Wednesday September 29: Beardstown

The night in Havana was very enjoyable. There was a double dinghy visit from Selah and Surona. Steve made a great dinner and happy hour took place at the marina common area. There were a total of 7 boats in for the night - all are headed south! A good time was had by all. We were slow moving on this morning as the injector oil needed changed, water tanks filled and of course a search for breakfast. After the work was finished, we walked up town. Saw the biggest tractor/not sure what that I have ever seen - it was very neat. I refrained from climbing aboard to try it out though. Found the Lunch Box - a very neat old restaurant with the nicest ladies running it. The decor was lots of old lunch boxes on the wall - probably a hundred of them. Besides the food being great, we really like their signs :-) The river continues to remind us that it is low as is evidenced by the large trees way up on the shore line. We have heard the Mississippi is running very high - with much current and debris. One of the tug captains was relating his experience of his barges (55 feet wide) having caught a tree that stuck out both sides of the barges! Maybe we needn't be in a hurry to get there but we're only 88 miles away. We continue to see eagles and the white pelicans. The pelicans are so neat in the way they fly. It's like synchronized flying as they glide and fly around. Peter (on Surona) would have given them a score of 10! We are tied tonight to a barge (legally of course) at a tug company. They more importantly have agreed to part with 50 gallons of diesel fuel for us as the cushion of fuel we expected to get in Peoria didn't happen because the fuel dock was closed on Mondays! Of course .... Anyway, I thought the giant cleats were a bit of an overkill. We found a Chinese restaurant that will deliver to the dock as it isn't possible to get the bikes from the boat to shore - well at least not easily :-) Long day tomorrow: 68 miles. Marinas and docks are few and far between at this point.

September 28: Havana, Illinois - south of Peoria

We stayed in Peoria last night - definitely the largest city since we have left Chicago. There was a Wal-mart across the river and lots of restaurants right on the waterfront - sort of like Cleveland's flats area. Hope Peoria's fares better. The docks were nice - a bit short but that still works. The pay machine was broken - but the guys had to verify it to be so! I took a quick snooze in the sun while Steve was checking out the area around the docks. Then he rode across the river and went to Wal-Mart to stock up on some needed kitchen/food items. These boats below were anchored (or on shore in some cases!) around the marina last night. It was a graveyard for old casino boats as they are no longer needed since land based casinos are now legal. When we first pulled in, I thought we really hit the jackpot with a casino boat right here in our marina! Amazingly enough there are tons of birds here (I say that because the water is very muddy and doesn't look terribly inviting. Blue herons, white pelicans (that like to be in flocks), eagles, buzzards and other assorted water birds. The navigable channel is almost always very narrow but the river and surrounding areas can become quite wide. Guess it provides enough food for everyone. Steve also spotted a coyote walking along the bank. We had to wait for the first lock this morning and thought it would be a good idea to hang on a barge that is just sitting there on the river, right? Wrong! One of the pushers came along and chased everyone off (there were 5 of us by the time he came over). Oops :-) What's that about asking forgiveness instead of permission? The barges continue to be very present. It's not bad when they are coming north as we are going south but when we catch up to one it's very hard to try to pass. You have to call to see if they want to pass you 1 whistle or 2 whistle (1: around their port side, 2: around their starboard side) and then zip past them. Right! We can go 9.5 around them while they seem to go about 8. Talk about 2 turtles trying to pass each other! And these things are BIG. Something tells me we may have stayed too long on this river - the water is going down. Our sailboat friends Surona and trawler Selah had to anchor out this evening as the water level coming into into the marina was not deep enough. We draw 3.5 - which is 1 fool less than Selah and 2 feet less than Surona. But not to worry - they are on their way in for happy hour and dinner in their dinghy's. There are 4 other boats here tonight who are moving on south. Guess we best get moving!

Sunday September 26: Hamm's Marina - near Peoria, Il

We left Ottawa yesterday sort of late as we were delayed by a barge coming up the next lock so it was a nice time to have an enjoyable breakfast at the Bee Hive in Ottawa. The town was preparing for the annual Scarecrow Festival which was kind of fun - mostly focused toward the kid in all of us! The day was nice in the morning but changed to rain, overcast and cool in the afternoon though. The Starved Rock State Park borders the river in this area with some spectacular viewing areas along the way.

Historical note about Ottawa: it was the home of W. D Boyce, who while traveling became lost in the London fog in 1909 and was aided by a British Boy Scout. Boyce was so taken with the scout's helpfulness, that he founded the Boy Scouts of America immediately after returning to his home in Ottawa. There is a museum featuring a exhibition of memorabilia from this organization and his cemetery plot features a boy scout on top of the gravestone.

We learned a lesson from Jim on Selah about locking through these large locks - have a knife handy. The lock provides the rope and basically you loop it over a cleat and let it out slowly as the lock descends - the rope is attached to a railing at the top of the lock. Jim's rope caught on itself though and was hung up - as was Selah. The water was going down and the boat was NOT! In an instant he had his knife out of his pocket to cut the rope with the boat then dropping about a foot. We have decided it would be a good idea to always have a knife at the ready when locking down.

