8/23/2016

This morning we took off from Heritage Harbor Marina in Ottawa.  Skies were blue and the river water levels were beginning to recede.  Two other looper boats left with us.  

Below is a group of Pelicans along the way.

We arrived late in the afternoon at the Illinois Valley Yacht (IVY) club Marina, in Peoria.  It was a very nice stop.  There were 3 other looper boats there with us.  We all had tacos at the bar that evening.  

8/24/2016

Today we took off from the IVY club.  It was very windy, but waves were much smaller than yesterday.  We passed through a wicket dam, where the dam sinks under water and you drive right over it.  Pretty cool.

Arrived at a wall in the small town of Havana, Illinois.  Very nice park in front of the wall.  It was humid and hot, so we sat under a picnic shelter and had drinks with lots of ice.  Later in the evening we met up with some other boaters, John and Joanne, for a nice glass of wine on their boat.  The air conditioning was great.

8/25/2016

This morning we left early and traveled 60 miles, to anchor south of Big Blue Island.  We are still in Illinois.  Hope to hit Grafton, after another 60 miles tomorrow.  Tonight we raced the dingy around, ate dinner and are going to watch a movie on John and Joanne's boat.  As you can guess, they travelled from Havana with us and are also anchored out.  There are no marinas or gas docks from Havana to Grafton.  We will be staying 4 nights in Grafton.