Day 137 anchoring at Little Diversion

Started out early in the chilly morning dew with a touch of Mississippi River fog. More tows than we've ever passed and lots of debris in the water. Some of the tugs threw some pretty big wakes. The biggest one was pushing 35 barges. We decided to do a 110 mile day and get to an anchorage in the Little Diversion River, a popular spot for Loopers. El Nido, Bob and Duncan, our newly acquired friends, traveled with us all day then shared our dinner of home-made sausages from Alton. Jack taunted Duncan from our back deck after El Nido rafted to us for the night. Duncan is in pic 4 - the sweetest husky/lab mix that I'm sure my daughters would love. The scenery was much improved today - beautiful green rolling hills, large rocks, high cliffs, sandy beaches then an occasional mining area. The weather was again perfect. We have one more day of Indian Summer then a front moves through bringing fall back to the Mississippi. (Happiest birthday to our sweet baby #3)

Day 136 Hoppies

We left Alton fairly early with a couple of recently met Loopers. The mighty Mississippi is an industrialized, muddy river loaded with debris and logs. The current is strong and the "tows" are many. You have to pay attention. It's not romantic nor pretty. We passed through St. Louis and saw the arch. Quite a sight. Went by a lot of wing dams (pic 2), which are long piles of rocks that deflects or control the direction of the channel flow. Made it to the famous Hoppies. This marina is a few vintage barges hooked together and attached to land - kind of. There's some sheds, a gas pump and lots of old chairs to sit in and visit with fellow Loopers. It's the last gas stop and dockage for many miles - let's say it has lots of character. Fern and Hoppie are legends along the river. They know it like they know the back of their tan, leathery hands. At 4:30, she gathers her guests and advises everyone on boating updates, where to anchor and how get down the river safely. At dusk, John built another bonfire and we gathered around and ate dinner. Didn't see many tows during the day, but quite a few passing us now - rocking us to sleep. 

Day 135 Off to Alton

Didn't hurry to leave Grafton since we only had to go 15 miles to Alton. Frank and Carol's first experience on the Loop didn't last too long. We cruised by some immense rock cliffs. At Portage des Sioux, we passed the Lady of the Rivers statue, which was erected after the flood of 1951. The towns people prayed to the Virgin Mary to save them after the levees of St. Charles gave way during a heavy rain. A huge wall of water was headed for the village, but miraculously, it split right before town and followed two arms of the river going around the city. To show their appreciation to their savior, the statue was erected in 1957. Right before Alton, there were three massive caves with an image of the Piasa bird painted in the middle. Legend says that this dragon type bird would swoop down and eat humans - wiping out whole villages. He was eventually destroyed, and a large image was painted on the limestone by prehistoric Indians. Father Marquette discovered it in 1673. However, the original depiction was quarried away in the 1870's. The painting that is there now - look in the center of pic two above the train - is a re-creation touched up every couple years. We tied up in the Alton Marina then went to the city to get provisions. We are a little out of town right under the $118,000,000 Clark Bridge that was built in 1994. Kind of reminded us of the Sunshine Skyway. The casino shuttle took us to downtown then we walked for a few blocks - uphill, of course. Asked a nice guy for directions to a restaurant and he gave us a lift to Riverbend Billiards where we got half pound burgers for $2.70. We took a cab to the local grocery then the store gave us a lift back to the marina. It's tough to get around without your own car. By this time, we were ready for docktails. Another Looper, Joe, traveling on Chesapeake, stopped by to talk about the upcoming locks. We have to pass through 2 tomorrow so getting an early start so we can make it to the famous Hoppies Marina. 

Day 134 Party in Grafton

This is our last day in Grafton. The town population swelled to maybe 5 times it's normal number. Walked down to their flea market in the morning that was down in the old boatworks. I found some polished nautilus shell necklaces for dirt cheap, Carol got a nut cracker. We had lunch at the haunted hotel then chilled at the boat for awhile. Later in the afternoon, we took our friends up to see the view from the Aerie's Winery Retaurant. The best part was the ATV shuttle up and back. What a wild ride. The place was hoppin'. Ran into some fellow Loopers who we have been traveling with for some time. In the second pic, right in front and to the left is Estralita, then Fruitcakes, next to them is Midas Touch and lastly are the French Canadian "angels" who helped us in Joliet. You get to know people by their Looping boats. After dinner, we went to the parking lot concert and listened to "Hicktown", a very talented local country music band. The night turned much cooler so we sat by the big bonfire. Wayne's World was all lit up for the occasion. Taking off for Alton tomorrow morning. First time we have left the dock in a week. 

