Lousy Weather at DeTour Village, Michigan.

We are glad we made the push to dock at the DeTour State Harbor, as it is called, on Monday afternoon. The windpicked up that night and the rain started around 6pm.
It rained ALL DAY yesterday, and we felt like captives, on the boat. It makes me realize just how we value the ability to move around, get on and off the boat, be it by foot or dinghy, and how little space there is onboard when we can get outside or up on the fly deck. The latter, because it is merely plastic and vinyl between us and the elements, and there are LOTS of places the weather can either blow in or rain in. I scooped up at least a 2kg container (formerly mixed nuts from Costco) of water from the tarpaulin that covers the canvas seats up there, this afternoon. I hadn't dared to venture up there until then, because it needed time to dry out, sort of.

I am looking out at gorgeous turquoise water frosted with white caps. The wind is blowing a gale and the gusts make the gale look small by comparison. Weather forecast says more of the same for the rest of the week, but reports from other boaters who have braved the passage around to Machinaw, declare the waves are not even 2ft, and the wind is less around the corner. We are presently docked on the St Mary's river, which is a major shipping channel, and a bit of a wind tunnel, so of course things will be different when there is land between us and the water. Wind is blowing NW right now and is cool...was COLD this morning.

It was 63.5F when I was brave enough to get out of bed at just after 8am, and put my nose out the door to see just how cold it was outside.

 You cant see the white caps out on the river, but this is the choppy water in the marina!

It was decided that we would get some walking done on the way to breakfast at the Shipwreck Grill where we had dinner the first night (Monday) we were in town.
First we had to rug up.....seriously!...this is how we went out, this morning. Brrrrr!

 

Waz has three long sleeved layers on...

Not a flattering photo...I look like I just got out of bed...well, I did!:) Three layers of long sleeves also AND a scarf!

Hang on...I just saw the photos of the Cinnamon Pinwheel scones I made for breakfast, yesterday...except that they ended up being for lunch, by the time we got up, checked the mail, organized ourselves and started the process.... Waz likes his with butter, I like mine with whipped cream. Such rich licks:)
We are allowed a few of these sugary things now. I'm still losing weight regardless of the ice-creams and scones!

It was not a happy day outside, nor inside, where it got colder and colder. That is condensation on the windows, about 3pm. It go colder by the hour, and we had two blankets on the bed, going to sleep...as well as our normal comforter.

Anyway..those are the only two photos I took all day, yesterday, so you know there wasn't much going on.

We had lovely warming soup for dinner with cheese and tomato toasties. We felt a bit hungry at around 10pm, so sat and ate some Salami slices, before heading to bed. A strange choice, but the only protein we could find that didn't need cooking!

We did watch 'Chasing Shackleton', the documentary about a group of modern day adventurers who re-traced Shackletons journey to South Georgie Island in order to find rescuers for the 24 men he left on Elephant Island, Antarctica. They achieved their goal, but not without a price, as always. Fascinating why people feel the need to do these highly risky things.

Ha! We can talk!! I just realized the irony there.

Anyhoo....back to today.

Breakfast was Pancakes for Waz (per usual)...but he claims that nothing beats the pancakes he had at the Diner in Pt Breeze. THAT is a hard act to follow!
I had an omelet with spinach, feta and bacon inside, with home fries. Waz ate half the home fries.

It was still too cold to linger in the main street (I think there really IS only one street), and we walked at a stiff pace back to the grocery store where we purchased some more fruit and cream. As soon as we got to the end of the buildings along Ontario Street, we felt the sting of the wind in full force.

Getting a few chores done, wiping upstairs and cleaning that up, getting rid of some of the bugs that have made the boat look like a cemetery et al, took up the time until lunch time

We had bought a loaf of 100% whole wheat bread at the supermarket on Monday, in preparation for making Asparagus Rolls. Kiwis will know what these are. We love them! Some of the loaf went on the toasties for dinner last night, but the rest was made into Asparagus rolls for lunch today.
It is hard to find a 'sandwich' cut loaf of bread in these United States, and the local supermarket was no exception. In NZ, a sandwich load is cut half as thick as the average US loaf of bread. It is THIN! which is perfect for sandwiches, and especially Asp. Rolls!