The waterfront has changed quite a bit from the industrial areas south of Chicago. It's basically open land with small town along the river. This is Peru, Illinois. Small town with what looked like an old fashioned downtown area.

The excitement yesterday was really Selah coming to Surona's rescue. Their engine/alternator/water pump belt broke and without water circulating through the engine overheating was next. Selah was able to tie Surona next to them and tow them to the next marina for the night. We were a fair ways ahead and could offer only moral support. Selah towed them to Chillothe today and after an interesting quest for a belt, they joined us at Hamm's Marina for the night. Tucked safely away.

The river has opened up a bit into what looks like very inviting places to anchor - until you realize the birds you see 1/2 mile from shore are walking on the bottom of the river! But we did see several bald eagles (both adult and immature) as well as MANY white pelicans - which we had never heard of before. Dinner was on board Surona with GREAT spaghetti sauce and whole wheat pasta (yes - it was really good as much as I protest :-) - this is a healthy group!). I told Steve he needs to get the recipe from Cheryl. Steve did appetizers and Linda did coleslaw. What a great group effort!!

Tomorrow: don't know. Watched the Browns lose today but they played well. What more can be said - they scored the first touchdown allowed by the Raven this season so that's something. No problem - new game next week!!

Friday September 24: Ottawa, Illinois

We spent a somewhat noisy night in Joliet what with the passing barges (Steve swears he heard the bridge whistle twice during the night - guess I slept better than I thought!). We were docked with Selah, Surona and 4 other boats that are completing the Loop - 3 of which we had met in Manistee on the Lake That Shall Not Be Named. Quick trip to the casino (right across the bridge) for breakfast and early entertainment and off we headed. We are now officially on the Illinois River as the canal from the Chicago River joined the Des Plains River and then the Illinois River. The barges continue to be plentiful. The power behind the barges is the pusher boats (not really tugs but don't know exactly what they are!). Some have the pilothouse on hydraulic lifters so the pilot can see over the barge but then be lowered to make it under the necessary bridges. VERY WINDY day yesterday (as well as this morning). 35 mph + gusts blowing right at us. Sure glad we're not the on THAT LAKE. We hear there are some Loopers still stuck though so I feel sorry for them. Lots of weird things along the river: fun duck blinds, boat houses (maybe our next move?) and trees whose roots grew right down the bank of the river. Up early this morning for a run into Seneca for breakfast and a quick grocery stop as we took advantage of the marina provided courtesy car. Selah got the prize for the most stuff (Linda/Jim)! Noticed in the marina parking lot was the sign below - which we all thought was very appropriate as we sat at the nearby picnic table and had supper. We left about 11:30 this morning in windy overcast conditions and luckily timed the next lock quite well. A barge was just coming out and we had to wait only about 10 minutes to enter. We are now in Ottawa at the city docks (free tie up + electric - what more could we want?). Steve and I headed to McD's (it's been a while you know :-)) but were distracted by the Thai restaurant so we stopped there, had soup and then continued to McD's. What a great day! We stopped at the site of the first Lincoln - Douglas debate which was held in this park. A mural on the building near the park was fun. Today is a rest day - except the transmission fluid needs changed. Then it's reading time - something I haven't done in at least a week or so. Where does the time go??? And what do we do all day???

Wednesday September 22: Joliet, Illinois

Our last day in Chicago (yesterday) was spent doing a bit more sightseeing (mostly bike riding around the museum, aquarium area, chinatown) and meeting Bethany (Steve's brother Andy's daughter) who is going to school in Chicago. All in all a very nice stop - but it was time to move on. First order of business was to take the mast down so we could make it under the bridges. There were 40 bridges in a span of 5 miles as we headed south on the Chicago River - going right through downtown Chicago. It was remarkable!! The start was a lock which dropped 2 feet :-) We got yelled at because we didn't have our life jackets on - who knew? The first bridge is Lakeshore Drive. Downtown was lots of high rise buildings - including the Chicago Tribune building (the one with the clock). We passed under the elevated train system and basically enjoyed being on a flat river for a change. Most of the river below Chicago is very industrial with scrap yards, gravel yards, mulch yards - all with barges being loaded or unloaded. The barges encountered so far are really something - and small compared to what we hear about on the Mississippi. Definitely we stay out of their way. The two canals/rivers from Lake Michigan joined together about 20 miles south of Chicago and we picked up 1 knot of current - going our way! YEA! We successfully passed through the length of canal that is electrified to stop the progress of the Asian carp into the Great Lakes - which is a good thing as the canal was scheduled to be closed for a period of time in early October. Kind of weird thinking about the water containing an electric current. Successfully went through another lock with a 40 foot drop and an idiot that created 3 foot waves in the lock by not slowing down and we are now in Joliet and again a long tiring day :-) Selah had everyone over for shrimp and grits for dinner - it was great!! Steve is trying to figure out what Slovak dish he should make ...... Tomorrow: off to Harrah's casino for breakfast (and a bit of slot machines) and then off we will go.