Day 133 Frank and Carol are in the House

. . . Rather they are on the boat. Couldn't have picked better weather to visit. It's in the 50's at night and maybe 80 during the day. The marina has been filling up since yesterday. Most of this facility are locals who use their boats as summer cottages. The people in our neighboring slip, Sue and Jim, drive about an hour to come here. She made bar-b-qued ribs and shared them with us. Food for the gods - delicious. Carol and Frank finally got here this afternoon, late, after some trials and tribulations. The Chicago airport had a fire in the air traffic control center set by a disgruntled contract employee, who later tried to slit his throat. This closed both Chicago airports. Travelers to that area were diverted to St. Louis, grabbing all the rental cars so they could complete their journey, leaving none for our friends. They had to take a cab here. Just before they arrived, a boat docked in the slip across from ours. Their yacht was called "Fiddlin' Around". When I inquired about it, they said they were musicians and did an impromptu mini concert for about 8 of us right on the dock. The last pic is them doing my request for "Wagonwheel", a song with special meaning to me. Jack was even enthrallled with them and sat on the bow of our boat listening to their amazing music. They told us they would be playing some more after dinner up at the marina pub, the Big Kahuna. And they did. A crowd of us, mostly Loopers, were entertained till 11 pm by their blue grass, Cajun, and countrified music. Carol even danced a waltz and Cajun two step with another boater. The Fiddler, Jeff, is an award winning fiddler and he could play! The evening was an unexpected, delightful pleasure. Life just happens. 

Day 132 Another Pleasant Day in Grafton

Frank and Carol are flying in tomorrow to boat with us for a while, so we are staying in Grafton till Sunday morning. John and I cleaned the boat inside and out. Prepared the front cabin for habitation again - we had been using it as a work and storage area. By the afternoon, Sara and John were heading to the pool and spa - great idea - so we joined them. Some other Loopers were there so we had a pleasant time swapping stories. The pool and hot tub are on a floating barge. Grafton Marina also opened it's own winery in March making it the only floating winery in the world. The marina is gearing up for this weekend's big festival. In the first pic, notice in the background one of the many wineries in this area. That one happens to be Grafton Winery. I drank their Blackberry Wine last night. Really nice. This place is party central on the weekend's. See the picture of Wayne's World houseboat. Not sure if that vehicle has left its slip in quite a while, but he's already there this morning getting ready for the weekend. Their town motto is "Keywest to the Midwest". I thought that meant they fancied themselves a funky, partying place like Key West, but they actually mean that a lot of Loopers come here so they are traveling from the Midwest down around Florida. They have 128 covered slips - Sundowner is in one of them (middle of bottom pic) - and 52 uncovered - Free Bird is in one of those. So we'll see tomorrow how this eclectic group gets together. 

Day 131 Field Trip to Jerseyville

Sara needed to do laundry and we needed supplies and oil, so we booked the courtesy car, which was a "vintage" 15 passenger van, and took a trip to Jerseyville this morning. Hit every place that might have the right oil to no avail. The drive was pretty - lots of farmland, fields, barns, small country roads. Later in the day, the Loopers that are here had an impromptu "docktail" get-together on the marina dock. Met some more interesting like minded boaters. Then Sara and John joined us for dinner at the historic and haunted Ruebel Hotel and Restaurant. The hotel and saloon were built in 1884 and they added a restaurant in 1913. The bar in the restaurant is from the 1904 World's Fair and it is a magnificent structure. When the hotel caught on fire in 1912, the locals ran in and removed the bar to save it. The hotel closed, was abandoned and fell into disrepair in the 1980's. However, a family bought it in 1997 and restored it to it's former glory. Supposedly a young girl haunts the hotel on the second floor, but nobody knows who she is. Looks like we are staying here for a while longer because our good friends Frank and Carol are coming up to visit and travel with us for awhile. 

Day 130 Grafton Hot Tub

Stayed put again trying to decide what to do next. By the way, the three "pirate ships" that I referred to yesterday are actually replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. They stopped here to fuel up before heading further south. Then today, a real paddle river gambling boat passed our slip. Does this marina come with a time machine?? Sara and John on Free Bird caught up with us today. Yea! She made a delicious Mexican type "dip" that had everything yummy in it with chips. So we had horderves and wine for dinner. Then we found our way to the hot tub. What a treat. Tomorrow we are on a quest to find oil and solidify a plan to go down the mighty Mississippi. 

