The Apostle Islands With New Friends

Yesterday we met two of the friendliest people in all of Kansas--and they were in Wisconsin at the time! Doug and Marilyn live in Kansas, but they spend much of their summer months on the Great Lakes. Their house boat is at home in Pikes Bay Marina in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Minutes after we met them, we asked them about the best way to see the Apostle Islands. Doug quickly responded, "On our boat." We had no idea what a blessing that would be.

They gave us their card and directions to the marina, and we met them there on a beautiful afternoon. They live on their house boat for weeks at a time, and the marina is their "campground."

We got a tour of their home, which looked just like an RV on the inside. Just like us, they have all the comforts of home as they travel.

Unlike us, they can steer the boat from the living room downstairs, or from the deck up top.

Or Doug can steer it from the back while holding that little black remote control steering device in his hand. We really can't do that!

On the life ring, we see the name of their boat, "Chequemegon." We recognize that as the name of the bay where we are camped, but we don't even pretend to know how to pronounce it.

Just getting a glimpse of their home on the water would have been an adventure in itself, but now they're taking us to see the Apostle Islands! We head out onto the clear water of Lake Superior on a beautiful afternoon.

Just a couple miles from the marina, we pass the cute little town of Bayfield. We have plans to return here later.

This is the harbor where the tour ships and the ferry boats depart. For most people, this is the only option to see Apostle Islands. This area is way too big to tackle on our kayaks.

As we get into open water, we see more and more islands on the horizon. We pass Madeline, Basswood, Hermit, Oak . . . Doug and Marilyn know all the names, but they all look alike to us.

We are out in the deep water, venturing where we couldn't go in our kayak and seeing things we couldn't see on our own. It's nice to see the Coast Guard is patrolling the waters out here.

Not all the boats are big, as this Hobie Sailboat is using the light winds to its advantage.

This must be the ugliest boat on the lake. Doug explains this is a fishing boat, and they are cleaning today's catch as they head into port. The seagulls are chasing them, waiting for the chum they threw out the window as we were watching.

Our final island of the day is Raspberry Island, one of the apostles that houses a lighthouse.

It's a really good day when we get to see a lighthouse . . . from the water . . . aboard a house boat . . . with new friends!

As we head back towards home, Doug is in charge of the ropes while Marilyn is the driver.

They are a great team, as we watched them get their 32-foot boat into a space at the Bayfield Marina.

The Chequamegon is now parked, while we do some exploring of this cute little lake town.

We had ice cream cones first, then pizza at Maggie's (home of the pink flamingos). That got us back to the harbor for a little live music at the waterside park.

The sunset was turning the skies into beautiful pink cotton candy clouds as we made the last ride back to their home marina. We were in awe of the parking job Doug and Marilyn teamed up to get their home backed into its slip. It's been a day we'll never forget, with new friends that we can never thank enough as we wandered into more wonders today!