We slept in at Gary & Nancy’s home ‘till about 7:30.  The four of us went to Wildberry’s for a good breakfast.  After that, they took us to Bass Pro Shops so they could get some stuff.  We got home just in time for me to be able to watch the NASCAR race from Dover, Delaware.  Yep, the Busch kid won again.  Tony Stewart’s, after ‘the big crash’ on lap 19, interview was funny to listen to.  He took all the blame for racing anywhere near Elliot Sadler, who caused the wreck. 

Gary left to play in a hockey game, and returned just after the race was over.  We loaded up their vehicle and went to the boat dock.  It was about an hour away.  The boat is a great 34’ twin engine yacht.  We boated out in Lake Michigan for a while, waiting for it to get darker, so we could see the city of Chicago all lit up from out on the water.  It was an awesome sight the way the reflection of the city lights bounced off the water as it slowly rolled back and forth.  We then motored into the locks to be able to enter the Chicago River.  We held on to ropes on the side of the lock as the rear lock gate closed and the forward gate opened.  That drained about two feet of water into the river and let us equalize with the river height.  The forward gate opened and we proceeded to the city.  Wow, was it a super sight!  We slowly cruised along the waterway, under the bridges of a lot of the city streets.  It was just like driving on the streets of Chicago, only on the water. 

We went past the Blues Brothers Club, and the new Donald Trump Tower, which was about two thirds done.  The whole bottom section looks done, and I figure he wants it to be higher than the Sears Tower.  The Sears Tower looks great at night with the blue ring around the top of it.  The whole city of Chicago looked excellent and peaceful at night time.  I know that there is a whole other element that comes out after dark in big cities, but we saw no evidence of that by the waterfront.  The whole waterfront looked family friendly.  The city lights at night, and the fantastic boat ride, were very worth the fact that we got back to Gary & Nancy’s house at 12:30 am. 

This was the first day since we left that the motorcycles did not move!  Cliff Case got home ok; back to the South Bay Area, either Friday or Saturday.  The days seem to run together after a while!  Randy, Cynthia, and Drew made it to Shelbina, Missouri on the next day after Michigan.  The motel had a small, worn, and well used door that said ‘for tornado use only’.  They were hoping not to have to use it!  The next day they made it to Oberlin, Kansas on highway 36.  Good weather for their part of the country.  Back on the road in the morning…..