Mississippi Leaking

Yesterday we said goodbye to the Illinois River and hello to the mighty Mississippi!  We are in Missouri now.  We planned to continue our 218 mile journey down the Mississippi tomorrow, but you know what "they" say about plans...  The Chain of Rocks Lock, one of two we need to go thru, sprung a leak a couple of days ago so it may be several days before we can continue south.  We're moving tomorrow to Alton IL, only about 18 miles but much closer to the locks.  In Alton we'll be poised to get going when the lock has been repaired (and commercial traffic has cleared).

Leaving the marina, downtown Peoria IL.



Tree roots exposed in low water on the Illinois River

Another abandoned lock in the Illinois River

A common sight on the Illinois, barges tied to the river bank

Sunset from our anchorage along the Illinois River above Big Blue Island

As the light disappears, a tow passes our anchorage

Most of the cottages along the Illinois were elevated many feet above ground.
However, low water rather than flooding is the concern now.

A shipwreck along a rocky bank of the Illinois River



Our first view of the Mississippi River

 



Simple instructions to the Port Charles MO marina...  Take the cut between Island
521 and Enterprise Island, head towards the big yellow boat, then head back
downstream and look for the second entrance on the right.

 

When Nature Attacks, or, Kamikaze Carp

We arrived yesterday in Dave's hometown, Peoria IL.  We rented a car to visit some of his old haunts and do a little shopping.  Although beautiful, the IL canals and rivers have already turned MAIA's bow a light brown, which reminds us of home on the Chesapeake Bay...

Back to last Friday - we finally exited Lake Michigan thru downtown Chicago and spent the night in Joliet.  On Saturday we anchored behind Sheehan Island near Ottawa IL.  On Sunday we traveled to the small town of Henry IL - as we arrived we passed a goose fight, one was trying to drown the other.  It's something new every day!

Yesterday on the way to Peoria we laughed at the Asian Carp jumping like crazy out of the water.  To be honest, I used to be skeptical of the stories about the fish jumping onto boats, but, no more!  Check out the photo below!  Tomorrow we continue down the Illinois River...

We're about to enter the Chicago Harbor Lock with the blue tug.
It's the first of eight locks in Illinois.

Chicago is beautiful even on this rainy morining.

A railroad bridge on the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal

Barges moored in the canal

We passed thru the electric barrier designed to keep Asian
Carp out of the Great Lakes

A tug with a hydraulic lift allowing the captain to raise and
lower the pilot house

In the Dresden Lock on the Illinois River.  Dave
and I have finally learned to communicate with
headsets that some call "marriage savers," much
nicer than screaming

Our anchorage near Ottawa IL at Buffalo Rock

At Henry Harbor we tied to the crumbling wall of an abandoned
lock built in 1872.  Our lines were tied to a metal ring, a pole and
various tree roots.

We waited for the fog to lift before leaving the old lock
(view up river)

The view down river.

Yes, it's true, this Asian Carp propelled itself from the water
onto MAIA's stern deck!

In the middle right, a flying carp.

In the quite narrow channel of Upper Peoria Lake, we passed
the tug DALE A. HELLER pushing 17 barges.

 

I'm Going Back to Indiana

We didn't quite make it to Chicago on MAIA, opting for the very close and inexpensive marina in Hammond IN.  There's not much here but industry, trains galore, Walmart and a casino.  And a lot of spiders.

We took a day trip to downtown Chicago by train, what a place!  On Friday we'll cruise thru downtown and start down the rivers towards Peoria IL (where Dave was born).  It'll take a week or so and we'll be in St. Louis.

Here are the photos...

The ALPENA arrived the night before and we followed her
out in the a.m. as she backed out of St. Joseph harbor, being too
large to turn around, into Lake Michigan.

Michigan City IN has the largest marina I'd ever seen,
500 slips.  Until we arrived at Hammond with 918 slips...

From Michigan City to Hammond IN, the south shore of
Lake Michigan is steel and other heavy manufacturing.

The Bean in Chicago's Millenium Park.



A view of the ghostly Chicago skyline from our marina in
Hammond IN

Some of Chicago's diverse waterfront architecture.

Dave chooses the pictures... I think this is the DuSable Bridge

We took a boat tour featuring Chicago's waterfront architecture



The Wrigley Building.



Locals refer to this as the "Corn Cob" building.
It looks straight out of the Jetsons.  Vehicles
back into the garage spaces on the lower floors.



The "L" with one of the "Corn Cob" buildings behind at right
(there are two)