Good Morning you wind lovers out there!!  I know you just can’t wait to fly that kite, take a balloon ride, or skydive in the wind.  Today is your day!!  We are expecting 15 – 20 knot winds and I am not looking forward to our travel today.  Everyone – that I have talked to – says wind on the rivers is “no big deal”.  Well, wind is wind.  We shall see how it goes.

It is a brisk 47°F this morning.  A bit foggy but we expect with the wind, the fog will lift pretty early and we will have sunny skies all the rest of the day!!  You can see a bit of the fog below.  We are placed on the face dock near two other Loopers.

Always Home in the foggy morning mist

20 minutes later the fog is lifting!! – or blown away!?

Ever since the Canadian waters, we have seen spiders on the outside of Always Home.  I believe I mentioned the spider webs that miraculously appear within minutes of standing still.  Since we have left the Lake Michigan waters, I have noticed less spiders.  Except for these webs on top of bushes.  I really like how the web collects the early morning dew.

We have a 64 mile day planned for today.  A bit of a late start but we were indecisive whether to stay and wait out the wind or to go and handle the wind best we can.  Do you see that blue sky??  How could we not cruise on a beautiful day like today??

8:45am – Clear Skies!! Time to go

Every time we see a house boat on the rivers, Wayne always brings up the subject.  See, we could have a house boat just like that!!  But, we wouldn’t be here on Always Home, would we?!

House boat vacationing along the river’s edge – camping out

You think someone really knows these barges are here??

Ransom barges parked along the river’s edge

Grain elevator

Our single lock of the day.  Three Loopers were in the lock with us.  Just 4 boats!!  Going down 17 feet.

Approaching Starved Rock Lock and Dam

The lock master gave us a line for the bow and stern.  We all locked through on the same side of the lock.  No problems.  Easy peasy!!  Do you see our AGLCA flag blowing sideways?  Hmmm guess it is breezy today, after all.

The one barge going north that we passed all day.  Looks new!

Scenery along the Illinois River

Scenery along the Illinois River

We couldn’t get transient dockage at a couple marinas we were hoping for.  Either due to the water being too shallow for our draft or because they were booked up.  No room in the marina for us tonight.  So, we decided to go to a marina that has 8-12 feet of water in the entrance and along the dock.  Hamm’s Holiday Marina.  Not a fancy place.  It has seen better days.  The marina is in a protected cove and once we were in, we didn’t feel the wind a bit.  The marina is known to have an interesting collection of old barges, boats, and paddlewheel boats.

Entering Hamm’s Holiday Marina

We are safe and secure for the night.