
Today saw our next to the last day on the lower Illinois River--Only one more day to the Mississippi!
But wait. What happened to yesterday? Yesterday was a project day. I cleaned the boat's exterior, removed and gave away fender holders which sadly blocked too much of our forward view, fueled Katahdin and pumped her holding tank, and futilely tried to resurrect Katahdin's horn which has an apparent air pump problem in a place that's impossible to reach. Jackie organized, ordered and stored away groceries, went bird watching in the park, and broke in a number of our appliances to make delicious biscuit, bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches. We rewarded ourselves with a drink and dinner at the IVY Club where we met four loopers looking to finish their loop by the end of the month. Of course, to go out to dinner, the Admiral insisted that I trim my nascent beard for the first time. Whaddaya think?

And she just looks good even without trimming her beard!

This morning, sunrise caught us shortly after leaving the marina--cruising with our nav lights on for the first time. With a notoriously slow lock and dredging ahead of us, we figured on an 8 hour day though at the end, it only required six.

The first ten miles took us past Peoria whose downtown, museum and bridges we had explored over the past couple of days. She shows off well from the water--even her power plant!



Not far below the City, we encountered the Peoria Lock and Dam. Arriving there before 8:00 and with no other boats moving down, we had the lock all to ourselves and the lock master offered us the option to "float" it. What you say, who'd want to sink it? But, in fact, floating it means that you don't have to tie up which often entails fending off first one end of the boat and then the other as currents and breezes push you around as you are lowered down (this happens because you are tied to a single floating bollard midship and you pivot around that point). We jumped on the opportunity to float which enabled the Admiral to sit down on the job while I occasionally engaged forward and reverse along with the bow and stern thrusters.


Although plenty of industrial facilities and tugs and barges dot the landscape south of Peoria, natural areas comprised by far the largest percentage of what we saw today.

Though we didn't capture photos, we probably saw a dozen bald eagles--mostly immatures but a couple of adults, numerous Osprey, a few egrets, and more.

Not surprisingly, given the vibrant beauty of the river and its banks, the occasional campground, fishing camp, and boat launch interrupted the otherwise undeveloped waterfront.

After a day or two of not much helm time, the Admiral jumped back in. She's becoming a great helmsman, was already a good navigator, and she particularly enjoys the long undeveloped stretches.

I stuck this next picture in just because I like it.

And here we are for the night! A place we chose for its scenic delight--not for its convenience or because it was the only place in the middle of 200 miles. Gosh, did I maybe get that backwards? In any event, the Logsdon Tug folks are great. They helped us tie up to their barge and cash payment only is on the honor system. Tonight will be our first without shore power or shore water. We'll give the generator a work out and draw down some of our preciously hoarded water. And while our "tie up" is industrial, the beach in the background extends more than a half a mile and, even though it's nearly the end of the first week in October, is attracting boaters, swimmers, and other beach goers.

After about 90 miles tomorrow, we'll dip our toes in the Mississippi. We're going to get the hang of this!
Turns out it’s Logsdon Tug, one of our reference sources had it wrong. We’re tied up to one of their barges—very clean surface which is nice—not tracking grease, oil, etc onto KATAHDIN. Yes, you can get off and walk the streets of Beardstown. With 5,000 people, town was very small and quiet on a late Saturday afternoon. It made me wonder what people would have thought of Winthrop where we grew up—population 3500 at that time.
Beard looks good. It'll be interesting to see what the currents are like where the Illinois and Mississippi come together. Or the Mississippi and Missouri, for that matter.
wow oh wow - love hearing all about the boating and land adventures. Thanks for keeping us posted on birds you meet along the way and I am a big fan of the great pictures illustrating the fab travel prose. And how about that Rascal? I know he may be too busy sunning and sleeping but let us know when you can how he fares asea :-)