The Floating Stones

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 ...

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...

Recall that we left Muskegon, Michigan and crossed Lake Michigan to arrive in Chicago. I neglected to report that the pristine, clear, blue waters of Traverse City and environs were not to be found in Muskegon. The waters there were murky, and grey. I was doped up on Dramamine, so I don't know when they changed to blue again, but Chicago boasted blue waters. I can't say if they were crystal clear, though, since it was so choppy.  They actually had a sort of "water theme park" blue to them. So Todd and I wondered: if Chicago, a very large city of questionable, industrial habits (at least in years gone by) can have blue waters, what the heck is going on in Muskegon?? Or is it all a ruse, and Chicago is buying up the world's inventory of "water theme park blue" dye?  Since I'm trying to make nice-nice with Chicago in this post, we will just raise our eyebrows at Muskegon and await their response.  Another of our Chicago adventures I forgot to write abou...

If you live by the water, you know those wonderful times when the lake is "glass" and you can hear the boat (or wakeboard or skis) slicing through it. The reflections of the clouds overhead are a beautiful impressionist painting ; All is calm and the silence is so peaceful. That was NOT the case with our lake Michigan crossing this morning.  Thank goodness for children's dramamine, no one puked.  Since I couldn't find the adult dramamine, I helped myself to a good dose of the kiddos'.  This was after the waters calmed and the dramamine had fully kicked in. We arrived in Chicago a little earlier than anticipated since Todd pushed it pretty hard.  We choose a Marina within walking distance of the museums - also within walking distance of Soldier Field! The Bears were home and playing New Orleans Saints! What a tailgate extravaganza!! There were quite a few boats left in the marina and every one of them seemed to be having a party. We thought we might cra...

At long last, we are on our way!  Originally, this great adventure was to start on 10/05/2019.  A month beforehand, the boat was pulled out of the water for maintenance.  The boat hauler made a mistake and ended up bending the props.  EEK! Pretty important, props.  They are also pretty heavy and really large.  So Todd sent them off as stowaways on a semi to be repaired downstate.  In the meantime, it was also discovered that someone  may or may not have flushed marbles down the toilet at some unknown point in time.  The toilet on our boat runs via vacuum and pistons (don't think about it too much - it's gross).  ANYWAY, when there are marbles in there, vacuums don't seal and pistons can't move.   Also pretty important?  Toilets.  Especially when you're heading off on an 8 month excursion.  Et voila - our new departure date was 10/10.  Well, wouldn't you know it, but we have had the most bizarre and...

This year we put our boat in on May 1st.  I should say that Todd put the boat in the water;  all I did was swipe away a reminder on my calendar.  He did a wonderful job in the predictably rainy weather - he swears that not one launch day has been sunny and warm.  Our first adventure was that weekend;  after a safety check (thank goodness he thinks of such things - I was more concerned if my spices were still ok after overwintering in storage), we (us, the Littles and the dogs) were on our way for a dinner on "The Island".  Power Island is located in the middle of Grand Traverse Bay.  Our last trip there was on March 9th on our snowmobiles.  It had been one of those winters where the ice was sturdy enough for Northern Michiganders to deem it another venue for exploration.  We had a sled that Todd pulled behind his snowmobile full of firewood, hot cocoa, Tin Foil Dinner and the makings for S'mores.  We don't kid around.  After my pani...