Day 129 Grafton Marina

Spent a gloriously relaxing day in Grafton, Illinois. The marina is huge and well maintained. There are a lot of other Loopers here. We hear there are some water level problems down river - not sure if they will affect us since our draft is so shallow. In the morning, John changed some filters while I walked the city streets exploring. Not many shops, but some very neat buildings from the 1800's. It's a very small town with a population of under 700. It's hard to believe that over 10,000 citizens lived here about 150 years ago. It had 5 quarries; was a huge commercial fishing center; and supported a  thriving boat building industry. The boat works is now a weekend antique and craft market. In 1993, the town endured a devasating flood that destroyed many buildings and drove a third of the population away. Now they mostly cater to tourists, but are trying to become wine producing country. There's 3 wineries and a vineyard here within walking distance. Later in the day, we called the restaurant/winery on the mountain above us for a shuttle ride so we could have a late lunch. In the third picture, St. Louis is on the far horizon. The weather is perfect - 74 degrees with a light breeze. The view from the deck was spectacular of the river and lands below. Food was good, wine was better. Had a delicious salad with yummy dressing, so I asked the waitress if they bottled their dressing. She said that they make everything on premises except for that dressing - it was Kraft - right off the grocery shelf. Surprise! Good stuff - try it if you like a sweetish, thick raspberry vinegarette. As I was finishing the blog, I looked down the slips and there goes another pirate ship. Ahoy! There's 3 in the marina heading south to warmer climate. 

Day 128 Long Day on the Illinois River

We were off the dock before sunrise following Akasha down the river towards Grafton/St. Charles. A lot of farmland beyond the dikes. Saw a coyote running along the top of one this morning. Later we saw some small eagles on the hunt then a couple large bald eagles.  ( 2nd pic in top branch) River was quiet - passed 5 barges, probably because it's Sunday. After all the rains and flooding, the river is very muddy brown with tons of debris. We dodged full trees floating in front of us. Seawolf called and told us to beware of bridge heights - the river is still up over it's banks making the clearance less - 9 foot as a matter of fact.  We had to raise bridges that said their clearance was 26 feet. The Illinois River makes use of car ferries, too, we encountered a few on our journey today. Yesterday it got quite humid before the front and it was almost hot; however, today it's back to three layers of clothes on the bridge in the morning. Got warmer in the afternoon, but it's suppose to go down to the 40's again tonight. The landscape was lush, gently rolling hills then worked it's way up to mountains then back down to flatlands. Passed a bunch of newly made duck blinds. Illinois sportsmen must be getting ready for duck hunting season. ( 3rd pic) Akasha is heading to St. Charles, but we will be chillin' in Grafton for a few days after 120 miles today. A new Sundowner record. As we docked, we got a pleasant surprise - Seawolf was two slips down from us. They have been here for two days. This marina has covered slips - another first. No alarm clock tomorrow. 

Day 127 Havana tambien

Tambien means "again" for all those who never took 7th grade Spanish. Storms were threatening and the winds were high so we opted to stay another day in this pleasant little marina along with Akasha (Clarke, Rosie and daughter, Catherine). Walked around the town again this morning. Some stores were closed yesterday when we got here - they close at 2pm. Shopped at the Dollar Store which seems to be the hub of the village. Later we went back and ate good burgers at Babe's and then walked down to the ice cream store for soft lemon cones. And that's life in a small town America. Researched what maybe killed this town and, I think, it was the pollution in the river that depleted the supply of the fowl and fish and couple that with over fishing and over hunting and pretty soon your hunters and fishermen quit coming and everything else dries up. The second pic is a historic shot of the fisheries on the river in Havana's heyday. The third is the closed stores and theater now. It surprised me to learn they had a Chautauqua nearby and it was still active. There was also a society and auditorium in the early 1900's in DeFuniak Springs, Florida, which is where we first learned about these assemblies of like minds. This one was founded in 1885 and still survives today. Some of the original members' descendants still live on the premises. Chautaugua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Named after the lake where the first one was held. Assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. This one in Illinois had speakers such as William Jennings Bryant, Billy Sunday, and a former Rough Rider. John Sousa's Band even played there. The storms went around us all day, but finally hit here around 8pm. Tomorrow we are going to try and do a long day and cover over a hundred miles with the help of the swift current in the Illinois River. 

