<<<About taking the ferry across Lake Michigan, WHY, the whole adventure of
owning our cars is to DRIVE them, isn't it? I prefer to drive my cars, not
hitch a ride which will add hours on my time of getting from point A - Point
B. >>>
OK, Jim maybe YOU get tired of being on boats. ;-) (I'll leave it to Jim to
explain that to the list)
Chicago traffic does not qualify as driving. It's a necessary frustration if
you live here, but for an MG tour, I can certainly see avoiding it. And the
tour the Michigan folks are talking, it will not add to the time, it will be
less especially if they are passing through or around Chicago during rush
hour - which is pretty much any hour that has daylight.
I've only taken the Luddington-Manitowoc ferry once and it was exceptionally
cool. It was on the second to last "Lap of Lake Michigan" Endurance Rally. We
thought we spotted a devious loophole in the rally setup and shaved 400-plus
miles on a shortest distance rally by taking the ferry. Unfortunately we did
not have the rule sheet with us, so we gambled - and lost. The rules didn't
declare the ferry off limits as in previous years, but instead relied on a
statement that we had to circumnavigate the lake. Our speedo cable broke
later in the rally so it was a moot point for us anyway. But it was
exceptionally cool to be in the middle of what is usually a pretty intense
rally and we were sitting in lounge chairs up at the bow of the S.S. Badger
watching the stars come out.
The folks in Michigan may already know this, but in case they don't - you can
make arrangements ahead to drive your own cars on. We found this out as we
were waiting to board and watched a bunch of Minnesota MG Group members drive
their cars off the ferry heading for the Twist University Motors Summer Party
that was the headquarters for the rally we were doing. Normally your car is
driven on and off by ferry personnel.
Enjoy them anyway you can,
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, Illinois, USA
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