Sept 15 - Sept 22: Illinois River

 We are finally off Lake Michigan and heading down the rivers.  First is the Illinois River.  Leaving Lake Michigan we entered a very industrial section of a canal connecting the lake to the river.  Once on the Illinois River, it's pretty basic boating, just watching out for "tows" (barges being pushed by big tugs) that may be coming around a bend.

Our stops included the city docks at Joliet and Ottawa, IL, the Henry Harbor marina, the Peoria city docks, the Logsdon Tow Company barge in Beardstown and the dock at Mel's Riverfront Restaurant in Hardin, IL.  From there we reached the Mississippi River.  

Entering the canal between Lake Michigan and the Illinois River

As mentioned, this section is very industrial in nature

A "fixer-upper" along the bank

There are some scenic areas of the river as this city has
done with this water effuluent

In order to keep asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, the
Army Corp of Engineers has set up an electric fish barrier. 
The water is electrified and any fish entering are zapped.

The locks on the rivers are sized to accommodate the tows.
Lot's of room for us recreational boaters

I don't think the geese are afraid of this blind on the river

Getting ready to leave a lock with a tow
 waiting to enter from the other side

Tied to the city dock in Ottawa.  No charge and free electricity!

A "home made boat" at anchor on the river

Joe and Pat Apicella on their boat
GLORY DAYS in a lock

Believe it or not, these are pelicans

GLORY DAYS tied to a dolphin waiting for entry
into a lock

These are some of the facilities at Henry Harbor Marina.
See how our shore power is about 6 feet up the pole and
our spring line is tied off to the tree root

Bow line tied to a post

Henry Harbor restaurant

The fine dock area at Henry Harbor

This is the other shore power connection available

GLORY DAYS tied to a tree stump

Duck hunters getting ready by collecting foliage from the
river back to camouflage their blinds 

Bald eagle in a tree along the river

Some ghost ships along the river

Entering the Peoria city dock area

Other "Loopers" at the Peoria city dock

Loopers getting together in Peoria.  From left to right
Brian and Jean Orr from SPIRT of Whitby,
Ed and Cindy ten Haaf from Ka-Dee-Anna
Joe and Pat Apicella, and Teresa

Early morning entry into the lock south of Peoria

Meeting a dredge in the river

When you want a place to stay, sometimes you have to
take what is available such as the Logsdon Tug Service- which allows
you to tie up to one of their barges, no facilities, for only $1 per foot 

Tied to the grain barge at Logsdon

The next morning we awoke to thick fog on the river

These are the metal stairs the Boyz had to climb up and down
to get off the boat and go ashore (foggy)

Waiting for the fog to lift

The yellow box is actually a safety device when inside the lock.
If a crew member from a tow falls overboard, they throw the box
between the barge and the lock wall to keep the barge from crushing him

The armada is underway from a lock

Some of the debris that floats down the river.  You can only guess
how high the water level must get in the spring

Houses along the river are built on a foundation of stilts

A ferry crossing the river

Everyone tied off at Mel's Riverfront Restaurant

Even after a long day on the river, there is always something to
work on. After all, it's a boat!!

An old paddle wheeler used now as a river cruise ship

Meeting the mighty Mississippi

A monument erected after the flooding river waters receded
prior to flooding the town

Sept 6th - 15th: Michigan City IN, Hammond IN, Chicago IL, Ottawa IL

When last we "blogged", we were sitting in St. Josephs/Benton Harbor, MI waiting for the wind to die down and the waves to calm down. The date was Tuesday, September 6th.  On Wednesday morning, the winds appeared to be calm, so we got underway at 6:30 AM.  When we reached the breakwater a mile away, the first wave was about an 8 footer and they would have been on the stern all morning long, so we turned around and returned to the marina.

   

The weather  finally settled down on Friday, Sept 9th.  We were underway around 1 PM (to allow the waves to drop a little) and headed south to Michigan City, Indiana.  The marina was fine for the overnight stay and we met some other loopers who had been stuck there for 8 days because of the weather.

 

Underway early the next day, we proceeded to Hammond, IN which was our operating base for visiting Chicago.  Getting a rental car, we made a grocery run to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center north of Chicago to take advantage of the commissary.  Saturday evening our friend Krist Severance arrived from Jacksonville to spend a few days sightseeing.

