Oh MY- The Big Muddy

It's raining in Missouri/Illinois/Kentucky. I know I will not get much sympathy from our friends in Texas, where it is still 100 degrees plus in late September. But it is wet on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Grand rivers they are. These limestone cliffs tower above the Mississippi near Alton, Illinois just before the Missouri meets the Mississippi. Look how calm the water is.

Well a spring and summer of record rains and last winter snows have flooded the Missouri and when we met it just above St. Louis, hang on. The Mississippi took on another whole different and uglier character, with lots of debris, whirlpools, 4+ knot currents, and muddy, muddy water. It has been quite a ride for 4 days down the river, and at noon today we met the Ohio and turned left.

The Ohio is no slacker itself and it is bringing a ton of water down from the Appalachians, right on our nose. So what we liked about running down with the current on the Mississippi, we hated as we fought our way up the Ohio into a 2-3 kt. current. The rain started yesterday afternoon, all last night, and really hard all day today. Lots of lightning and thunder to make our journey interesting on the Ohio.

These rivers are not really for our kind of boat, ie the "pleasure craft". That is what the Tow captains call us, "pleasure craft". There are no marinas, and damn few good places to anchor for the night, safely out of the current and these huge barges. One of these photos is 10 Looper boats (pleasure craft) tied to a lock wall just off the Mississippi. We travel in packs for safety and because we all have to stop at the same places. Like I said, there are not alot of choices.

So as we traveled through, and could not stop in St. Louis, because there is no place to stop, I am talking to the Tow boat captains who are pushing these massive groups of barges. My goal: simply let them know where I am and ask them where do they want me to go as I get near them. "Northbound Tow, this is a southbound pleasure craft at Hanging Dog Bluff. Where would you like me to pass, Captain? Then you listen closely as a good ole boy from Louisiana, with marbles in his mouth, tells you, " Yea, I see you... I'll see you on the two." I answer, "Ok Captain, thank you, and we'll see you on the two."

That is river jargon telling me that he wants me to pass him on his starboard, and my starboard. Now I know how to stay out of his way and pass by this huge tow pushing 36 barges, 6 wide and 6 deep, full of some material instrumental to our country's need. They call it a tow, but its actually pushing these barges up or down the river with unbelievable skill. These guys are good in handling these massive loads, in fast currents. The tow boat itself is 150 ft long, with two sets of crew so they can run 24/7 and two to three massive diesel engines generating over 6000 horsepower. Watching these guys push and manage a load up river is quite a site.

So in a typical 10 hour run like today, we passed maybe 20 tows, and managed to safely dodge them all. Tomorrow we will finish another 20 miles on the Ohio, and run up the Cumberland River into Lake Barkley. It is connected right by the dam to Lake Kentucky which is actually the Tennessee River. These two rivers have been damned at their junction with the Ohio to form these two beautiful lakes in western Kentucky. And the land between the two lakes is...wait for it....The Land Between the Lakes State Park, which is truly one of the prettiest parks in the country. The leaves are turning and hopefully the weather will turn nice, once it stops raining. So we will spend a month exploring The Land Between the Lakes. Marc

The Mighty Mississippi

Grafton Illinois is at the junction of the Illinois River and the Mississippi, just 25 miles straight north of St. Louis, MO. It is dawn and we are about to take Rock Chalk out into the Mississippi for the first time. Just wanted to post some great photos of our last night on the Illinois. Fall is here, as we have had some lows in the 30's and you can see that in some of the trees.

Huge flocks of geese, white pelicans, blue herons, egrets, and even a few bald eagles, are all forming up in big V's to head south. So are the boaters. There were 12 Looper boats here in Grafton yesterday who all headed down the River. I know of 5 that are leaving along with us this morning. Kentucky here we come.

Back on the Water

The above is the ugliest nastiest fish I have ever seen. The Asian Carp has invaded the Upland River system, and its a wonder how? They are really a dumb fish. Boat motors drive them to a frenzy where they jump at or onto the boat. This guy above jumped 4 feet into the air and scored a direct landing in our dinghy. There he proceeded to flop around for close to an hour. Their skin immediately starts to bleed so that splatters blood all over, along with their scales and really offensive odor. All in all a very yucky fish.

We are back on Rock Chalk and headed down the Illinois River to the Mississippi. We enjoyed our 13 day US tour of kids and grandkids in Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. Plus we had a chance to catch up with family in Austin, while avoiding the wildfires. But both Shelley and I were ready to get back on the boat and continue our adventure.

