Rita

Heritage Harbor to Henry Harbor to Kuchie’s

At 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, Oct 7th, we departed Heritage Harbor heading for Henry Harbor Marina in Henry, IL. Yes, we’re still in IL, and sometimes it feels like we’re never going to get out of IL

First, we must lock through Starved Rock Lock in Ottawa, IL; just downriver from Heritage Harbor. We had a little bit of a wait but not real long. We rafted four wide in this lock, and we were the 3rd boat. This would have been the easiest one yet. As a matter of fact, when we were rafting up, I was asked if I was having fun yet, and I genuinely said, “Yes, today I am!” However, when we were quite a ways down the wall, the courtesy line broke (see pic of what I’m talking about below). This meant the lead boat had nothing to hold their bow in place, causing the bow to move away from the wall and the stern into the wall. Fortunately, the boat on the outside of our raft had thrusters. So the captain of the 1st boat relayed instructions to the first mate on the bow who then relayed the message to us, and we relayed to the captain of the 4th boat. Disaster avoided, and we all got out safe. Praise the Lord! Yes, THAT was TERRIFYING, but my tolerance for terrifying might be slightly better than yesterday.

I have mentioned passing barges before, and it is not necessarily a walk in the park. When just starting to pass one barge, the boat ahead of us got turned sideways. They wisely steered out of it, regrouped and lined up to approach again. We all waited a bit because we were coming to a bend in the river, and there wasn’t enough room to safely pass. Once we had a little straightaway, we were all fine to pass.

We made it safely to Henry Harbor fairly early. There was plenty of time to walk Jazzy, visit with the other Loopers who are staying here, and time to visit with MaryFrances and David (the owners of Henry Harbor). Great people!

The next morning we left Henry and headed toward Peoria, IL. We opted to dock at Kuchie’s on the River. This made it easier to walk Jazzy, and we got to have lunch there. I have some photos below.

While sitting on the deck at the restaurant, I had a conversation with group at the table next to us. For the first time ever I was actually able to correctly explain the route we take to get to the Gulf of Mexico It’s the small victories we sometimes need to celebrate. It’s fun to talk to people about what we’re doing. They’re either interested and dream of doing this, or they think we’re nuts (like all of our children ) – kind of the same reactions we got when we were living in our RV

All in all, this was an easy day. No locks, and I didn’t think I felt like quitting even once. I hope you’ve enjoyed this chapter and the pics. Make it a great day! Be a blessing and be blessed