We had a great dinner (pub food) and a beer sitting on a floating restaurant on the river and then walked about 2 miles to find a Walmart for a few supplies. Catching a cab back the boat, we settled in for the night, but not before being asked by another loop boat if we would travel with them for the crossing to Chicago.
On Wednesday morning we were up before daybreak, and with a hot coffee in hand we cast off our lines and headed out to cross the 80 miles to Chicago. Dawn was just breaking as we got on to the lake, our fellow loopers not too far away, with winds and waves out of the southeast. As the morning progressed, the winds and waves built and soon we were taking 4 to 5 foot waves on the beam. Travel was uncomfortable as there was a lot of motion in the boat, and everything not fastened down went flying. The Hatteras handled the rough conditions well, and James and me ... perhaps a little less so. By early afternnon we could see the skyline of Chicago through the haze about 30 miles away, and we docked happily around 2:30 pm, in a lovely harbour on the waterfront right next to Soldier Field and the Aquarium and Planetarium. Our next post will talk about Chicago ... its a beautiful city. Thursday we washed the boat and cleaned things up looking forward to our next segment on the inland rivers. I took a flight home on Friday to see Wendy, and James planned on staying on the boat with friends from the Chicago area and take in a weekend full of concerts.
Here's a link to all the pictures (about 500) we have taken so far. They are in chronological date order ... start at the bottom to see the earliest pictures first.
http://www.dropshots.com/jmencel
Be back soon. John
