Year 2 Day 159

Today is Tuesday, September 5th and after a very long day (almost 10 hours) we stopped alongside a barge near the town of Beardstown, Illinois.  There is no marina here and no town dock but for $1.00 per foot, they'll let you park overnight tied up to this barge.  Since we have no power, we're running the generator for awhile to cool the boat down and as Mike doesn't like to run it overnight, we'll have to do with fans.

We ended up spending two days at Ottawa parked at the dock due to the remnants of Hurricane Isaac causing rain and higher winds than we like. The first night we were parked there, at about 9:00 PM, I heard a boat outside and went to check it out.  It was a trawler coming in very late as they were held up 5 hours at the last lock due to barge traffic.  Since they had noplace to go, they asked us if they could raft up to us and of course we said yes. 

Wind Song rafted next to Queen Kathleen

 As it turned out, we probably could have left on Sunday as Wind Song did because it cleared up later in the day but to be on the safe side, we stayed.  Mike and I went to church and then to breakfast.  Later we went to the movies and saw Hope Springs with Meryl Streep and really did enjoy it.

We left Monday morning and went as far as Hamm's Marina near Peoria.  This wasn't much of a marina but at least we had power.  The one amazing thing we noticed was  across from the marina entrance there must have been hundreds of white pelicans sitting on the shore.  I was amazed as one of the things I enjoyed so much in the fall at Rockport, TX was the number of white pelicans down there for the winter.  They are simply gorgeous!

Hard to see but there are hundreds

of white pelicans lined up on the shore

6:30 AM leaving Hamm's Marina

White Pelicans leaving too

Pelicans flying off through the haze

This is what boredom does - Kathy

practicing some old kickboxing class movements

It was a very long day today and the Illinois River is not very interesting.  It's pretty but there's not much to see along the way except the occasional barge and tow.

Paddleboat parked at Peoria

We have another long day tomorrow where we'll stop at Grafton, MO and this is where we'll have to say good-bye to Carl and Ricki as they'll be heading back home to West Virginia.  Mike and I will be renting a car and traveling to St. Louis where I hope to visit with a cousin and also to visit my mom's grave.  I think we'll be there at least 3-4 days before heading south again.