Day 66 - Exploring beyond Frankfort
I spent my navigation duty time this past week just making sure we had good wind to get us to Frankfort. After all these weeks I was very happy to get here and sit tight for a few days while the wind kicked in. I never really looked at the temps. Today the temps took hold. We slept with our portable fans really close last night and that was a hint to what the day would be like. Since we didn’t cook dinner until the sun went down yesterday our daily routine is also starting to shift later and later. Point being I slept in till 8 and by the time Captain and I got moving for Kona it was nearing 11am.
Kona had a blast doing her pier jumping as usually. Captain and I made friends again as she just showed off. The predicted winds were just starting to ramp up and waters were starting to give nice swells but were still safe for swimming. We attempted to take her for a walk down the beach but a switch in her to “overachiever retriever” had kicked in. She simply couldn’t walk on her leash knowing Captain had a ball and if we let her off leash and there were other dogs around she felt it was her job to retrieve their toys too. In a very rare moment we got frustrated with her and just headed back to the boat.
We made an amazing brunch of cheese and charcuterie before the heat just brought us to our feet. Somehow, we managed a nap but the meme we saw on our phones afterwards described the current heat/humidity to be at “air you can wear” and that about sums up how we felt.
Late afternoon we convinced ourselves to go take Kona to shore for a quick walk and then take our scooters on an adventure. There was no way dinner was happening at 5pm so we still had a lot of day to go explore. We found Brooks on shore up for an adventure so after we secured Kona back on Ciara and transported our scooters to shore, we were off! Eight years we have been coming to Frankfort. Other than the one year we didn’t cross the lake we have come. Finally, with our scooters we were able to see more then the main drag. We pointed our modes of transportation north to go see a lighthouse we have seen from the water many times five miles up the famous M22 scenic highway. Bestie Point Lighthouse was really pretty. It was closed for the day so we were limited to getting close and learning more but she gave us a pretty backdrop for scouring her shore for stones. Captain found a Petosky right away and our first for the year! We taught Brooks a little about rock hunting but I was most happy to hear him proclaim “This is the life! Sunsets, a beach with waves, soft sand, every night.” He’s not wrong. We made our way back to Frankfort slowly on our scooters and I realized that when you travel the world at 6-20 mph all in the open air and live more outside the world slows done with you. We notice the cute and the outrageously huge homes lined along the highway. We see all the deer and can stop and really look at them without stopping traffic. We can notice all the little things that make up these little towns. We got a glimpse of Crystal Lake but will have to come back.
The sun was finally getting low enough when we returned to Frankfort, we said goodnight to Brooks and headed back to the boat launch to load up our scooters to go make dinner. Captain and I noticed that the path went on and asked “do you want to go check this out quick” to which I didn’t hesitate “yes!” Turns out there is a really nice bike path that goes all around Betsie Lake in which we are anchored. We followed it all the way around to the other side and quickly grabbed a fire red sunset that was stunning. I have never really noticed how Lake Betsie was surrounded by large hills and that those hills were just the back sides of the huge sand dunes we see from the water. We had passed two restaurants on our way, one that looked particularly good and had good reviews so when Captain asked “would you like to eat out?” I again didn’t hesitate with “yes!”
The burger was amazing. The truffle parmesan fries were doubled ordered and they had margaritas on tap. Not sure how those were made as it was carbonated, but they were good. She assured me it wasn’t a flavored malt beverage and actually tequila. Probably shouldn’t have ordered a round of Fireball with the other couple at the bar but we had a good time! Always fun to meet new folks. We had a blast with the lovely bartender who, bless her, chatted with us until well after close as we finished those fries and pitcher of margarita.
We didn’t get back to Ciara until nearly 11pm and we found out we had been rather irresponsible with our battery usage in the day trying to make ice for our waters. We needed to go to shore and pirate some power for about an hour so we loaded up Kona and somehow managed to enjoy sitting on shore while they powered back up until nearly 1am. It was a late night and I suspect our daily time line is going to get pushed back here as the weather is showing lows in the 80’s along with this wind for the next many days. Dog days of summer for sure.
Captain had asked me where we were going next. He has really let me take charge of the plans and just takes the boat where I say to go. I half joked that “I could spend the entire three weeks here. It has everything we need. Secure anchorage, privacy, supplies, places to explore, a great beach, restaurants, and more.” I was a bit shocked when he said he’d highly consider that and it sounded nice. In any case, we are still here for a few days as those winds have really kicked in now. Every time we get a gust we cheer as we get a little fresh air inside Ciara. Our scooters will fully charge overnight and we now have a bike path that can take us to many new places while we decide when and/or where we might move to. I will say homesickness for air conditioning is real and probably the one thing I miss the most. I for sure really prefer the outdoor living, it’s just such a big stark luxury it is hard to not remember it when you are “wearing the air.”
