We departed at 830AM after calling the lock which was only 2 miles downstream, he said come on down. The scenery is becoming more bucolic and less industrial.
We were not so lucky at the next and final lock of the day, Marseilles. Due to some ongoing work repairing flood damage we had to wait 1 1/2 hours before being allowed to enter the chamber. Oh well, it is boating.
There is commercial traffic but the towboats are much smaller than I am used to on the Ohio River. I always call the captain to ask his passing preference, port (called one whistle) or starboard (two whistles). I need to take a course to understand the drawl.
Grain elevators replace refineries and steel mills. Railcars and trucks bring the grain from the fields and then it is loaded into silos and then barges for the journey south. We did pass a nuclear power plant though.
During a midweek day we did see a few fishing boats and these two beached houseboats. Yes we did slow down to minimize our wake.
We arrived at Heritage Harbor Marina for the night. A courtesy car was provided as we needed to provision and I needed oil so Walmart here we came. Nice restaurant at the marina as well. No rain today for our two locks and 32 miles. This was one of the nicest stops on the Illinois.
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