxville, TN and flows southwest …
We started our week off with a pre-dawn lock adventure. Our next lock near Florence, AL was recently damaged. The floating wall that guides boats into the primary lock had separated and sunk. Oh no! They …
This last week provided a break from our adventures on the loop. While Dave & Murphy hunkered down in ever decreasing temperatures in Huntsville, AL, I had the honor of flying to Maui for my …