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09-07-09 Heritage Harbor Ottawa, IL

[Rick] It is Labor Day, 2009. A day to sit back and think about all the years we have labored to get to this day. Well, not exactly. I finished washing and waxing the boat along with polishing the rails and cleaning the windows. All was done by lunch, so I could sit back and enjoy the rest of the day. As the day progressed, all of the locals left to go back home and by 1600, the loopers had the marina to ourselves. There are 12 looper boats here today, including the 4 coming in today.

Several of us will be leaving tomorrow, bound for Peoria, IL. Some will stop along the way and spend the night. We have agreed to leave together and go to the first lock together so we have a better chance of getting through. The lock, our sixth on the Illinois River, is the about 10 miles downriver, so it will not take long to get there. Then we will speed up and make Peoria, a trip of 74 miles, by afternoon. We plan to stay in Peoria for at least two nights.

The other highlight of the day was the looper community supper. Everyone brought their supper, along with docktails, to the picnic area at 1800. We sat around, chatted, ate, and ate some more. A good time was had by all. We did a lot of catching up with the 4 boats that came in today.

1 comment:

  1. Rick, Betsy - After launching Rick N Roll II in Morris the other day, I started checking in on you guys ...... I'm learning more about the river in my own back yard than I ever knew (I generally stick to Lake Mi) it reminds of how much of Chicago we've pushed ourselves to see after having 14 Japanese & 1 Brazilian homestay students over the years!!!! We live here and don't go and see what's here unless you're showing it to someone else. Sounds like your trip is working out great. We spent the week-end in New Buffalo MI on Kat Sass and had a good time telling everyone about the GB adventurers I met last week. I read a comment somewhere that the river may not open ............ I don't see how that is possible, but who knows? Too bad you can't train those asian carp to go back downstream, you'd make a fortune!!!! enjoy.... glennn k

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