Crustacean Travels

  Day 126   September 26 Did a few chores, defrosting the refrigerator and cleaning the boat.  Exciting stuff.  Bill was busy trying to figure out a small oil leak.   Had a nice visit with Marshall from MV Escape who has completed the Loop.  He invited us to go to dinner with Diana and he and another Looper couple, Mike and Sue on MV Sun Dancer.  Unfortunately Bill was not able to join us because he was waiting for a mechanic to look at the pesky oil leak.   Marshall picked us up and drove us up Lake Shore Drive so we could see downtown from the south.  We ended up at Diana's lovely apartment on the North side of Chicago which overlooks Lake Michigan and the Lincoln Park and Zoo.   We walked to a local Italian restaurant for a great meal.  We certainly cleaned our plates.  On the way back to the Diana's apartment, she found a wallet on the ground.  After trying to find a way to locate the owner via phone, I took it back to the restaurant and believe it of not, the hostess recog

 Woke to a beautiful day to finish packing before Mike, Bill's cousin picks us up to go to the family lake house on Lake Dalecarlia that has been in the family for over two generations.   After stowing the engine oil, Mike got for us, we headed out, driving south for 30 minutes and  arriving at the lake house. Collecting our stuff from the car, we headed inside to be greeted by the cousins (Mike and Karen, Ron, and Adam) and we all took our places in the rockers on the back porch to enjoy the lake and to boat watch.  Then the old stories of growing up on the lake began- lubricated by a beer or two the stories got longer!!  When a friend, Glen, who grew up with the cousins joined us,  the stories continued and expanded! Newt provided much love and playfulness to the day. Next we all took a pontoon boat ride around Lake Dalecarlia which is one mile long and has about 5 miles of shoreline- lots of long fingers on this lake.  During the boat ride, we learned about who still lives on th

 Woke to prepare for a short trip to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor,  Chicago. Will meet up with Bill’s cousins to take them on a boat ride down the Chicago River. As we leave Hammond, the Chicago skyline is very visible on the horizon on this hazy morning.  The seas are calm and winds light as we traveled with only a few tugs as our company on Lake Michigan. The closer we get to Chicago, you could recognize some of the more unique skyscrapers along the skyline.   We hooked up to a mooring can in Monroe Harbor with the help of Capt Val from her Harbor tender.   Soon afterward, Bill’s cousin Mike and his wife Karen, and cousin Ron were ferried to the boat and we made ready to take the boat ride down the Chicago River. We left the harbor, past the lighthouse and turned north to get to the lock at the entrance to the Chicago River.  Had to wait for a boat to lock through ahead of us,  then we proceeded into the lock to lock down about 3-4 feet into the Chicago River which passes west and