Little Calumet to Ottawa, Illinois

We flew out of O’Hare on Friday, August 21st, for our return home. Hard to say this was a vacation since we are on a year long vacation but we did look forward to getting off the boat for a few weeks and visiting friends and family, especially our new grandchild. I guess one could say that this trip was a vacation from our vacation? Thanks to Jessica, our house was in perfect shape when we arrived home. On Saturday, we met many of “the crew” at Big Al’s for wings and beer at lunch and spent the remainder of the afternoon on the home dock visiting with friends. We marvelled at he heat and humidity...had not had any all summer !!!On Sunday, we traveled to south Charlotte for dinner at SouthPark Mall to celebrate Pia and Pia’s Mom Aili’s Birthdays. Great to be home for this event! The remainder of the week was spent working around the house, doctor’s appointments, visiting friends, etc, etc.
Jackie and Jackson came to the Lake on Friday for the weekend (the first picture is Jackson in the backyard and the 2nd picture is Jackson and Olivia) Jack's Mom, Sandra, and Ralph joined us on Saturday. Joe, Jen, Olivia, Bella (the dog) and Stella, along with Pia’s family - Mom, Juha, Laura, Nick, Kylie, Anna - visited on Sunday for a Griffin/Lehtela family event. This was our first chance to meet Stella and she is as beautiful as we had imagined. The next picture is Great Grandma Irene with new granddaughter Stella. Stella was born as we crossed Georgian Bay in July and we really looked forward to seeing her. We also look forward to sharing our memories with her of our day in the middle of the Bay when we heard she was finally here and her and Mom were fine. Thanks to Ron, Marji, John and Dottie for making this special day even more special.

Before we flew home on the 21st, we heard a Coast Guard broadcast on the VHF radio concerning a closure on the Illinois River due to an electrical “Carp Safety Zone” that had been established on the River to keep Asian Carp from swimming upstream to Lake Michigan due to the havoc the carp play on the environment. In effect, the Army Corp of Engineers, in order to keep Carp out of Lake Michigan, injects electrical current into the river as a deterrent to Asian Carp seeking cooler water upstream. This “Safety Zone” has been in effect for a few years but has not been as effective as planned so the Corp suddenly decided to increased the volts. Unfortunately, the effect of this increase on fiberglass boats had not been tested so the Coast Guard shut down the waterway until testing could be completed, essentially shutting down the Illinois River south of Chicago to pleasure boaters. We fully expected the situation to be resolved before our return but were surprised to learn that the River was still closed when we flew back on September 1st. However, a compromise was developed. Loopers could be towed through the Carp Safety Zone by a commercial tug at a cost of $600 per boat! Rather than waiting for this ridiculous policy to be changed (or waiting on the US Government agencies to make rational decisions), after gaining “permission” from the USCG, we departed Marine Services Marina on the Little Calumet River on September 4th to meet our tug “Buster White” for out tow beyond the safety zone. We arrived at 10 AM, tied to a coal barge (pictures above of Pia and Jack tied to the coal barger - dirty!) on the river waiting for our tow to arrive, rafted to the tow boat after signing a release that stated we would not sue the tow company if our boat exploded, paid our $600 ransom after disconnecting our battery cables, was towed the .7 mile journey, and were on our way to Joliet in 2 hours. We arrived at the town dock in Joliet (home of the prison that housed Al Capone) mid afternoon and were happy to beyond the fish zone. We joined Ron and Marji on “Meander” for cocktails and appetizers.
On Saturday, we departed Joliet for a 60 mile trip to Ottawa, Illinois for the Labor Day weekend. We joined other Loopers at Heritage Harbor marina, along with local boaters, for a great Labor Day weekend Some of the highlights were: Wii bowling (Pia won $45) and the 2nd annual Ducky Derby duck race along with music and dancing by a local band named The Mavriks. Loopers and local boaters all had a great time.
On Labor Day, we borrowed the courtesy car for a trip to Starved Rock State Park and an afternoon of hiking through the many trails overlooking the Illinois River. Beautiful rock(limestone) formations, and lush vegetation, the waterfalls, unfortunately, this time of year were somewhat dry, still beautiful! We joined 7 other Looper boats on the dock for a pot-luck dinner in the evening , the locals were gone, and we had the marina to ourselves!
We will leave in the AM for our continued trip. We should be in Peoria mid week. We enjoyed our “vacation home” but are happy to be back on the waterway! This final picture is Jack sitting on the bikes as we make our way down river - a leisure bike ride? ( Not much of a workout, but fun just the same !)..The passing boaters were somewhat confused !!!!