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Published: September 21st 2016
Since it has been a few days, I know this post is going to be long, so I have tried to divide it up a bit (photos will have to follow as we have poor connection right now...)
Sept 16 – 18
Well, it has been almost a week since our last post, and I know a few people have been asking where we are.
On Friday, Sept 16, we made our way from Joliet down to Henry IL. It was a calm trip; the biggest waves we experience are the wakes from other boats passing as we coast along. It seems like a lot of boats cruise much quicker than our 6.5 - 8 knots. Some of these are moving 8+ knots but burning 8+ gallons an hour! We have been able to often coast on idle and still run 6.5 knots, using 0.3 gallons an hour. So we are happy to just follow their wake.
On Friday evening, we found a beautiful state park just across the river from Marseilles, IL that had a little public dock. We spent a peaceful evening, sharing a little inlet with a white crane. In the morning, since we
were docked, I was able to step on land and take a nice run through the woods. While we enjoy stopping in towns to sightsee, it is refreshing to be able to spend time in more secluded, peaceful areas. Definitely one of the highlights of traveling by boat, you have so many options.
Leaving Marseilles at 7:00 am on Saturday, we soon arrived at the lock at Starved Rock. In the end the early start did not get us very far, we ended up waiting at the lock for 4 hours. By the time we were ready to enter the lock, a number of the boats we had travelled with the day before had all congregated around us. While waiting, we had a chance to chat with another couple doing the “Great Loop” (the name of the route we are taking).
They immediately began asking about the boat, what make it was. When Lukus explained that he had built the boat from keel up, the man said “Oh, it’s YOU.” Turned out, they had already heard about us. Apparently, there is word out that there is a couple doing the loop on a steel boat that the guy
built himself. Story is that he is a welding teacher and an underwater welder. A little inaccurate, he is a welder and diver, but hasn’t welded underwater. It shows how stories can become a little distorted, but it isn’t too far fetched.
I joked later, that for all his efforts to be private and low-key, not even three weeks into our journey Lukus is already notorious.
After passing through the lock, we travelled about 40 miles to Henry, IL where we anchored for the night and took the dinghy across the river for a nice little dinner. We were off again by 7:00am on Sunday. I think this is the longest we have ever gone without sleeping in in years!
Sept 18 – 21
By Sunday afternoon, we were docked in a nice little riverside city called Peoria. While they have a number of marinas, we found a perfect city dock to tie up to. It was right in front of the Peoria riverfront park, and close to restaurants and shopping, so we decided to stay there for a few days.
As we pulled up to the dock, we could hear music coming from the
Oktoberfest
Closing in to the finishpark. So after we secured the boat, we climbed the ramp to find ourselves in the middle of their Oktoberfest celebrations (yes, Oktoberfest in September, but apparently, that is when it is celebrated in Germany).
After downing some great schnitzel and beer, I convinced Lukus to get up and polka (or maybe it was the beer that convinced him), and he danced the chicken dance for the first time in his life! Here I thought I was the one who was sheltered! Somehow, he was then roped into joining a beer stein holding competition. For those who don’t know what that is (that was me), it is exactly as it sounds; you hold a full, one litre beer stein straight in front of you for as long as you can. He made second place with a time of 4 minutes and 15 seconds. I don’t think I could have held out that long…that beer was too tempting! We met some great people through it all; everyone is so fascinated to hear about our adventure.
During the day, we also had another experience that highlighted the reward of simple faith and the good around us. Just before Lukus’ stage
debut for the competition, I noticed my phone was missing. It must have fallen out of my pocket somewhere along the way. One of the girls I just met began to panic and was trying to help me find out where the lost and found was. I, however, had thrown up a little prayer, and was more excited to see Lukus on stage. I reasoned that even if it was found, it would take a while for it to be taken to the lost and found, and, after all, it was only a phone. If it was lost, it was lost, getting upset would not help the situation. I think the girl was a little incredulous; might have even thought I was crazy…oh wait…
Not even five minutes later, as we stood at the side of the stage, I noticed a woman coming up to one of the event organizers standing a few feet away. In her hand was my phone. I quickly went up and let them know it was my phone. I enthusiastically thanked her for finding it, and they handed it over without a question. I guess my excitement bowled them over. After a hug and another thank you, I went back to watch Lukus sweat it out on stage.
