Less than 12 hours, but who is counting

Well, our departure from Chicago’s Burnham Harbor is scheduled to take place in less than 12 hours. We are packed, organized, and we hope that we have not forgotten anything. We have spent the last couple of days shopping for everything from 18” orange ball fenders to more can goods than we ever knew existed. I am sure that the cashier at the grocery store thought that she was dealing with two survivalist fanatics with all of the can goods and non-perishable food we purchased. Now everything is in its place on the boat, the laundry is done, the fuel tanks full and we are ready to start our adventure tomorrow morning, Thursday September 20, 2007 at 8a.

Tonight our good friends Fireman Jim and Nancy took us out to dinner to Twin Anchors – a fabulous rib joint and the site of several movies filmed here in Chicago. Our other dear friends Kathy and Lee joined us for a wonderful farewell dinner full of laughs, kisses and hugs. Leaving good friends is very hard but we are comforted in knowing that they will join us along our journey, hopefully often.

Both Mark and I took time to sit on the back of the boat this evening to capture for the last time the outstanding Chicago skyline. Downtown Chicago has been our home for the past ten years and we have fallen in love with this city as it is truly like no other place on earth. Frank had it right when he said “my kind of town, Chicago is…”