Sunday, August 23, 2009

It was a lovely morning with clearing skies, mild temperatures and little breeze. Kevin and Justin were interested in doing some more fishing today and hoped to catch “the big one.” Last night as we were waiting for the fireworks to begin, we did have a big fish on one of the poles that Grandpa Gale had baited up off the back of the boat. Julie was the only one paying attention at the time and heard the line going out the back. The guys all jumped up and ran out to reel it in. The fish was so big it was stripping line off the reel and about to pull Kevin overboard when his dad, Dan, grabbed the pole and fought the fish for a couple of minutes. Suddenly the line went slack! Even with 30-pound test line, the fish must have cut it with his teeth taking the hook with it. Just enough excitement to keep us awake for the fireworks we had all been waiting for! This morning Kevin and Justin caught a few more fish off the dock using the same technique as yesterday and caught a rock bass, small mouth bass and blue gills.

About mid morning we decided to take another walk and explore more of the city. This time we headed north along the “Riverwalk” and up to Michigan Avenue and the “Miracle Mile.” We stopped at Trader Joe’s and made a few small purchases before making our way back via the Riverwalk and Navy Pier. We enjoyed hot dogs on the boat and then took a nice, calm ride around the harbor towards Soldiers Field and back. It was close to 5 pm when we got back to the dock and time for the Thul family to pack their bags and head for home. We were sad to see them leave, but we were grateful for the time we did have with them over the past three days. We hope to be able to meet up with them again after Labor Day when we are near Starved Rock State Park on the Illinois River.