Taking Our Annual Downriver Trip-- Part 1: By Car, Not Boat and The Flag Store

Yesterday, July 16th, we went to Crystal lake, Illinois, to have our emissions test.  While down that far south, we like to go to some of the places on the Chain Crawl.  In the past we used to do it by boat, but lately it is by car.  And it was a good thing because part way through our visits, it started raining and was poring by the time we got home.  Being on a boat in the rain is not much fun, especially in an open bow one.  You get wet even with a Bimini top.

We passed the emissions test and are good to go for two more years on that count.  We then went to downtown Crystal lake to one of our favorite places, The Flag Store.  This is one of those places I should try to avoid as it is pretty-well guaranteed this is going to cost me some money.  It did.

They have all the great stuff I'd like to put on my basement walls (but sadly i am pretty well out of space now.  I did buy one of those heritage banners featuring four different logos of the Blackhawks since their inception to now.  We believe the Hawks have the best looking logo in any sport.  i also got a White Sox yard flag and a pair of Blackhawk earrings for Liz.

Fifty-five bucks later, we were on our way to Port Edwards in Algonquin, the farthest place on the Chain Crawl.

--RoadDog