Grafton-Grand Haven - May 16-31

 Good thing we like Grafton, Illinois!  Due to the rainy, windy weather, we ended up staying at Grafton Harbor Marina for 4 nights. Our down time was spent cleaning the boat - inside and out (washing off the Mississippi River grunge), re-provisioning, giving Steve a much needed haircut, and enjoying the fun, yummy restaurants in town. A short walk from the boat is the Grafton SkyTour which is a scenic aerial-lift. We rode the chairlift up to the top where we had amazing views from the Aerie's Resort and Winery of where the Mississippi River and the Illinois River join. Our ride back down was on the gondola. 

On Wednesday it was time to begin traveling the Illinois River. Due to the recent rains and flooding we had to once again constantly dodge huge logs as we fought the current. Some areas along the river had massive stockpiles of logs and debris jammed everywhere.  After traveling 96 miles we pulled behind Bar Island and dropped the hook for the night. Early Thursday morning we were back on log watch as we traveled 79 miles to Peoria. That night we anchored out in a bay across from town and took the dinghy in for a spectacular dinner of pulled pork and brisket at The Blue Duck BBQ Tavern. We anchored out 2 more nights along the river before popping out into Lake Michigan - 6:30 Sunday evening. It was cold, windy and we were tired! We pulled into Hammond Marina and tied up to the 1st dock we came to. For the 3rd time in our boating career we were thrilled to be done with locks, bridges, tows, barges, and logs on the rivers!  

Chicago!  On Monday, we left Hammond Marina and cruised over to DuSable Marina located downtown Chicago where we stayed for 2 nights.  Tuesday was Sheli's 60 birthday and what a fun birthday it was! After walking into the city for a fabulous birthday breakfast, we took off on the dinghy for a cruise thru downtown on the Chicago River. Coming in from Lake Michigan we had to pass thru the Chicago Harbor Lock at Navy Pier - a drop of 4 feet!  It was so fun to putz along while taking in all the high rise buildings and their impressive architecture. Later in the afternoon we walked over to Navy Pier to enjoy the rides and some famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. 

On Wednesday, it was time to head to Michigan. We had an absolutely gorgeous day to cross from Chicago to New Buffalo. About 5 miles out from New Buffalo we stopped and swam. It felt so good to swim in the clean and clear (non-salt) waters of Lake Michigan. Once again the weather turned windy and cold so we spent 3 nights at the New Buffalo Municipal Marina. On Saturday, we left New Buffalo with thoughts of Saugatuck as our next stop, however Lake Michigan did not cooperate and beat us up pretty good, so we only traveled 29 miles and stopped in St Joseph where we tied to their city wall. By the next morning, the winds died down and so did Lake Michigan so we had a nice cruise up to Saugatuck. We anchored out just off the lake in the Saugatuck Channel and had a lovely last evening before our final leg.  On Monday, 4 weeks after beginning this trek, we cruised 30 miles and pulled into Keenan Marina by noon. 

After 3-1/2 years and 7820 miles PV2 is back in Grand Haven. What a ride!!!!!!

Grafton-heading up on the chairlift 

Heading down on the gondola 

Check out the debris and log build up!

Maneuvering tows and barges into the lock.
Waiting to enter after they are tied off.

Tucked in the lock surrounded by barges and tows.

Powerful water released from lock

Tied off to a barge in a lock. Yikes!

Chicago here we come!

Beautiful Lake Michigan!

Dinghy Captain for the day.

On our way to the Chicago River 

Locking thru with the dinghy 

Downtown architecture 

60 is fabulous!

Our view of Navy Pier from our slip

Hello Grand Haven! We’re back!

Mississippi River - May 14-15

The mighty Miss. We are once again traveling upstream, fighting the current. Besides the current we must constantly dodge logs and sometimes trees coming at us. What a ruckus.  We sure don’t want any of those in our props.  Then on top of that there are the tows pushing 10-20 barges.  After pushing upstream for 51 miles we stopped for fuel in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. (This is where Rush Limbaugh was born)  We had contacted Kidd Oil Company that morning and scheduled for Charlie Brown (yes really) to meet us at his fuel dock. The dock is actually a 50 foot barge where they pumped fuel from a tanker truck on the other side of the flood wall. Another 1st time experience for us. Once fueled up we continued for 66 miles where we turned up the Kaskaskia River, proceeded 1/4 mile and tied up to the lock wall for the evening after getting permission from the lock master. At dusk we were entertained by chorus of howling coyotes. The first mate thought they sounded a lot like the captain when he tries to sing!  The captain claimed they were applauding our 12 hour, 165 mile day.

Saturday, May 15 after another 50 miles of fighting the current it was time for fuel again. We stopped at the legendary Hoppies to top off the tanks. After topping off the first tank, Sheli asked the attendant how he could tell how much fuel we were getting as the pump still showed zero. That caused a panic on his end. After lots of stomping around, we came to a consensus that we would have to rely on our onboard fuel meters to complete the purchase.  Over the next 60 miles we locked up twice. We were fortunate to only have to wait 1/2 hour at the Chain of Rocks Lock, but at the Mel Price Lock we had to wait 3 hours as they had to lock thru 2 upbound tows ahead of us. Commercial tows/barges have locking priority over recreational vessels however the lock masters are required to lock any waiting pleasure craft every 3rd lock.  After our 110 mile day, we pulled in at Grafton Harbor Marina. We are now off the Mississippi River and on the Illinois River.

Pulling up to barge for fuel

Cape Girardeau, Missouri fuel stop

Typical Tow pushing barges

Passing by the St Louis Arch