BAR-B-Q Adventures

 We arrived in Grafton Harbor some 61 miles away. Grafton is at the junction of the Illinois and Mississippi  Rivers. We made a quick run over to Port Charles, MO for fuel and back to Grafton. This was our first fuel up since our departure from MC, IN. We enjoyed the great fuel mileage running with the current. This will change when we enter the Ohio River. Settling in with a shower and a dinner of stir fried rice, we watched the Alabama and Texas A&M football game. We were docked under a canopy, the first time for us. Doing laundry and cleaning the boat was necessary as usual the next day. I went to a few shops here that offered  wood and stone figures. On Sunday we headed to  the pool area for Looper Docktails. There were several loopers  that we met. Randy & Anita on Drifter, Rachael & Capt. Brian on No worries, Aaron & Mary Lee on Good Spirits, Joe & Ann on Out Of The Blue, Michael & Cindy on Experior, Melanie & Justin and their dog Peggy on Sabot. It is

White Pelicans (10 -1) Joliet wall was an interesting stop on our adventure . Leaving early to get to the lock was not what we expected. Getting there we found several boats anchored, waiting for the barge to get through. After 4 and 1/2 hrs. we were  on our way to the second lock where we waited 10 minutes for another pleasure craft to lock down with us. The sun was setting and the last few miles to theOttawa wall was in the dark. John had his spotlight on, so we could see to bouys. With  2 boats docked there already, we made our spot at the end of the dock. Sequel,the boat we waited for in the lock, followed us to the wall,with no room to tie up so we let them raft up to us for the night. Everything worked out just fine.  Laura & Chris are a nice couple. 51 miles traveled today. (10 - 2) This morning, after Laura talked to a local couple about some marina 5 miles away, they were on their way. We did our laundry and got caught in the rain. After sausage and peppers for supper, I

Ludington  Muskrat? Lifeboat from the Fritz Caves just south of Port  Grand Hotel Gardens Fog SOO LOCK   SS BADGER On of many beautiful  sunsets Sneeds Aquarium Chicago  Chicago style Hot Dog    Peace and Fury Buckingham Fountain Chicago

One of many sand dunes on Lake Michigan  We were up early to do some much needed boat  cleaning. John handled the outside while  I had galley and our berth to deal with. Wasn't to bad because we keep up the maintenance.  The next morning we were on our way to St. Joseph's some 56 miles away.Arriving at West Basin Marina in St. Joseph's around 4:30 we went to Planks Tavern about 1 mile away. It was a cool night for the walk back to the boat. The next day John discovered that a trim tab was leaking fluid, so he had to clamp it off. He needs to get a new one.  After dinner we went to the beach to watch the sunset. The next day we traveled 26 miles to Michigan City, Indiana. There were some packages that needed to be picked up. We rented a car to do some much needed shopping. Doing most of our walking for supplies every time we stop somewhere,it was a big relief to drive instead of walking a long distance. CALM Rain and wind was with us for three days here. The wind did a numb