The baton being officially passed we spent Tuesday enjoying the hospitality of the Dickens....Yaaaa....I'm finally up to Tuesday!
This is Dave and Donna's beautiful home in Lombard, Illinois.  Dave has lived in Lombard most of his life and has most of his family within close proximity.  Dave and Donna have two great kids..Adam and Amy.  Adam was in the car business with Dave and realized that he really didn't like it, so quit and went back to school to get his Master's.  Gotta follow your heart, so congratulations to Adam!
Their house is huge with an indoor swimming pool...Ruby jumped in within minutes of arriving at their home...wet dog again...it's impossible to keep a Lab down!
Legend has it that their house was once a brothel...let your imagination run wild!
They are preparing for a party at their house this summer with all of Dave's employees invited...suffice it to say they have decided to undergo a major remodel...there were workman everywhere!

Meet Donna, Dave's better half (sorry about the picture Donna I had a better one but picked this one by mistake).  Donna is going through a very difficult time in her life right now as her mother's health is rapidly failing and with all of the work going on in their house has her nerves totally frazzled...my heart and prayers go out to her.
Dave is a very unique individual (they broke the mold after he was born) and Donna has provided the stability at their home and helped raise their wonderful children...perhaps her greatest achievement is tolerating Dave's hectic work scheduale and how do I say this?...unique quirks!
Dave is a man with a heart of gold and would give any friend the shirt off his back if he felt it would help them. A generous and kind man!

That afternoon (after I had completed a rather lenghty blog entry that day), we left for Dave and Donna's cabin in the woods of western Illinois.  The cabin is located near Utica (about a 100 miles west of Chicago), with the big town in the area being Ottawa (15 miles from the gorgeous cabin that they have fully decorated by themselves).  It is located in a very nice area just off of the Illinois River  It sits at the edge of Starving Rock State Park...the most visited State Park in the state.
While traveling to the cabin we stopped at Washington Square in Ottawa.  This park on August 21,1858 was the scene of Abraham Lincoln and Stephan Douglas' 1st debate in their race for the U.S. Senate...14,000 people crowded this rather small park as Lincoln, by all accounts kicked Douglas' ass and was carried from the podium in an overwhelming win at the debate...sources have indicated that the Lincoln supporters had a difficult time carrying the victorious Lincoln and his 6 foot 5 inch frame in victory thru the crowd!
Bill Walsh, the major dealer in Ottawa, was a major contributor in getting this statue brought to fruition.
I had the pleasure of meeting Bill about 20 years ago at the group of nationally recognized dealers that I was fortuate enough to be admitted to.  Bill is one of the kindess, most genuine people that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with during my 36 years in the car business!

The Rubes and I with Lincoln and that other guy....what was his name again?

Dave taking a thoughtful pose as he listens to Abe...in his mind!

A railroad bridge across the Illinois River  The Illinois runs from the Mississippi into Chicago.  You may have heard of the Illinois, it is the subect of efforts to stop the destructive Asian Carp from entering the Great Lakes.  It runs thru Ottawa which prior to the developement of Chicago was the largest city in Illinois.
The Illinois served as the major river running from the Mississippi to the Great Lakes to the Erie Canal and ultimately to the east coast...once again the symatry of our trip rears it's head!

Ruby and I hiking in Starving Rock State Park...to say the least it was very quiet and tranquil.
Dave was kind enough to take this picture.

Who ever would have thought that you find waterfalls and rock formations in Illinois?
This area was breathtaking!
The only problem was that part of our breathlessness resulted from our mad dash back to the car to escape the swarming and I mean as thick as a cloud mosquitos that attacked us like kamakize pilots, trying to suck out every ounce of blood we had...the vampires in the "Twilight" movies left more blood than these guys...I think I was down a couple of quarts by the time we got to the car!
Thank god we don't have mosquitos in Corona Del Mar!

Couldn't resist including this picture...once again my fasination with the community that these bees belong to, work together for the common good!
A good example for us all!