9/13/15 – 9/23/15        Hammond IN. to the Mississippi River at Grafton, IL.

9/13/15                        Joliet, IL.

On leaving Hammond, we headed into the Calumet River and Sag Channel, which took us into the ‘Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal’. This canal was built to take all sanitary waste from Chicago away from Chicago and down into the Illinois and Mississippi River and to the Gulf of Mexico. This is to prevent any from getting into Lake Michigan which provides all of the drinking water for the area.

Entering the Calumet River

This is where we started to run into the many barges we encountered on our way. The one below can actually lower and raise its pilot house when it needs to get under the bridges.  

Pilot house at the back can hardly be seen

We believe these are part of the Sanitary Treatment Centers release of treated waters into the Canal.

 

We went through an electrified section of waterway that is supposed to kill the Asian Carp in the canal so that they cannot get any farther north and into the Great Lakes. When we went through this area we had to wear our life jackets. I guess they need to be able to pull your dead butt out of the water if you fall overboard.

We went through the Lock and Dam which was the end of the Canal and that put us into the Des Plains River and our first stop, Joliet. We tied up to the wall here and enjoyed a peaceful night. Joliet had a Casino but no one went over since it is not advisable to walk around after dark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/14/15            - 9/15/15          Ottawa IL.

We traveled another 15 miles down/across the Des Plains River to where the Kankekee and Des Plains Rivers merge and form the Illinois River. These rivers were not very wide and basically uninhabited due to repeated flood waters. Check out this community along the river.

 

We made our stop at the Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottowa, IL. This was a nice place and we stayed 2 nights. We also met a lot of loopers here in our 2 days. We also saw our first Asian Carp jumping out of the water.  I wasn’t able to get a picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9/16/15 - 9/17/15         Peoria IL

This section of the Illinois River started to show signs of life. We passed some homes and other buildings. This was an 80 mile trip.

Note the stilts on this one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also passed what looked to be a Riverboat graveyard and then some birds just resting on a sandbars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we headed into Peoria, IL, we were surprised at the size of the town.

 

The waterfront area was very nice and they were setting up for some celebration on the week-end, which we didn’t stay for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And they have their own paddle wheeler the  ‘Spirit of Peoria’.

 

We did go to the Caterpillar Museum since we have caterpillar 3208 motors. It was pretty cool.  Mostly it was about the machines they build, but they did talk some about the motors. You could actually get into some of the simulated equipment and try to run it. I took pity on them and didn’t try it!

 

I noticed that the Asian Carp stayed close to the piers and you wouldn’t even know they were there until a boat got close. Then, they jumped like crazy. You could never guess which way they would go. But I finally got a picture of a dumb one that jumped onto the pier just as we were leaving.

 

9/18/15                                    Beardstown IL

This was another long trip of 75 miles. We are travelling at about 10 miles and hour, so it was a long and rainy day on the water. I didn’t take much in pictures of our ride.

 

Our destination for the night was at the ‘Logsden Tug Service barge’. We shared this dockage with one other boat. This was definitely a no frills tie-up. 

 

 

9/19/15                                    Hardin IL

This was another long day of 67miles. Along the way we saw what appeared to be the remnants of an early times river Cruise Ship.

 

We also passed a couple of car ferries taking people and their vehicles from one shore to the other. Nothing fancy here, just a barge with a tug making the tow!

 

 A beautiful day on the Illinois River.

 

Our destination for the night was the Illinois Riverdock Restaurant. They offered free dockage with the purchase of a meal, which we thought was a good deal. We called them and they welcomed us to use the dock. But they had a fire and were not open. There was no one there but us.

 

9/20/15 – 9/23/15        Grafton IL

This was a very short day, only 21 miles. This was to be our last stop on the Illinois River since it merges into the Mississippi just below Grafton. On the way we were seeing a number of houses on very high stilts like the one below. We also saw a couple more ferries, including one right at Grafton.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grafton was a pretty neat town, with lots of eateries and antique stores. It also had lots of “Wineries”! As we pulled into the ‘Grafton Harbor’ we could see all kinds of places to check out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a bike ride into town and it was a quaint little place. It had a vintage hotel and Saloon that contained a solid oak bar shipped from Bavaria in 1904. The hotel is still in business and is reputed to be haunted by a little girl who likes dogs. We also had a very nice dinner there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We met a Gold Looper (completed the loop) at the marina, which was his home port. He asked us where all we had been and if we had been up to the ‘Aerie’s Riverview Winery and Cottages’. We had not since it is almost straight uphill, so he suggested we go and have drinks. We did and the view was remarkable.

Grafton Harbor from above

Illinois River on left Mississippi on right

Missouri across the river

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am really getting behind since we are having issues with our internet connection and most of the marinas connections aren’t fast enough to upload my pictures.

Hopefully, I can get up shortly. But check in again next week.