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Take me to the river....

Navy Pier is definitely the star of the show lately. Right next to Navy Pier is the Chicago Harbor Lock which connects Lake Michigan to the Chicago River and the Illinois Water System. This was the first lock of many, many locks in our journey. Only a drop of 5 ft. Todd brought to my attention that Lake Michigan about 600 feet above sea level (so I googled it, and he is right, it's 577 feet above sea level to be exact. He is so smart.) We are headed down these rivers to Mobile, AL which is only 10 feet above sea level.  So, again, many many locks are in our future to get us down to that level. 

Typically, I'll ask the children to stay below deck; which in reality sounds more like, "Hey, this is stressful and Mommy and Daddy really need to focus.  So you have to stay downstairs and not fight.  If I hear a peep, I'm going to throw your iPads overboard!".   Then I grab a walkie talkie, making sure Handsome Captain and I are both on the same channel, throw on a life jacket (it's the law) and head to the bow, with rope (just in case) and bumpers. Predictably, the wind was blowing.  Our marvelous and talented Captain pulled us gently next to the concrete wall of the lock, and I missed the rope. 😩 Gah! He brought us again gently next to the wall and this time I grabbed the soggy rope dangling from the wall and braced my legs against the railings to fight the wind that was pushing us away. Note to self: buy some work gloves at the next opportunity. 

There is always a lock-worker on the wall to make sure you are ok and not doing anything silly, but I think they always come chat with us because of the dogs. The woman at the Chicago Harbor Lock was very nice (really, they are all very nice) and gave us a heads up about a few sailboats that were bunched up in the river.  Something about being a few hours behind where they were supposed to be. You don't always get a lot of time to chat and get full stories because the lock closes and water starts draining and before you know it, you're no longer at the rim of the wall but down below it, looking at a slimy concrete wall that used to be under water. And then a horn sounds, the gate opens, you push off the wall and start motoring down the river! I'll stay up on the bow until we are moving "consistently" and then pull in the ropes and bumpers and make my way back into the cabin to see what destruction the kids have wrought in all that time. It's a good day when they haven't made each other cry.

What a beautiful sight - Chicago seen from the river!! Better yet - we are now somewhat protected from the wind!! 

A Chicago River traffic jam....

Tess and I sat on the back of the boat and marvelled at the buildings. She shouted "hello" to people walking across the bridges, it was so cute. She has also learned how to take pictures on her iPad, so she was snapping away. I need to find a quick minute to get some of them transferred to me so I can post them here - some are quite good. 
see all the people on the banks? She would shout "hello" at them until at last someone would wave in response. The girl is relentless.  Oh, and see what I meant about the color of the water? Looks a lot like Splash Mountain, doesn't it? 🤪

Comments

  1. Surg TechsNovember 1, 2019 at 9:22 AM

    Love the stories of your adventures. Keep them coming. I check everyday!

    ReplyDelete

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