On Monday, we had a full day; all on land! We pulled out our folding bikes for the first time on this trip and rode a few miles to the area Bass Pro Shop. I know these are all over, and I have been in one once before, but it was like stepping into a museum. I was enthralled. I could have probably spent half the day there. Our next stop was Walmart to provision up. We are getting pretty good at what I would call, “backpack tetris”. We filled $100 worth of groceries into two backpacks with some strapped on the back of the bikes.
After stashing our goods back on the boat, we headed over to the
Caterpillar Visitors Centre. While it may not sound all that exciting (a museum devoted to the history and production of Caterpillar machinery), I was as excited as any kid to climb in all the big equipment and to test out the simulator. I can say pretty confidently that a career as a heavy equipment operator is not in my near future.!
To refresh ourselves after all that hard work, we headed over to Martini’s on Water St. where they serve, you guessed it, martinis. No food, just martinis. Every kind imaginable. The ambience of Martini’s is fabulous, I had three drinks just because I wanted to continue soaking it up (the atmosphere, not just the martinis!). It is in an old train station built in the 1800’s, complete with stain glass windows, 35 foot ceilings and a beautiful 15 tall foot mahogany bar.
The following day, we took a nice bike ride along a riverside pathway and then throughout part of Peoria. After experiencing the eclectic and charming riverfront district, some of the areas we rode through offered a stark contrast. I realize in most cities and towns, there are run down areas, but the derelict state of the homes, streets, and sidewalks reflected an almost “post-apocalyptic” feel. It is a sobering reminder of how little some people have.
After our ride, I enjoyed a wonderful massage (Quite often Lukus wakes up at 2 or 3 in the morning and reflects. He woke up the night before and was reading through a magazine about Peoria and noticed they give massages at a sports complex nearby, so he decided he wanted to treat me to a massage; steering a boat for hours on end can be a real “pain” – literally!). We then headed to a quaint little Irish pub for a few nibblies and cold ones.
Once back on the boat, a fellow looper that Lukus had met earlier in the day popped over. We had heard earlier that there was another welder traveling the loop; turns out he was from Peterborough and also taught welding at a college. Small world! He, his wife and two children, ages 7 and 10, are traveling the same route as us, but in a 27 foot sailboat. In comparison to their set up, I feel like we are traveling in ultimate luxury, even though most boats doing “the loop” are more spacious then ours.
We enjoyed chatting with James, unfortunately, his wife and kids were already settled in for the night. I hope to meet them soon; I always enjoy some “kid time”.
This morning, we debated staying one more day because of the heat, but finally decided to head out. We travelled 40 miles to Havana, IL. Honestly, with some of these town names, I feel like we have traveled to many an exotic place already, passing by Joliet, Peru, Marseilles, Rome, Liverpool and now Havana.
We plan to stay the night, and perhaps staying the day tomorrow to explore. With the continual heat wave we are having (right now at 5:20pm, it is 33 in the boat), Lukus is not too eager right now to be heading south into even higher temps. So tonight, we are going to enjoy a nice steak dinner and try to find a way to stay cool.
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Capt. Robbo (Aka Jim)
non-member comment
River blog
Hi Emy, Your blogs (reports) are great. I look forward to reading them, keep them coming. I send these on to Gretchen who lives a couple of hours south of here and comes up to crew once a week which is when you met her on Washington Island. That wind generated waves from calm to 6' in 15 minutes according to one of the Ferry Captains I know. They call that a dramatic wind shift!