Wednesday, September 20 - Part 2

Wednesday, September 20 - Part 2

Today was a wildlife day.  We saw jumping fish, oriental carp, we presumed, white pelicans, and several  eagles.  Danny is so good at spotting them, and gets so excited when he sees them.

Wednesday, September 20 - Danny’s Birthday

Wednesday, September 20 - Danny’s Birthday

Well, it’s an almost-sunrise picture. (7:33). 

We were about to pull out when Marian aboard Midas Touch called to tell us they were getting ready to leave, too, and if we waited a few minutes they would be out of our way.  Danny said we had plenty of room to pull out into that narrow fairway, and I trust him, but it was still nice having the extra room.

We have seen a lot of industry along the rivers, but this one wins the prize for sheer size.

There are still lots of barges lined up along the river.  And we see lots of tires anchored to the shore that are used for them to tie up. This picture was taken in Creve Coeur, IL.  What an interesting name. 

Still more evidence of the low water level.  And I keep thinking how so many places in Canada were flooded.  Mother Nature at work. 

The only place to tie up between Peoria and Grafton is along a barge in Logsdon.  We missed it as we passed by, which was fine with us since they had no electricity or water but still charged for tieing up.  We proceeded a little further downriver to this anchorage behind an island in Havana, IL.  There is a marina, Tall Timbers, in town but when we called to check depth, the owner told us if our draft was over 3 feet, please keep going.  We took his advice.

There had not been a place to buy ice in Peoria, so we really needed some.  Out came the dinghy and we rode to town.  On the way we passed the marina with shallow water and pulled in just to see.  The owner was still there, and had one bag of ice left!  We bought that, one gallon of gas for our dinghy gas can, and headed back to our boat, skipping town since we had accomplished our mission.  

Serenity, with Jan, Jim and 12-year old AJ, had pulled into the same anchorage, so after we dropped off the ice, we rode over for a visit.  We had met them in Joliet, and crossed paths a couple of times, but this was our first chance for a real visit.  They had tried to get into Tall Timbers and could not pass beyond the shoaling at the entrance.  We understand Lab Partners had run aground there, too, so our anchorage looked even better.  We enjoyed the visit, then headed home. 

Aunt Betty called to wish Danny a happy birthday, and asked what we were doing for the occasion.  I had to tell her the truth - nothing!  I didn’t even have cookies to bring out.  I told her we opened an extra can of beer!  Happy Birthday, Danny.

Tuesday, September 19 - Peoria

Tuesday, September 19 - Peoria

It was foggy when we headed out from Henry Wall. 

And then it got foggier!  Both of us were on “high alert,” and Danny kept blowing the horn so small boats could hear us.  Our AIS shows the tows where we are, but small boats don’t have AIS.  We went in and out of several fog banks, but finally came out into clear skies. 

These houses in Chillicothe show just how low the water is.  So sad. 

Jeannie had been holding a package for us with prescriptions, new credit cards, and Boy Scout popcorn.  It’s hard to know where to have things shipped, but we had picked a marina in Peoria and hoped the timing would be right.  We should have been hoping the water was right.  First, the channel was on one side of the river, actually Peoria Lake, and the marina was on the other.  

It was pretty shallow all the way, but we did OK until we got past the marina breakwater.  Depth readings went down below a foot, and we churned mud the whole time.  To make it worse, nobody would answer the phone for so we couldn’t ask about depth, or about location for pick-up.  We just stopped at the end of one dock and tied off.  We walked toward what we thought was the office and ran into a man walking toward he dock that didn’t have his key, so we let him in in return for information.  (He was accompanied by a very young, very made-up girl, and it was lunchtime.  We wondered.)

He directed us to the other end of the marina.  I stayed at the gate while Danny went in search of our package.  One of us had to stay inside the gated area so we could get back in.  Danny finally found some landscaping guys who showed him where the office was, but nobody was there.

Finally, the two people who work at the marina pulled up - they had been to lunch!  Good, right?  Nope, they couldn’t find our package.  I called Jeannie, and of course she was able to track it, it had been delivered yesterday.  After searching several places on the property, they finally located our package, and told us to back out as we left, nothing to try to turn around.  Not our best package pickup.

And now to Peoria. 

A municipal marina was listed in some places, others said no overnight stays.  When we pulled up to take a look, Midas Touch was anchored there, and Marian said the boat behind them had been there more than a week.  Slight problem, there was not a slip long enough for us, only those two.  Danny did his masterful parking job and got us into a short slip with very narrow fairway. 

Next problem, we couldn’t get electricity.  The Nina and Pinta reproductions were pulled up on the outside wall, no they had used the outlet.  It was just one 30 amp, so wouldn’t have really helped.  We decided to stay the night and brave the heat at bedtime.  We had enough frustration for one day.

The Caterpillar Museum is one block from the dock, so we headed over after we had cooled off and recovered a bit. 

The first thing you see in the museum is a mining truck, the largest vehicle Caterpillar manufactures. 

The theater for the orientation movie is in the truck bed!  This is built to scale, but only the cabin is metal, the other is made of lighter material!  I wish I could remember more of the statistics, but I can tell you, because I read it in the picture, it is shipped on 13 separate trucks and assembled on site.  Danny had seen trucks like this on mine sites, but still we were both amazed at the size. 

Here are some other shots from the museum, including Danny at one of the simulators.  We both failed. 

Danny will disagree with this, but I thought the whole set-up was more for public relations than information, including the movie.  At the end, I still wasn’t sure what Caterpillar made.  And visually it was way too busy, displays and information got lost in the graphics.  I’m sure corporate would be glad to hear my critique!

At the Caterpillar Museum, the docent told us to be sure to see the new Lincoln statue that had been added to River Park yesterday. When we saw from a distance that it was two men, we assumed it would be Lincoln and Douglas. Nope, it was this guy. There was nothing to tell us who he was. Maybe one day I will Google him. 

We picked up pills, now we had to divvy them out.  No electricity, remember.  Thank goodness for battery lights.

Monday, September 18 - Henry Wall

Monday, September 18 - Henry Wall

We gassed up, pumped out, and pulled out of Heritage Harbor.  These tiny houses were part of the Heritage Harbor complex.  Cute. 

Some scenes of Ottawa. 

Evidence that the water level is way down. 

LaSalle and Peru, Illinois were the next towns we passed.  (I had to a take a picture of the Peru sign for my friend, Ruth Chang White, who is a native of the “real” Peru.)  

We saw SO many people fishing from the river bank along this section.  It seemed unusual for a Monday, but maybe the fish were running. 

This is the largest tug boat we have seen.  More later.

I got carried taking scenery pictures.  It was a very pretty area.

Marinas are few and far between on this stretch of the river, and some of those few have such low water we can’t use them.  Our only option for tonight, with electricity, was the Henry Wall.  When we first heard the name, it seemed strange to us because we have a friend named Henry Wall.  As it turns out, this is an old lock wall in the town of Henry, Illinois.  The lock was constructed in the 1870’s as part of the Illinois and Michigan Canal that connected Chicago and the Illinois River.  It was rustic, but scenic. 

This lady was fishing when we pulled up.  Danny says he saw her get up and go to the bathroom behind the tree.  Oh, well.

A boat pulled in to get gas and Danny went over to help them.  The “office” for Henry Wall is on the other side of the small marina, which is on the other side of the peninsula, so someone has to drive over to turn the gas tank on, then take the boater back over to pay, and back again.  Not a very efficient operation. 

I read recently that pictures taken over your feet are not cool anymore, but I loved this one.  It described my afternoon perfectly!