Fast forward a few weeks later. It is a week before our event in Chicago...
Me: "Chicago is coming up in a couple of days. By the way, I scheduled an event at the Planetarium. In the big city. Also, we have TWO events!"
Ben: "Don't you remember what I said about not being in big cities? We have two events?!"
Me: "Vaguely...did I mention that Lollapalooza is happening the very same weekend? About a mile from where we'll be."
Ben: "...You want me to have a heart attack and die, don't you? I'm not going to make it past 50..."
...We survived! Our event on August 2nd took place with Joe Guzman (Chicago Astronomer) just outside the Adler Planetarium - it was a beautiful day; there were several weddings and events going on, and the lakefront location provided gorgeous views as we looked at sunspots and Ben shared the news regarding his research paper. Happy times.
Up next was our meet and greet in Madison, WI. The KOA stay was pleasant (thank you kindly to those that came out!), and gave us time to catch up on much needed work. We've accepted that we will always be in a perpetual state of being behind on tasks, no matter the time management tactic we employ. Our last official stop in WI was Cole Watch Tower. Much admiration goes to Billy and Nyoka as it is a tremendous undertaking to restore seven stories of this tower. They've made a TON of progress on this historical landmark and prevented it from being torn down. We can't wait to reconnect with them in the future and see how things are!