so , i know i mentioned this before but you can't imagine our excitement when we figured out we could anchor right smack in front of mom & paul's hotel. the first pic is Ute (and neighbors) as seen from their balcony ....the second is the hotel as viewed from our cockpit. perfect!

we were cozily settled in on the anchor a day before they got in.....at some point I looked up at the hotel and said, "honey, what do you bet that two things will happen when they get here: first, they'll walk out on the balcony by the pool, see us, freak out, and start waving, along with 4 or 5 other people from wisconsin that they somehow magically met and befriended on the plane from chicago, and second, my mom will jump in the water and swim out to us just as quick as she can get her swimming suit out of her suitcase."

man, did i call it......it turned out to be four fellow friendly cheeseheads that congregated poolside (one even loaned Mom his binoculars, a real boon to daughter-finding), and mom didn't waste any time getting in that water and into our cockpit. needless to say, I was pretty proud of all of us.