Down the Illinois River!

Leaving Chicago, I thought we were in for a relaxing ride down the river.  Since leaving, we went to a NASCAR pre-rally.  A NASCAR race.  A rooftop concert and a visit at Caterpillar plant.  We relaxed at a couple of marinas.

Well there is a multitude of bridges, lock type and hazards to get down the river.

Fixed bridge

Lift Bridge

Swing Bridge

Bascule Bridge

Electric fence to stop the jumping carp
from entering the Great Lakes

Some of the obstacles on the waterway.  Luc between a moving barge and 2 fixed barges.

We arrived in Joliet, IL. The town offers a free wall for transient boaters. It includes free electricity. We had a docktail with fellow Loopers in the park.  We are starting to meet up with boaters from previous stops.

Docktail in Joliet.

Free wall

Night view of the wall.

Walking into Joliet on our way to a restaurant, we found a car show, street concert and food vendors to celebrate the NASCAR on the weekend.  We grabbed a bite and a chair and enjoyed the show. We decided to wait for the Sunday race. 

         Pre Rally Car Show and live band.







It gave us time to enjoy the city more. Joliet used to be bigger then Chicago, but then they gravitated to Lake Michigan. While waiting for Sunday, we attended a rooftop concert at the Heritage Museum.  It was a great price.  Admission to the museum, free food, and a great live band for $10. All on a covered rooftop in the heart of downtown.

Sylvie chilling with the Blues Brothers

Popular Breakfast place.  This is on the old Route 66.

We often watched NASCAR races on TV and Dave is a great fan. We waited three days as we thought is was too good of an opportunity to miss out.  What an experience!

Look at us with all these people and our bench is empty.  Was it something we said?

Before we left, we had to tackle a little problem.  You can't stay in one place too long around here.  It took a couple of hours to untangle this mess around our boat.  Lesson learned.. park your nose up stream.

Stopped for a couple of days in Ottawa.  A beautiful marina/resort community.  The town is three miles down, and we didn't explore it much.  It's not like Canada's capital.  We mostly relaxed and cleaned the boat.

Heritage Harbor Marina

We moved on to Peoria. The ride was long and the river is low, so hazards are numerous.  But, less barges as there is a delay down river. In Peoria, we visited the Caterpillar Visitor Center.  Dave works for them, so seemed important to visit.  It was a fun place, loved the antiques and sitting in a Uke. We will stay here for several days as there is a problem with one of the locks and we don't want to risk at anchor for more then a few days.

Old Caterpillar logo.

Celebrating one month in by flying our Burgee. Look at the tire.

Part of a propellor for a ship.

Worth stopping!

Big Statue or I shrunk?

They are having a heat wave here. It's hot! It will be uncomfortable. Swimming is out of question around here for us. I'll give you an update once we complete the anchorages.

Here's our map so far.

Eat, Sleep, Boat, Repeat!