9/14/2010 HAMMOND, IN

TUESDAY

It was a calm night here behind the large, protective breakwater at Hammond Marina and we slept blissfully. The early morning sunrise was spectacular, creeping up from the east and peeking over the breakwater. The waters were glassy calm and the gusty winds were nonexistent. Nice!

SUNRISE OVER LAKE MICHIGAN

This was our day for cleaning and laundry so the morning flew by. Enterprise Car Rental promptly picked Dan up to get the car and, after taking one look at this big guy, decided to give him a minivan instead of the little car they had designated for him.

By 12:30 our chores were done and we were off to Midway Airport to pick up Debbie. Those of you that know Debbie won’t be surprised that she was on time, as usual.

Image via Wikipedia

                                                           CHICAGO'S MIDWAY AIRPORT

 We whisked her off and found our way to Marine Navigation, Inc where Laura Cannell, the marine chart guru, had some navigational charts ready for our journey down the rivers. For you “Loopers”, Laura revised and expanded the book The Great Circle Route by G. Bidkley Remmey Jr. Her office is in a tiny building and crammed full of nautical charts, books and magazines and Laura was a wealth of information. Thanks so much, Laura.

From there our little Garmen directed us to the West Marine where we picked up our previously ordered navigation chip for the rivers that will bring us to Mobile, AL and covers for the switches in the helm. Those of you that have traveled with us know what a necessary addition that is, especially those of you that have accidentally switched things off while looking at the charts. Next, we paid a visit to a market near the marina and then headed back to stow it all away and prepare dinner.

HEADING BACK INTO INDIANA AS WE 

NEAR THE MARINA

Dan made us some of his superb margaritas then we took a stroll around the marina and out onto the breakwater path where we appreciated the night skyline of Chicago and the great Michigan Lake. We finished the evening teaching Debbie to play Fan Tan – she catches on very quickly. Jan and Debi, wondering how many people we have taught to play this card game of yours while on our journey, I came up with a rough count of 20 so far. See what you started?!