The Illinois runs southwest from Lake Michigan until it flows into the Mississippi just above St. Louis. Most of the waterway for the last 50 miles have been protected migratory waters for hundreds of bird species. The above photo is one group of white pelicans. There were thousands of these guys, and they were all grouping up to head south. Birds and Boaters, we are all headed south. It was 37 two nights ago, and some of the trees are just starting to show some color.

There are lots of towboats and their massive barges on the Illinois. These guys rule the water, and its my job to stay out of their way. It's fun to talk to the tow captains on the radio as they all have deep southern accents. These tows push up to 15 barges (3 wide and 5 deep) at a time from the Gulf of Mexico to Chicago. They run 24/7 with two sets of crew on each tow, so they alternate 6 hours on and 6 off. The biggest problem is that these guys have priority in the locks. So if one is in front of you, you anchor and wait. Today we waited 4 hours at the Peoria Lock before we could finally lock down.

But who is in a hurry right? Right.

Austin Wild Fires

It's this dry in Austin. Its drier than a Popcorn _____. Well, you know. Shelley and I left Rock Chalk in Ottawa, Illinois last Saturday and flew into Austin to surprise my brother in law, Mark Rolland, for his 60th birthday party. It worked. He was very surprised when we walked into the party. We had a great time with Mark and Gayle and all their friends, which is exactly how Mark wanted to celebrate the big 60. Yikes we are getting old.

Then the wildfires started in Austin and many of our friends and family had to evacuate their homes because of them. Luckily no one we know lost their house, but close to 500 homes were burned in the greater Austin area. Very sad for those folks. Even Gov. Parry came back from the campaign trail to make sure he was in charge. Did I mention that it is dry?

Shelley and I are taking a break from the boat to see her folks, the kids and the grandkids in Austin, Kansas City, and Los Angeles. One of the negatives of doing the Great Loop is that you miss family and friends over the year or so it takes to complete the Loop. So this was a needed break. Thanks to great fall fares on American, we can do a whirlwind tour of the three cities, then fly back to Chicago in mid September to carry on down the Illinois.

So if you do not see a blog update, that is why. Kids/Grandkids vs. blog. Kids/Grandkids win. Love to all of them.

Marc

Photos of Chicago

Had to add these photos to the last blog.

Chicago-the End of one Adventure and the start of another

I really like Chicago....in the summer, I might add. Probably not in winter. We had perfect weather which makes it nice. We left yesterday and are southwest down the Illinois River 50 miles inland, and it is 20 degrees warmer in the daytime than on Lake Michigan. It is 10 degrees warmer for the overnight low. Yikes, are we getting close to that 105 degrees of Texas? I think we better slow down, and let fall catch us.

Shelley and I had 5 days in Chicago and enjoyed it all. We got a chance to see my old friend Lauren Hogan, his wife Joyce, and son Brett. That was really fun to see them all and catch up. Lauren and I were roommates in law school and for several years afterward in Wichita, but life took him to Chicago. Snap forward 24 years, he and Joyce have two children, Brett (24) and Sammie (21), plus his folks now live in Chicago. It was really a great time seeing them.

I cannot say enough how much we enjoyed walking the waterfront of Chicago with its 15 mile long bike and walking path along the lakeshore. We went to the Field Museum of Natural History, which is world renowed. Shelley set a land speed record for touring it. We also saw the Shedd Aquarium, the Planetarium, top of the Willis (Sears) Tower, and took the architechual tour of downtown by boat. The latter was very interesting and anyone who visits Chicago, should not miss it. You travel by tour boat up and down the river through all of downtown, with a docent giving you the history and background of Chicago's buildings. Many of the greatest companies in this country started here and built edifices to their legacy. Fascinating.

Our marina was right off the Navy Pier, at the junction of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. It was helpful to have taken the boat tour of downtown, as that is the exact route that we took Rock Chalk through yesterday morning. We left early and locked through the first lock off Lake Michigan, and slowly worked our way through the Loop, avoiding the water taxis. Once we were out of the Loop it was all barge traffic. That part of Chicago and Illinois state is not so pretty. Doesn't smell very good either. Oil, Gas, hydrogen, flameable liquids, gravel, cement, asphalt, coal, grains of all types, and anything else that moves by barge is stored along the river. Smelly!! We aren't in Canada anymore, Toto.

I spent the day talking to tow boat captains as we avoided getting run down, and made it to just south of Joliet. The barges are 35 ft wide and 200 ft. long each. We have already seen two wide and three deep barge fleets being pushed by one massive towboat. These guys travel the rivers from the Gulf and they are good. Just stay out of their way and talk to them to let them know where you are.

It is the start of a whole new adventure. Marc