Today was our day of preparation. Boat chores in the morning included reattaching all the sunscreens and canvas covers, emptying trash cans, and pulling our suitcases from deep storage. While walking around the marina property, we came across this interesting vending machine. Night crawlers were available on two buttons for $3.25. Needing a break, we hopped in one of the marina's loner vehicles and headed into town.
The first stop was the post office where deposited some mail and I finally purchased my scratch-and-sniff stamps. We then stopped at the local gift shop, drawn mainly by the large bear statue outside. A trip to the visitor's center (at the Four Corner's flashing light) followed where we stumped the lady inside by not wanting to do anything on the water. With no nearby destinations to explore, we went next door to the TeePee for ice cream. Upon re-entering the marina, we came nose to nose with the largest Travel Lift I had ever seen -- 70 ton. There was no hesitation as to who had right-of-way. We backed up and let it pass.
We had not been for a good walk in close to four days and stretched our legs by going up to the Drummond Island Historical Museum. A very young-looking and spry 85 year old woman greeted us and proceeded to give us our own private tour, flavored with personal memories. The museum had an interesting collection of household, nautical, lumber industry, and animal artifacts. The bear specimen was mesmerizing. I practiced my horse selfies with a life-size model that had stood watch over a hardware store for decades. Along the way back we walked slowly and examined the large groves of cedar and birch trees. The forests were dark and dense and had a totally different look form the oak- and pine-dominated forests in Virginia.
Back on Crossroads, I spent some time reading and finished two more small books. I'm excited to pick out a few more from my bookshelves at home to fill the book locker onboard. For dinner we did a variation on the classic folktale Stone Soup and created our own Pebble Salad. We cleaned out the refrigerator of lettuce, turkey, and cheese ... and removed all evidence of our contraband tomatoes. We took a final evening walk up by the resort cabins and stopped for a while at the little beach before circling back along the shore as the sun fell low in the sky.
I tried many times today, in different lighting, to take a photo that accurately captures the splendor of this area. I was not satisfied with the results and believe that the beauty ultimately lies in its vastness -- the blue sky reflecting in the water, boats coming and going, and many islands with dark green foliage dotting the horizon.
We leave for the airport tomorrow morning. The trip to Chippewa County International Airport requires that we take the ferry off the island to the mainland. From there we fly to Detroit before landing in Richmond just before midnight. It will be a long day which will be followed by a full day starting early Friday morning -- car inspection plus four new tires, lunch with a friend, and a haircut, all before dinner with Barry's family on the occasion of his dad's 90th birthday. I'm looking forward to seeing as many folks as I can in our five-day stay. I will post as soon as I settle in and unpack the laptop.
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