16/17-Jun-2021 Wednesday/Thursday Petoskey City Marina, Petoskey MI (0 nautical miles 0 statute miles)

45°22’38.2″N 84°57’37.1″W
45.377284, -84.960293
Elevation: 579 feet     Elevation change: -3 feet
States (1): Michigan

Along the Way

Wednesday. WOO WOO. We rented a car. The only car available for rent in the area. Enterprise said we could have it as long as we promised to have it back by noon the next day as it was already booked for a 2pm pickup. The car was Lincoln Navigator 2021. Way too good for the Tobins.

I wonder what’s going on here. It will be interesting to see if anyone falls in. Having rented cool wheels, we didn’t stay around long enough to find out.

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Family first. We went to Traverse City to visit Dale’s Aunt Marilynn. She’s 88 years old and in great health. Aunt Marilynn and Uncle Stans (deceased) were extremely kind to us when we lived in Michigan in the early 1990’s. She has a special place in our hearts.

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We also stopped by to visit Mary minus Dave. We met them on the Erie Canal. They graciously said we could use their address to have a couple of packages to us. Mary’s great. How can you not like someone with the same name as you. It’s funny how close you can feel for someone after knowing them for such a short time. Dave is STILL two days away from getting their boat to Traverse City.

Mary likes rocks and has been collecting them and landscaping with them as long as they have had their house, about 20 years. They just sold their house and she is going through a crisis with what to do with her rock collection. She has a lot interesting rocks. Mary has been sifting through her yard and grabbing a few she plans to take with her when she moves. Power to the pebble!

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Dale mentioned I really wanted to find a Petoskey stone. I didn’t actually find a Petoskey stone, but Mary said I could select I wanted from her yard and as many as I wanted. Thanks Mary! They are really cool.

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We saw the dock hands were done when we got back to the dock. The flags were up and no one had fallen in.

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Thursday

Petoskey has a Meijer store! Meijer stores are the best. They are a combination of a Super Target, a Super Walmart, Fleet Farm and main street all rolled into one store. We used to shop at a Meijer all the time in the 1990’s when we lived in Troy MI.

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Back with our stash including a case of yellow bellies and two new fly swatters.

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The 2021 Lincoln Navigator was due back at Enterprise in two hours. We took it joy riding along Little Traverse Bay to get our moneys worth our of it. We didn’t at all look out of place with our 2021 Lincoln Navigator as we drove through Wequetonsing and Harbor Springs.

Wequetonsing was interesting. There were a lot of new homes made to look like old homes. All the old was really new. Rich people name name their houses.

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Good. Downtown and Uptown are in the same direction.

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Obligatory pictures. Michigan is really beautiful.

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The Michigan State Police was formed during World War I to serve as a home guard while many men were actively serving their country in the armed forces. Eventually, the duties of the State Police were changed and they became a permanent part of law enforcement in Michigan, totaling 300 men by 1919.

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I thought long and hard about putting the Traverse Bay and Little Traverse Bay on my the Best of the Best List, but decided against it. The only reason it didn’t make the list is the traffic is terrible. The infrastructure is not set up to support the VOLUMES of local and vacationer traffic it has.

Floccinaucinihilipilification

A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil that is composed of a fossilized rugose coral, Hexagonaria percarinata.  The 6-sided coral fossils are found in rock formations dating back to the Devonian period, about 350 million years ago. Complete fossilized coral colony heads can be found in Petoskey stones

In 1965, the Petoskey stone was named the state stone of Michigan.

Drolleries and Yuks

What’s big, red, and eats rocks?
~A big, red, rock eater

Why is a moon rock tastier than an earth rock?
~Because it’s a little meteor.

What rock group has four men that don’t sing?
~Mount Rushmore.

What do you call it when two carbons are in a relationship?
~Carbon dating.

Why was the boulder emotionless?
~Because it had a heart of stone.

What do you call a rock that bunks school?
~A skipping stone.

Why were the rock couple breaking up?
~Because they took each other for granite!

Why was the criminal rock acquitted?
~Because his alibi was rock solid.

What do they do with a dead geologist?
~They barium.

Why was the geologist considering changing his profession?
~Because he had hit rock bottom.

What do you call a dubious rock?
~A shamrock.

Where do rocks sleep?
~In bedrocks.

Which magazine do rocks subscribe to?
~The Rolling Stone.