7/29/22 - Alton Illinois to La Grange anchorage

 Another restful nights sleep at the well protected marina dock was had.  On awakening an hour or so was spent visiting with Phil and Sue as they prepared for their departure to continue down river to Hoppies.  While boat preparations were being made Lulu came over to our aft deck for some ply time with Riva.  By 7:30am ‘Callin in Gone’ had departed the dock and we sat and also watched our other looper friends depart as well.  At 8am we readied our boat and pulled over to the fuel dock to fill our tanks in preparation for our departure.  By about 8:45am we were pulling out into the Mississippi heading up the last 20 miles or so before we would be turning off into the Illinois River.  

Field Trip headed to Hoppies!

Callin’ in Gone headed to Hoppies!

Departing Alton Illinois
The two large boats are the Argosy Casino

Passed some other loopers, Frida Cat and Knot In A Hurry(another Marinette!) They are also headed to Hoppies I believe.

Our Lady Of The River

The landscape now changed to where there were high walls and cliffs on the Illinois side of the river while the Missouri side became flat

It was a simply gorgeous morning with flat, calm waters and very comfortable temperatures; almost cool.  The currents now had slowed considerably to what we estimated at 2-3 mph.   We played a little with our speed and did calculations determining that our best efficiency was at about 1600 rpm pushing us upriver at about 7.9 mph.  We had a long day planned of approximately 100 miles but were in no hurry since we would be anchoring out at our planned destination so we figured we would just take our sweet time meandering along and enjoying the scenery on a glorious day!  Renee took the helm while Erik cooked a hearty breakfast of omelets, sausage and toast to fuel our bodies.  

Grafton Harbor lighthouse

Confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers
Left turn to Minnesota 
Right turn to Chicago and Lake Michigan
Decisions…decisions 
We stuck with the plan and veered right

Calories

Renee stayed at the helm for several hours while Erik worked on catching up on a couple days of blogs.  The slow and steady pace allowed for gazing through the binoculars to check out the wildlife and scenery.  

Renee maneuvering an oncoming pass with a barge on the now narrowing Illinois River 
Such confidence! 

After a few hours and when the sun had warmed the air Renee laid out on the front of the boat and Erik took over navigation.  

Ahhhh….

The birds now are taking on what we would consider more of a ‘sea’ look.  Sea gulls and these were a flock of pelicans 

This area of the Illinois river has many small homes and cabins, all up on stilts to avoid regular flooding

We OBVIOUSLY need a better camera! 
Field of sunflowers 🌻 

Confluence of the Mississippi with the Illinois River
Right turn onto the Illinois and we now have completed our jaunt up the Mississippi

At about 6pm we had the realization that if we kept up the slow 8-9 mph leisurely cruise up river that we would not make to our desired destination of the La Grange Lock until after dark.  We weren't thrilled with the idea of locking through at night so we decided to pick up the pace to 16-18 mph for the last 2+ hours and 40 miles.   

Burning petro but cruising along nicely 

We arrived at La Grange Lock well before sunset, however, we were told by the lockmaster as we were approaching that there was a large double barge in the chamber and it would be at least 1.5 hours before he could lock us up.   We took advantage of the wait time and dropped the dinghy to take Riva to shore since she had been aboard by this time for approximately 10 hours.  

Pit stop for Riva while waiting on to go through La Grange Lock 

Back on the boat but with time still to kill we lit the grill and cooked up chicken and shrimp for dinner.  Our timing was good and shortly after cleaning up form dinner the large barge exited and the lockmaster radioed us telling us we could come on into the lock.  The lift to the pool above us was a whopping 2 feet and went quickly.   This was fortunate since the mosquitos were out in full force and both of us suffered a few bloodsucking bites.   

Riva says, "is that shrimp you're grilling for me?"

A pretty sunset 

We were able to set anchor just off the main channel just opposite of the lock chamber.  By this time it was pitch dark.   We installed the navigation lights on the dinghy and Erik took Riva back over to shore to do her nightly duty, but, not after putting on long pants and shirt and dowsing up with insect repellent.  We were tired from the long day and retreated to bed. 

La Grange Lock from our boat at anchorage
We were too tired for the lights to bother us
sleep tight