Cruising down the Illinois River - there is a lot of this:
and this:
and dodging logs. Actually - dodging big 'ole trees that are floating - lots of them. Oh, and here's a game we like to play; will we fit under that bridge? Uhm.....
On a river that is trafficked primarily by commercial barges, we feel tolerated at best. In "our" world (the Great Lakes) - channel 16 on the radio is reserved for the Coast Guard and signals of distress - serious business only - and they will jump on and remind you should you forget and "chat". Here, as best we can ascertain, 16 is for everyone. 14 is supposed to be for locks and barges and 13 for bridges. Mularkey. We have found that 14 is definitely for locks (thanks for the consistency, Army Corps of Engineers...haha) and that bridges and anyone wanting to chat follow 16, and no one uses 13. We have hailed a LOT of bridges on 13 (thanks again, silly guide book we bought) and no one responded. But they have answered us when we have hailed on 16 and asked - hey - what's the bridge at? It's *really* hard to gauge how tall you are, especially when you are facing down a railroad bridge. Who's likely to win that battle? The bridge. Every.time. Handsome Todd battles the current while I go out on the bow and say "I think we got this one, honey", or "oh crap, I'm just not sure" and we go under - holding our breath (as if that's going to help), and.....it's not even close - we have so.much.room it's embarrassing.
Looks close, right?
Todd. I've already said he's amazing in so many ways. He doesn't disappoint on this adventure. He navigated the river with aplomb. (Wow!! I've always wanted to use that word!) And we arrived at the Joliet wall. Here we met our first "loopers". We are "loopers" and we met the rest of our "gang". A few notes. Loopers are all sorts. Some are retired couples; some are boat salesmen who are delivering boats, some are solo, and some are families. Loopers are powerboats, sailboats, and I have even heard of the odd kayak. At Joliet wall, we also discovered that once the word is out that you have good beer on board, the male loopers will congregate at your boat to "talk" at about happy hour. I seriously thought we had enough beer on board until Alabama. We're in Illinois, and he's 3/4 through his rations. What a giving soul. "-) No one was interested in my home-made bread at all. What sort of world is this????
home made bread and split pea soup from a kitchen less than 3' square...
Ever want to get the passing of time in perspective? Hand knead some bread. 10 minutes seems really, really long. Ask your personal trainer at the gym to hand-knead some bread. Sheesh.
In addition to there being a really really awesome playground at the Joliet wall, we met a crew that was going down the river in a relatively "fast" fashion, so we joined the "flotilla" (that's boat-speak for a group of boats). Ray had done this portion of the loop numerous times delivering boats for his customers, so we joined up with him and another of his clients, a man driving his Sabre down to Florida for the winter. Sabres are soooo pretty. Look 'em up. I dare you.
We were last in line in this food chain, and that was ok. We learned a lot going through some of the most painful locks. Dresden Lock wasn't ready for us, so we ended up over-nighting at Harborside Marina. Todd and I have never been told to "go ahead and do the pump out yourselves". But we donned our biggest, bad-est gloves and did it! No obstacle going to keep this family down! Look, though, at the marvelous view and super-cute "Sleepless in Seattle" homes!!!
What a beautiful night...
You'd think that pumping out your own pooper on your boat would be penance enough. But no, we paid for this peaceful scenery, a good game of family "football at sundown" the next day.
Editors notes: Todd asked that I comment on the two sailboats that we are sort of "pacing" with - they are cruising all day, every day - and we are lolly gagging and meeting up with them every now and then. One of the sailboats is being powered by a 1981 9.9 hp evinrude. Yep, all you former Boy-scouts can appreciate that one. At one of the locks that we navigated, the guy was trying to start the engine but couldn't get it to go. Imagine yourself trying to get your leaf-blower, or weed-eater started. This guy was pulling on that cord.....Imagine trying to navigate these waters on an engine that's over 38 years old! We caught up to him at a fuel dock, and he was hand-filling what seemed like 10 gas cans of fuel and adding oil.. It was the least I could do to take him over some of our fresh-cut Watermelon. :-)
and this:
and dodging logs. Actually - dodging big 'ole trees that are floating - lots of them. Oh, and here's a game we like to play; will we fit under that bridge? Uhm.....
On a river that is trafficked primarily by commercial barges, we feel tolerated at best. In "our" world (the Great Lakes) - channel 16 on the radio is reserved for the Coast Guard and signals of distress - serious business only - and they will jump on and remind you should you forget and "chat". Here, as best we can ascertain, 16 is for everyone. 14 is supposed to be for locks and barges and 13 for bridges. Mularkey. We have found that 14 is definitely for locks (thanks for the consistency, Army Corps of Engineers...haha) and that bridges and anyone wanting to chat follow 16, and no one uses 13. We have hailed a LOT of bridges on 13 (thanks again, silly guide book we bought) and no one responded. But they have answered us when we have hailed on 16 and asked - hey - what's the bridge at? It's *really* hard to gauge how tall you are, especially when you are facing down a railroad bridge. Who's likely to win that battle? The bridge. Every.time. Handsome Todd battles the current while I go out on the bow and say "I think we got this one, honey", or "oh crap, I'm just not sure" and we go under - holding our breath (as if that's going to help), and.....it's not even close - we have so.much.room it's embarrassing.
Looks close, right?
Todd. I've already said he's amazing in so many ways. He doesn't disappoint on this adventure. He navigated the river with aplomb. (Wow!! I've always wanted to use that word!) And we arrived at the Joliet wall. Here we met our first "loopers". We are "loopers" and we met the rest of our "gang". A few notes. Loopers are all sorts. Some are retired couples; some are boat salesmen who are delivering boats, some are solo, and some are families. Loopers are powerboats, sailboats, and I have even heard of the odd kayak. At Joliet wall, we also discovered that once the word is out that you have good beer on board, the male loopers will congregate at your boat to "talk" at about happy hour. I seriously thought we had enough beer on board until Alabama. We're in Illinois, and he's 3/4 through his rations. What a giving soul. "-) No one was interested in my home-made bread at all. What sort of world is this????
Ever want to get the passing of time in perspective? Hand knead some bread. 10 minutes seems really, really long. Ask your personal trainer at the gym to hand-knead some bread. Sheesh.
In addition to there being a really really awesome playground at the Joliet wall, we met a crew that was going down the river in a relatively "fast" fashion, so we joined the "flotilla" (that's boat-speak for a group of boats). Ray had done this portion of the loop numerous times delivering boats for his customers, so we joined up with him and another of his clients, a man driving his Sabre down to Florida for the winter. Sabres are soooo pretty. Look 'em up. I dare you.
We were last in line in this food chain, and that was ok. We learned a lot going through some of the most painful locks. Dresden Lock wasn't ready for us, so we ended up over-nighting at Harborside Marina. Todd and I have never been told to "go ahead and do the pump out yourselves". But we donned our biggest, bad-est gloves and did it! No obstacle going to keep this family down! Look, though, at the marvelous view and super-cute "Sleepless in Seattle" homes!!!
What a beautiful night...
You'd think that pumping out your own pooper on your boat would be penance enough. But no, we paid for this peaceful scenery, a good game of family "football at sundown" the next day.
Editors notes: Todd asked that I comment on the two sailboats that we are sort of "pacing" with - they are cruising all day, every day - and we are lolly gagging and meeting up with them every now and then. One of the sailboats is being powered by a 1981 9.9 hp evinrude. Yep, all you former Boy-scouts can appreciate that one. At one of the locks that we navigated, the guy was trying to start the engine but couldn't get it to go. Imagine yourself trying to get your leaf-blower, or weed-eater started. This guy was pulling on that cord.....Imagine trying to navigate these waters on an engine that's over 38 years old! We caught up to him at a fuel dock, and he was hand-filling what seemed like 10 gas cans of fuel and adding oil.. It was the least I could do to take him over some of our fresh-cut Watermelon. :-)
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