Up and out was no big deal. We lifted anchor and started our way south on the Illinois River once again. The flood levels were apparent with tell tale signs of massive flooding. You could see water lines on buildings, bridge abutments and trees that had been uprooted in strange places. It was obvious that the people here were questioning how high the water would go. Some have said they had never seen it this high. It floods here every year but not for 5 weeks with rain. The entire Illinois watershed drains into the Illinois River. Look at the pictures and look for those water lines. In fact we went under a bridge that was supposed 21 feet and we had 9 feet clearance. The lift bridge had to be raised. That is now. So imagine what it was a couple weeks ago when they closed this waterway to all commercial and recreational traffic. It is amazing. …….and the industry along with waterway is immense. There is so much industry. Most of this waterway is here only because of industry and commerce. The heart of the United States is alive with the shipping community.
Upon reaching Grafton we stopped at Grafton Harbor. We topped up with fuel and got a slip for the night. After hooking up power and water we walked around the facitliy. 180 sllips, a small marine store and a courtesy car. Now I’m happy to hear that we can take the courtesy car to Kempsville for groceries at Walmart.
We hopped into the 1980 shag van and headed off. Aiden insisted that we talk about the shag wagon. An old Dodge extended van that had seen better days. Hey, it got us to town and stocked up on our groceries for the push on. The next few days are desolate country. We have to be prepared. Getting back to the harbor with a “boat load” of groceries (no pun intended) we are ready for the next few days of no necessities.
Heading into Kempsville with the shag wagon we are passing several farms and their crops. The question of GMO vs. Organic comes up. For those of you that know us this can be a very indepth subject. Do the signs we see on the farms land indicate “working with science” means working with GMO. We think so but don’t really know. That being said it was nice to see so much farm land being used as farm land.
So with our boat load of food and 90 degree temps we find out that there is a pool here. Interesting to note is that it is a floating pool on the river. Everything floats here. The marine store, gas dock, slips, and the pool. We didn’t take the time to analyze the pool we just wanted in to cool off. Before dinner we took some time to indulge in the floating pool.
Tonight we analyze the rest of our journey. The next stop is Hoppies. Known as “the guardian of the river” as this is the last stop for several hundred miles to get fuel. Ten nothing. Literally not much facilities after that. We are prepared.
