Blue Horizon Adventures: Sun Oct 22: IVY to Logsdon Barge wall/Beardstown

A group of us left IVY at sunrise, since a lock was involved and we now have PTSD about locks and have to build in time to get through them. This is a long day anyway...

We had heard that there would be fog on the water some mornings, and that we need to wait until it burns off to navigate. No one told me it would be so picturesque.

And, OF COURSE, there was a wait at the Peoria Lock/Dam. Fortunately there is a little restaurant on the side of the channel right before the lock where we could all tie/raft up. (You should have SEEN me dock like a BOSS!! I got compliments from the guys - which is always a bit confusing for me. I mean, why compliment me on doing my job?...) I had actually wanted to stop there for the mid-day snack they are famous for - see below!!!! But I wasn't willing to wait for it to open at 11am.

While we were waiting I had some fun trying to get pix of a net fisherperson:

I also got a shot of my favorite Loopers on Antonia, and their dog, Buddha. Many of the boaters we really like are Canadian. I also got a great shot of the Capt of Shorthanded, who is doing the Loop my himself as his wife 'doesn't do boats. But I'm not allowed to post any info/pix of him... ???!!??? CIA? Witness Protection??

Finally I decided the lock needed to hear a female voice, so I called to get an update and he said 'come on up'! Sometimes it works to play the female card... (Often it doesn't) When we got to the lock he was so nice, and I apologized that I was out of candy. He rubbed his, not insubstantial, belly and said 'you Loopers have been feeding me Halloween candy since Sept, I'm good'!

It was a short drop and no one had to raft. Easy Peasy...

The industry looked weirdly lovely in the morning light as we headed out of Peoria.

The strangest thing was happening as we went down the river - I had read about this long ago in Charlotte's Web, but I don't think I believed it was really a thing. Apparently it is called 'ballooning' or 'kiting'. This is a process by which spiderlings (and, trust me, larger spiders) move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind. It was a sunny and very still day, and that must have created the right conditions for this phenomena. The air was FILLED with long floating threads, some high above the boat, that seemed suspended in the air. As we ran into many of them the boat began to be festooned, as though with tinsel, or cotton candy. Most threads came with the tiniest of spiders, no bigger than a pin head. But there were other larger spiders as well. It was just crazy-pants!

Also in the sky was something with we had last seen in in Cape May, NJ - rainbow clouds. It's a something something caused by something prism something (really, as I used to say to the kids about Santa, if you believe in the magic it will be real). Just enjoy it, gosh darn it... You don't have to understand a thing to love it!

ALSO - more bald eagles!

It was a freaking long-ass day, with the sun beating down on us (I know, we are always complaining about something weather related - I guess I am a Goldilocks boater). FINALLY Beardstown (don't you just wonder about the origin of the name?!) hove into view:

Hee Hee - the cute little house. We passed under one bridge like this today where the guy in the house just chatted and bantered with us. It must get lonely. He said he gets paid $36/hour to sit up their for one train a day. He was super fun!

OK - so we had low expectation for the Logdston Tow wall, and we were right on! It was a barge tie-up... with all the barge junk still present, I guess to give it even more ‘character’.