6:00 a.m. Our two months on the rivers begin today. So exciting. Our two previous trips on the Hudson River and the Connecticut River convinced us that we could do this trip, and that we wanted to. Now here we are today about to begin. First the Chicago River.
We also begin the second phase of our trip, the Inland Rivers section. The first was the Great Lakes section, and the third is the East Coast section. It’s a trip through both “time” and “place”. The calendar is marked with places and the map is marked with dates. It really is a AAA map of towns, not a chart.
On this trip I’ve begun to realize that I need to face activities as “projects” with finite ends (like crocheting an afghan) rather than as the start of long, never ending experiences that I might get better at as I go along (like crocheting). This mind-set may help me feel more accomplished and less overwhelmed by the magnitude of everything that comes along. I have started a few crocheting projects and have learned several stitches. Now I’m ready to actually make something — a real project!
Blogging needs to feel like a project, too, rather than the ongoing obstacle it has become. It has been a challenge to keep up all along, but it gets even harder when we fall behind. It would be easier if I could figure out how to insert dates, instead of always having to write in chronological order. Once you miss a day or two, or a photo or two, and you get behind, you can’t catch up or start anew until you get those installed. I don’t like that system; it doesn’t work for me. I could write in random order (and I might have to eventually) but I know I wouldn’t like the end results. Today, however, I’ve decided to just start at “Chicago" and get back to “Wisconsin” later.
We had a wonderful time in Chicago, maybe one of the best times of my life. We spent eight days here, visiting life-long-friends who live here and spending time with other life-long-friends and our daughter, Lauren, who were visiting. Visiting to see us! Thank you! It was noticed and appreciated. Being on the boat made little difference in the city; it was a land-based experience with traffic, cross-walks, people, big buildings, taxis, the el, restaurants, sports and over-stocked stores. Brian has been here many times, but this is the first time he ever explored the city and learned his way around.
We got the boat washed and waxed while in Racine and had new screen doors installed while in Chicago. She looks great and we’re ready for any onslaught of bugs.
10:00 a.m. Past the Chicago River, into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
We have left behind the glamour of the city, the beauty of the lakes, and the isolation of the North Channel. The Chicago River, right through the heart of the city, was breathtaking. I waved to unsuspecting commuters as they walked over the bridges that we were going under. A few of the men waved back.
The first thing we did today was lock through the Chicago Harbor Lock, number 76 for us. Only a three-foot drop and uneventful. Fifty bridges today, half of them within the city, the other half out in the suburbs and boonies on the way to Joliet. The riverfront in Chicago is high-end, but out here it’s where U-Haul stores the trucks and the gravel is off-loaded from the barges. It’s even a little smelly from time to time. It’s no longer a river; it’s a man-made cut-through called the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that joins the Chicago River with the Illinois River. The Des Plaines River is in here somewhere, too.
We had an excellent lunch of left-over brisket from Chicago, spicy homemade bbq sauce from Little Current, and fresh buns. At this point we are fully stocked and have a little more than two months to eat everything in the fridge, freezer and pantry before leaving the boat in dry-dock for the winter.
There are big barges traveling on this canal/river and semi-trucks crawling on the highway bridge above us.
5:00 p.m. Tied onto the wall in Joliet, Illinois
It was quite a day with two locks, an electrified fish barrier, and a thunderstorm. Nine pleasure boats and at least one or two barges and a tug were all in the lock together. The worst part was arriving at the wall to wait for the lock instructions, but not being able to tie on. Brian was able to loop a line over a blue fence, but it was almost impossible to get the line off later. There were seven boats on the wall, waiting. Two more arrived after we entered the lock. It was pouring rain. Eventually we arrived in Joliet, and all nine of us, plus two already there, tied onto the wall. Two men actually fell into the water because the wall is so crumbly, but no one was hurt. We watched as one man seemed to fall in slow-motion between the boat and the wall. He was not hurt, and we got him out quickly, but it’s a terrible wall for tying onto.
We are very tired tonight.
Well you certainly did somehow figure out how to get everything to go in chronological order because this morning I sat and caught up on the three weeks I've been out of commission and everything was in the right order. Good job!
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