Day 126 Havana

Didn't get to see much of Peoria, our marina was too far north to walk to it. Had fun at a local pub with Loopers we knew and Loopers we met there. Passed the city of Peoria this morning. They were prepping for their Octoberfest celebration. I guess they do Octoberfest in September when the weather is still warm...ish. Quite windy on the river today, but the current still pushed us to around 10 mph. There was evidence of recent flooding and the river was still overflowing it's banks. The terrain was industrial - forest - flat - and farm lands. Beautiful in some spots - very smelly in others. We see more and more hints of the approach of fall. Weren't as many barges on this stretch. Got to Tall Timbers Marina by 2:30 - well-kept and well managed. I walked to the nearby town, Havana. It's called that because it is near Cuba Island. The island is called that because it is shaped like Cuba, the country, according to the locals in 1848. Main Street was the only brick road and looked like it was straight out of the early 1900's; however, it was deserted. The movie theaters, the grand hotels, the stores - pretty much all gone. In the first half of the 1900's, Havana was a bustling, rowdy, gambling, party town. This was the hunting and fishing destination in Illinois and it was the most important inland fishing port in the US. To entertain the sportsmen, they built bars, hotels and gambling houses. The town was thriving - even Al Capone had a cottage down the river a couple miles and came here to hang out. Not sure what happened here to change all that, but those infamous days are just a memory. For example, I walked into a small shop after two women had walked out and the very old man in the back of the store yelled, "What! Did a bus stop here or something!" I'm guessing three customers in a short period of time was unusual. Their riverfront park is very scenic and peaceful and made for a pleasant stroll. Been traveling with a group of Loopers for a while now, but we all seem to have different plans for the next few days or so. Hopefully, we will hook up again down the river. Tomorrow, we anchor out and are hoping the unsettled weather moving in isn't too bad. 

Day 125 Peoria

Our bonfire last night was a success. John got a rip roaring fire going in no time. About 10 other Loopers joined us as the evening passed - good times. Six of us attempted to leave the marina at the crack of dawn, but were delayed with a fog bank. It dissipated fairly quickly and we were on our way to Starved Rock Lock. Amazingly enough we got through in less than an hour. The area around the lock was beautiful with its huge rock banks. The current is with us so we are doing an amazing 10.2 mph with little effort from the engines. Free Bird and Midas Touch are anchoring out and stopped early today, but the rest of us decided to make the full day journey to a marina in Peoria. Water levels must change a lot by the looks of the houses and retention walls around Peoria. After the big rains, the rivers experienced a lot of flooding which floats out a ton of debris. You have to be cautious or you may run into a tree drifting down the middle of the river. Passed a ton of tugs with barges earlier today, but all the pilots were very pleasant and accommodating. The second half of the day was a very peaceful, serene excursion. Most of the scenery is farmlands and tree forests which line a much wider river. The temps are cool, the sun is warm - immensely enjoyable. However, we saw the hint of fall in the trees - some turning yellow and orange. The last pic is of an abandoned barge taken over by hundreds of seagulls just enjoying the last days of the Indian Summer. 

Day 124 Taking it Easy in Ottawa

After yesterday's harrowing locking experience, we hem-hawed about leaving the marina till we decided not to leave. Jack was fine with this decision. Just a lazy, laid back day - necessary sometimes. Took the courtesy car to Walmart and drove around Ottawa a little with Sara and John from Free Bird then they headed out to an anchorage. Ottawa is at the confluence of the Illinois and Fox rivers and was a major sand and glass center for over 100 years. The first Douglas - Lincoln debate was held here in 1858. Then in 1910, William Boyce, a local resident, incorporated the Boys Scouts in his hometown - appropriately, there is a scouting museum nearby. Walked around the Heritage Marina's grounds. They have extensive development plans for their property - boat slips, town houses, cottages, recreational area, etc. They also have a big Asian Carp problem that bump the bottom of your craft and leap out of the water. While the kid was pumping out our boat, a big one jumped in his aluminum dingy and flopped around like a maniac. Found a fire pit at the top of the hill near the pool (center of the 3rd pic) so decided to have a bonfire tonight with some of the other Loopers. The next lock is about 11 miles away so we will get an early start tomorrow and see how many hours it takes us to get through.