Milwaukee

Cathryn and Cynthia have been friends for 16 years. When Cynthia moved to Milwaukee 14 years ago, their visits became infrequent, but the close friendship and pick-up-where-we-left-off nature of the friendship endured. Cynthia was our first on-board visitor on Next To Me for two nights back in February in Florida.

Tuesday morning Looper friends Jim and Sharon in Grand Haven picked us up at the marina and drove us to Muskegon to catch the Lake Express, a high-speed ferry that crosses Lake Michigan in 2 1/2 hours to Milwaukee where we re headed for a two-night stay at Cynthia and Rod's home

Cynthia and her son Jake, home from college for the summer (he was 10 or 11 last time Cathryn saw him), picked us up at the ferry, gave us a quick driving tour of the city, and we had lunch downtown with great food and conversation and on the rooftop deck.

The rest of our stay was JUST what we needed! We went for a run or a walk, swam in their pool, were fed delicious meals, Cynthia helped Cathryn with "hair maintenance", spent time poolside in their lovely yard, went shopping for more polarized sunglasses, took short naps, and talked and talked. Bob read a whole book. Jake and his friends came and went and always interacted with us, and Rod and Cynthia took us to a Supper Club for a really great dinner the second night. We sat out by the pool drinking wine and talking past our bedtimes (Rod's too, as he leaves for work at 6am). They made us feel so welcome, let us do exactly what we wanted (not much), and we had wonderful conversations about anything and everything.

Mid-day today Cynthia will take us back to the ferry, and Jim and Sharon will pick us up on the other side to return to the boat. We're so fortunate to have so many really wonderful friends, both new and old! Now we're re-charged and ready to resume our trip down the Mighty Lake Michigan.