Sunday the 11th we headed into the city.  The routine was to park the car in the suburbs, jump on the subway, and proceed downtown.  Sunday we took in the view from the top of the John Hancock building, the second tallest in Chicago, visited Navy Pier and the Ferris Wheel, had a great brunch in a restaurant recommended by our daughter and son-in-law, and walked, walked, walked.

Monday visited Millenium Park to see the "bean" (see the pictures) and since GREAT ESCAPE is too tall to make it under the downtown bridges, we took the architectural tour via boat.  And, did I mention we walked, and walked, and walked.

Today, the  we're making preparations for underway tomorrow, heading for the Illinois River and beginning the next phase of the trip. 

The pictures in this update are mostly from Chicago.

Arriving at the breakwater for Michigan City, IN

Rusty and Betty Hughes, from Naples
Florida, had been in Michigan City for 8 days
waiting for the lake to settle.  They invited us
over to their boat "THE COOPER" for a beverage

Departing Michigan City, you can see how the
fishing boats love to sit in the middle of the
channel, right where we would like to go.

The south shore of Lake Michigan is very industrial
in nature.  This and the next couple of pictures
show the fumes coming from the steel mills about
5 miles away.

Approaching Hammond Marina

Our friend Krist arriving from Jacksonville, FL

Doing the tourist thing

Heading toward Navy Pier along
the Chicago waterfront

Navy Pier

The view from the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel

The city has art throughout the parks. Teresa
is chatting with Bob Newhart.

This is not our rental car

The Chicago Tribune building has pieces of rock, brick, and
metal from various famous places or structures throughout
the world and history.  In most of the following photos
you can read the source of the rock or brick.

This is from the Great Pyramid in Egypt

Fort Marion, St. Augustine, FL

Art work on the entrance to
the Tribune Building

I should have included a real person
in this photo so you could see perspective
on the size of this sculpture of Monroe 

Looking out from the lounge on the 96th floor
of the John Hancock building

Looking north along the lake shoreline

In the middle of this picture is a building with
a swimming pool on the top



There actually were people swimming.
Good thing they were not skinny dipping



Enjoying an adult beverage in the lounge after
all of the walking, walking, walking

Crown Fountain in Millenium Park.  This was
an unusally warm day (85 deg) in Chicago
so the fountain was very popular.  The giant faces smile for a few minutes, then pucker their lips and a pipe embedded in the screen sends out a large stream of water, giving the illusion that water is spouting out of the mouth

One of many flower beds within the park

Teresa and Krist in front of the sculpture Cloud Gate or
known locally as "The Bean." Cloud Gate weighs in at over 110-tons, and is 66 feet long and 33 feet high. "The Bean" was created using a huge number of individual stainless steel plates -- Cloud Gate's seamless surface is the result of thousands of hours of polishing.

The "bean" is polished so well, you
can take your picture in its reflection.  If you can read
it, noticed how the writing on Don's cap
is backwards

Reflection of the skyline in the "bean"

The Amphitheater in Millenium Park

This large vessel is home to the Columbia
Yacht Club in Chicago

The following photos are from the architectural tour
through downtown Chicago.  

This is "Trump Tower" - yes, the "Donald" -
the third highest building in the city when the
spar at the top is not counted

The Wrigley (maker of the gum) building,

Trump Tower up close

One has to be careful backing
into these parking spots

The Marshall Field's building.
It was the largest office building in the world
until the Pentagon was built

This was the docent on our tour.  This
gentleman spoke non-stop for an hour and provided an excellent tour.

Boeing Aircraft headquarters

Another view of Boeing

This view provides a feel for the bridge height
through downtown and why GREAT ESCAPE
could not make it through



These crazy people are in plexiglass
boxes that allow them to walk out from the
upper floors of the Sears building, the tallest
building in this country and the 5th tallest
in the world.



The Sears building is on the left and those boxes
are just below the antenna on the top

A fountain along the riverfront walking park

The city has made the riverfront accessible and
a pleasant experience

Artwork on one of the many bridges
crossing the Chicago River

The Chicago River originally emptied into Lake
Michigan.  A canal was built connecting the Chicago
River and the Illinois River.  Large pumps than actually reversed
the flow of the Chicago River and a lock now regulates
the amount of water coming from Lake Michigan

No problem for these two
getting under the bridges.  The turbulance
is from a passing boat

The Vietnam Memorial in downtown Chicagp