We finished off with a pear and an apple, and of course a cup of real leaf tea.

Waz filled the tanks with fresh water, and hosed off the rest of the bugs, put the cover on the dinghy...we desperately need a new cover, but cant seem to find one that fits. My sewing skills may be put to good use when we get near a JoAnns store and I can find the right fabric to make one. We have the straps and buckles already.

The neighbors hemmed and hawed about leaving in this wind, but we have all decided to stay put for another night. The idea is that we will leave in the morning, all going well. We have paid for tonight, anyway.

Around 2.30pm, we decided to treat ourselves to another ice-cream. Monday, Waz had a Key Lime Pie flavor, and I had the Caramel Toffee Crunch. When we walked into the bar (yes, a bar!) to get it today, the owner said it wasn't possible to serve us Ice-cream coz she has a broken collar bone and cant scoop! That was ok with us...though we could have volunteered!, but one of the patrons who was part of a Majong foursome, volunteered to roll them for us. The easiest to roll was the Caramel Toffee Crunch, so we both had that.

 

Very yummy!

We walked it off afterwards:) Going into the little yellow store up the road, which was closed when we went past, last time.... We had posted Waz's camera back to Nikon..it has a spot on the inside of the lens...this morning, after breakfast.

 

The owner was as interesting as the contents of her store....very eclectic!

 

 

I took my camera with me this morning, and took some photos along Ontario street, as we went to and from Breakfast.

 

The main street, Ontario Street, DeTour Village.

 As we left the Harbor...sun shining, white caps on the turquoise blue/green water and high gusty winds.

 These folks feed all kinds of birds. Hummingbirds are prevalent here, in summer.

 Where we get our ice-creams!

 and our groceries...the efforts to make their buildings, lots and businesses colorful, is fabulous. We appreciate the colorful gardens.

 This garden outside the grocery store entry.

 This Victorian could be old or new...we didn't find anyone to tell us which one.

 In their garden are so many Hollyhocks...this one didn't survive the heavy winds, though I tried to save it.

 The whole home. Lovely:) The garden has seen better days, but so many colorful flowers in it.

The little Post Office on the main drag.

 You can see the white caps, in this photo. The wind hit us, as we got this far along the street, towards the marina.

 There are four churches on the main street.

 Love the light house cut outs on the shutters:)

This is Ship Wreck Restaurant, where we had dinner on Monday night and breakfast this morning.

 I love the seat outside the restaurant. Someone had fun doing that. :)

 This coffee shop was not open anymore, but the garden is noteworthy.

 The street running down to the St Mary's River, where the Vehicle Ferry runs back and forth from DeTour Village to Drummond Island, which apparently has about 10,000 population during the summer. Don't know how many remain for the cold winters. They appear to be brutal.

Sitting in the boat, the wind has not abated...the gusts are violent and we rock around a lot, despite being tied fairly tightly to the dock. We keep checking the fenders, as we move back and forth.

It is now 6.15pm, and we have just watched the BBC news, which is great, because we get real international News. The PBS news is now on, and there is much coverage of the terrible conditions in Afghanistan, and Iraq. It is heart rending to see small children and babies being made targets. It is most upsetting!

 

I will make some chicken Katsu, tonight for dinner. I made a bread pudding with the crusts from the asparagus rolls....Egg custard, cinnamon, sultanas (golden raisins) lemon zest, and 3 grated apples. It was cooked in a cake pan with brown sugar sprinkled on top.  It should be deiscious with a little cream, of course:)

 

Well, that's it for me, for now. Not sure if we are moving tomorrow or not, after looking at the various forecasts....Friday looks more inviting!

 

Ciao for now!