A Place to Call Home

Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve typed out a blog post. Karen and I have been busy wrapping things up at my parents house and moving into our new digs in West Dundee Illinois. The move to Dundee has been wonderful as our landlords have been great, nothing Judge Judy like. Karen and I have never rented a house or an apartment but renting makes a lot of sense in our situation. We still don’t know what we want to do when we grow up or where we want to live out our golden years (Still a many years ahead). We do know that we want to go back to Last Mango and continue sailing, but we need a place to call home. Our new place is an older home, dates back to 1870 but has been beautifully maintained and updated. We couldn’t ask for better people to rent from. 

Entry off the garage area.

Beautiful deck to sit back and relax.

Leaving my parents is a little bittersweet for me because I’m leaving my father worse off than when I started. Now this is subject to opinion but here’s the situation. My dad needed a hip replacement and I persuaded him to have the surgery. Pre-surgery he was in pain everyday and walked like an old man, all bent over due to no cartilage left in his hip joint. He was able to walk around and perform day to day tasks even though he was in pain. Post-surgery he’s no longer in pain but his eyesight in virtually gone and he has a rapid heartbeat that we can’t nail down. Hope to know more next week from the Endocrinologist after she receives the results of the blood tests. So, that’s the situation he’s in. I know that we can never predict the future and that’s one of the reasons Karen and I took off to live our dream. I also know that my father certainly doesn’t hold anything against me. I just wish it would’ve worked out better for him.

I had to put this in. 4 adults in the Prius traveling 70 to 75 mph with air conditioning
on full coming back from the Iowa State Fair. No too bad MPG.

So what else is going on? Well, Karen and I have been bicycling at least 22 miles each morning with smiles on our faces. I’ve always liked cycling and so has Karen but now she really seems to be getting into it. She actually cycles when I’m busy doing other things. Good for her, she actually told me she plans on running a 5K in the future (I’ll keep you posted). The cycling has been great but this latest heatwave has been a killer. We’re hoping for cooler less humid air to move our way before Sunday’s “Night Bison Ride” but the weathermen don’t seem to think it’s going to happen. The Bison ride is a 55 mile all gravel ride out in Dekalb Illinois. Needless to say, we will be sleeping in on Monday morning.

Ask, why did the chicken cross the bike path.

Humid Hazy morning riding bikes. Coleman Bridge north of
St. Charles looking south.

September 2 was the one year anniversary of Karen and I leaving Southport Marina on Last Mango. I never even thought about it but Karen has a mind for these types of things. We were driving along and she started get all weepy eyed, I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was looking at a video of Last Mango leaving Kenosha. I look back and think what we’ve done and where we’ve been over the last year and it puts a smile on my face. At times it was very difficult and exciting but with the fullness of time I look back and it seems like an everyday occurrence. How worried we were of transiting all the locks, how terrified Karen was of running aground, how it made my mind wonder about each and every little thing that could go wrong while sailing across miles and miles of ocean alone by ourselves. Now running aground makes Karen laugh as she states “I told you so”. The locks are nothing but child’s play (unless there are strong winds). My mind will always worry a bit but I’ve come to think that it’s important to have a little worry, just not too much.

Our journey will continue with a train ride to see Sam and Nicole out in Eugene Oregon. It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen them and we’re looking forward to the train ride out and would like to attend a Ducks football game. I’ve always wanted to take a train ride and just sit back and enjoy the scenery. On the train we have a room with beds and meal service. I hope to report back with 4 stars, lets hope.

We’ll see what this winter brings, where will our sails take us? We’re not sure. The only thing we do know that we will be sailing in warm weather while Illinois will be semi frozen. We don’t have anything to complain about.