Rain was forecast for most of the day, but the “Michel Affect” occurred yet again. The clouds parted and we had a rain free day after a short “spritz” just after we departed Ottawa.
We (Monk’s Vineyard, Emotion 3, Second Star, and Cristina Diane) went through the Starved Rock Lock today and sang “Happy Birthday” to Michel while we were in the lock. The echo provided an interesting effect and the lockmaster’s joined us on their speaker system. (Note: It is Michel’s birthday today and Michael’s birthday tomorrow).
After we were all settled in at the anchorage, Gerry took the dinghy around to the other boats to arrange the taxi service to the birthday party on Emotion 3 for Michel. After all the participants were aboard, we had a great happy hour and lots of munchies. The happy hour continued until about 9:00 when one of the admirals decided that it was time for the captains to get back to their own boats.
We have another birthday party tomorrow for Michael, so we all needed to get our rest. We hope to be in Peoria tomorrow evening, but the weather is calling for heavy rain all day. We will (as usual) adjust accordingly.
The boats at the Ottawa City Dock before departure
Arrival at Starved Rock Dam. Legend has it that in 1760 a band of Illiniwek Indians were under attack by rival Ottawa Indians. The Illiniwek retreated and were planning to defend on a 125 foot sandstone bluff. However, the Ottawa put the Illini under siege and starved them to death. Hence the name, Starved Rock.
A rock formation at Starved Rock
There is a wee bit of color on some of the trees ..... the very beginning of fall folliage
This is the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge. It was in very good shape. Looked like it had been freshly painted.
.... and this is a privately owned railroad bridge .... functional, but not in particularly good shape. It was very rusty.
We passed many small towns on the river. This is the town of Peru.
Egret in flight. Many parts of the shoreline are bird sanctuaries.
Another small town .....
.... along with the town bar, which was named Friday's.
This is the town of Hennepin ... again, very small
There are many duck blinds along the river, many so elaborate they even have a covered area to park a boat.
This is a duck blind in progress. Still needs to have the camouflage added
A picture from the birthday party for Michel and Michael. Michel is from Montreal and Michael is from Colorado. That's Michael in the blue shirt.
Another birthday photo. Michel is the one in the black shirt.Birthday celebration for Michel and Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment