Life On Orion

 We only had one lock to go through today and we called prior to leaving the barge where we were tied up and they said they were just finishing up locking a barge and tug through so to come on down.  We left at first light before anyone else on the barge was even up and were at the lock in about an hour.  We had to wait about 30 minutes for the lock to be ready for us, but after that it went quickly and was smooth locking. The rest of the 9 hour trip was spent meandering down the Illinois river and occasionally passing a barge. I will admit that some of the scenery was beautiful and we saw so many bald eagles and golden eagles! They live along the river and enjoy the good fishing. We arrived at the free dock at Mels Diner and were the only 2 boats to tie up there!  Yay!!  Our boater friends from last night anchored out about an hour north of us, so no rafting up tonight.  Madison and I can get off the boat - we just have to be careful not to trip on the rough metal dock or step in one

I don’t think I’m cut out for this river travel - too stressful for me and too much like tent camping which I don’t do… We had a 9 hour trip down the river today and at the end of it was more stress than I could handle. As I mentioned before, there are few places to tie up on this section and with lots and lots of looper boats traveling at the same time, it becomes a scrum in a hurry. We had planned to tie up to a barge at the Logsdon Tug Service in Beardstown IL and there is room for 5 boats there.  It is first come, first serve, although we called several days ahead to let them know we were coming and they said, “no problem, come on down and we’ll make room for you”.  Ha!  Liar, liar pants on fire…. As we approached the area I could see on my google maps that there were other boats there and based upon the travel I had seen during the day I guessed they were the same boats we were with on the Joliet wall.  Thanks to trading boat cards, I messaged one of the boats and asked about room

 Today was one of those days that tests your patience and will to do the Loop…. We left a little later (8:00 am) since we did not have a lock to go through today and the first 3 hours going down the river were pretty pleasant.  Then traffic began to appear and we played “dodge the barges” for awhile. Then the real fun began when the free wall we planned to stay on in Peoria was full. Now - it’s not like anywhere else where you can just go on down the line and stay at a different marina…. We literally didn’t have a place to stay tonight and no plan.  Tom did some quick research and found a restaurant 6 miles down river that advertised that they had docks. I called and that it how we ended up at Kuchies on the Water at mile marker 159! There are 5 small slips for pontoon or other boats to pull into while stopping to eat and then one long dock either side of them.  We are tied up on one and Steve & Kathy on the other. We hiked up the short hill to the restaurant and begged them to let

 We left the marina this morning with 3 boats in tow and headed toward the one lock we had to go through and ended up having 7 boats in with us - somehow we picked up a few more coming down the river…. We had called the lock before we left asking what would be a good time to show up and they said about 9:00 am.  That is exactly when we arrived but they were finishing locking the 2nd half of a barge tow through so we waited for over an hour for that to be done. When I say waited, it consists of throttling down, spinning in circles, hitting reverse, and circling some more.  Not an easy task to keep a boat this size in one place, especially with a river current.  It’s more tiring than the actual locking! Once we were through the lock it was an uneventful day - only one tug and barge to overtake and one to pass going in the opposite direction. Our destination for the night was an old lock wall in Henry, IL where they have a small marina for very small boats, but a free wall for loopers and

 We spent an extra day at Heritage Harbor to catch up on sleep, boat projects and provisioning and it was a lovely day. We borrowed the courtesy vehicle that the marina provided and we went into Ottawa with Steve and Kathy.  First we dropped Tom off at a golf course and the rest of us continued on to Walmart. Two hours and multiple bags and boxes later, we picked Tom up and hauled our treasures back to our respective boats and now we have ingredients for yummy meals, docktails and serious snacking! The afternoon was spent taking the dog for a very long walk on the trail surrounding the marina and through the neighborhood overlooking it and trip planning for the next week. It should be an interesting few days, as we will stay tied up to a gas dock, anchored in a back-water area, moored to a barge and tied up at a free wall at a restaurant.  This river cruising is crazy business.  Our day tomorrow will take us around 45 nautical miles and through one lock in what should be sunny weather!

 We traveled with a group of 8 looper boats today for 7 hours and went through 3 locks to arrive here at Heritage Harbor in Ottawa Illinois. Just traveling with that many boats is exhausting but the locks love being able to send all of us through in one trip.  Usually 3 boats got to tie off at the wall and the rest of us “rafted” on which means we pulled up along side another boat and tied our lines to their cleats as if it was a lock wall. We were very fortunate and did not have to wait at all for any of the locks, but just the logistics of securing that many boats and then huge drops takes so long! The weather was grey, cold and rainy today which added to the stress of doing so much work outside the boat.  My hands were actually cold which hasn’t happened in a long time… There were a few tugs and barges on the river today, but nothing terrible.  We are tucked safely inside the marina and it is a nice one! We went up to the restaurant and ate an early dinner with two other couples and

 I know I have some catching up to do so here is the short version.  We finally got a decent travel day to get down to Kenosha and arrived last Thursday.  My mom had deteriorated all week and I lost her early Friday morning, so we decided to stay in Kenosha for the weekend so I could re-group emotionally.  Daniel and Johanna both flew into Chicago for the weekend as a surprise and it was wonderful medicine having all 3 of my kids with me for a couple of days. We talked, laughed, rode the streetcar, gathered sea glass on the beach, ate, drank and got lots of baby Ian time in as well.  Dan and Johanna stayed on the boat with us and they made the trip to Chicago with us on Sunday.  The weather was acceptable, but not great, and I’m sorry to say that Johanna did not have a fun trip….  The waves were 3 feet and close together and even I was cranky by the time we got off the lake.  Thank goodness it was our last day on any of the Great Lakes! We had time to walk to an outdoor restaurant befo

  For the first time in over 2 weeks we moved the boat! Circumstances and good weather came together and we were able to go south to Port Washington, WI and we pulled into the marina about 1 pm. Our last day in Manitowoc was spent doing 3 loads of laundry, washing part of the boat and meeting new loopers who had arrived while we were off the boat. Since bad weather wouldn’t let us take the boat to Kenosha, Riley (our son-in-law) came to pick us up and drive us to Kenosha.  Lynette stayed one night at their house, while Tom and I got a hotel room near the marina that allowed dogs.  I took Lynette to the airport in Milwaukee to fly home, Madison had a vet appointment and had her vaccines and she spent 2 days in doggie day care so she wouldn’t have to sit in a hotel room alone. We got to spend a couple of days with Kate and Riley and Mimi and Bapa got some quality time in with Ian. Jana and Jeff drove to Kenosha to spend 2 days with all of us and we celebrated Tom’s birthday together too.