So THIS is why they call it the Windy City!

 So the winds from the south that  have blessed us to date changed to winds from the north which resulted in some pretty choppy water on the lake. Our friends Sally and Rick and Becky and Mike came up for a visit. We were able to get out on the lake for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. We anchored at the playpen and bobbed like a cork for awhile.

Sally and Becky in front of Navy Pier

Rappelling at Navy Pier

It was a really good weekend for Sally and Rick as they received an offer on their house! Rick is reviewing the offer below. His son Ryan is in the picture also. They stopped by for a visit.

Rick's other son Andy is pictured below with his girlfriend Kimmy

We thought we had the television finally working but had no luck when we tried to watch the progress of Hurricane Irene. Alan had to climb on the roof to check out the satellite antenna. We have someone coming to take a look next week and are hopeful it will FINALLY work well.

We had some great news this week as well. Our 1968 wooden 41 ft. boat (Captain Zig Zag) sold! We are very happy to have sold it to a really nice couple that we think will appreciate this classic as much as we have over the years.

Next weekend we will be leaving Chicago and starting our trip back home. On Sunday, we will go 70 miles  to Springbrook Marina in Seneca, Illinois and leave the boat there for the rest of the week. We are having the boat hauled out just to check the bottom while it is still under warranty. On Saturday, there is a Looper get together in Chicago which we will attend along with a couple of friends who are doing the loop now (Jeff and Cheri) and a newly found friend from New Zealand who we have been corresponding with. He is coming to Chicago to look for a boat to do the loop and is interested in Carvers.

We will start the remaining  950 miles home on Saturday September 10th and expect it will take us about 12 days. Hope you will continue to follow our blog as we make the trip!

A DOCK Comes For a Visit

Our friends from A Dock (in Aurora, IN) - Dave and Donna Bednar, Kyle Kieper and Ed Offshack - came for a visit this weekend. We all went out to Bin 36 Friday night and had a wonderful dinner!

Saturday did not start well. The rain came hard and set in for what looked like the entire day.

Rain, rain, go away...

Ed, Kyle, Alan and Dave

But.... the rain stopped at 2 pm and we headed out to the lake to catch some of the Air Show

Dave and Donna

We stayed out for the fireworks

Sunday was a beautiful day and we were able to see more of the Air Show

Yikes! That was close!

Kyle and Ed

The Captain

I still can't get over how many boats there were on water that day!

Our teambuilding event in Chicago was fantastic! Captain Mark did a wonderful job and my co-workers (and boss) really enjoyed the evening. The fireworks were simply amazing. The air show is this weekend and we have friends coming up from our harbor in Aurora, Indiana.

Cloudy Rainy Chicago

It was a cloudy rainy weekend in Chicago. This was fine with us as we were on a mission to get our Dish Network up and running. We ran into a snag on Saturday but moved a little bit closer with the help of a friend of friends. Sally and Rick were visiting their friends Paul and June and stopped by our boat. We sat out a rainstorm together and then went in Paul's boat (a really nice 35' Formula) to Diversey Harbour and then out to dinner.

Alan bought a small pancake air compressor on Sunday to blow up our "big ball" fenders for the trip home. The fenders should serve us well in the locks.

                                                             Sally and Rick

                                                             June and Paul

I will be in Chicago again  on Tuesday for a meeting. On Wednesday evening, we are having a teambuilding sunset cruise on the boat. Since Alan is not available, I have hired a captain.  I work with a really great group of managers. Should be fun!

What a great weekend!

Joe and Kim came for their visit and we had a wondeful time.  The weather was sunny for the most part and we we able to enjoy the nice clean lake water.

We kept the boat out until after dark for the first time. The city is really beautiful at night

Enjoying Chicago

So spending some time in Chicago has been quite nice. It is great city and  even though the weather has been extremely hot we are enjoying our time here. The water is incredibly clean, although a little on the cold side. There is an area on the lake called "The Playpen". This is where boats anchor out on the weekends. As you can see from the photo below, it was pretty full on Sunday! Pretty cool though - right in front of the Hancock Building.

Alan has been docking the boat like a pro and I must say, my first mate skills are improving! A big storm came through last night and waves are up to 6 feet today. That's certainly not an environment we are used to! We continue to clean and fix but are getting close to having the boat the way we want it. Between travelling for work and up here on the weekends (and all of this week), I am seldom at our house in North Bend. I think our neighbors fear I have disappeared altogether! Our son Joe and his wife Kim will arrive tomorrow night. Looking forward to seeing them!