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photo…we hadn’t been in Grafton long, when Larry and Cindy Kreissler paid us a visit. Larry and Floyd were attending East High together back in the day…and now Larry has visions of being a LOOPER. He and Cindy have a 39.5 foot cruiser at the Grafto…

photos… the tows and barges are getting bigger and more numerous!!! By the time we hit the Mississippi, they will be even bigger. We got out our Tows on the Mississippi book and started writing them down again…we were amazed at how many we had seen…

photo…On our way to Grafton, we once again saw one of those cute little Ferry boats…working working working…back and forth…turn and turn…just get one bunch over and another bunch is already waiting…seemed pretty busy for a Friday morning.

But alas, the powers that control the boats had other plans…anchor dropped and held just like it was suppose to…stern anchor went ashore just like clockwork…dinner of BIG salad was enjoyed…Captain and Crew showered and were cooling off nicely…..

As we approached the spot where we intended to drop anchor, we noticed that even the cows were HOT…it truly was a miserable day on the water. We were ever so glad that our generator was running and ACs were keeping the cabin cool…all day we kept t…

We keep seeing and hearing Asian Carp jumping…somehow the sound of the boat causes them to leap … we first saw them on the Kaskaskia River in 2008…they were jumping in big numbers there…these on the Illinois River were usually singles but you’…

Then just a few miles down the river… poof, here they came chasing us around the bend…I think they just wanted us to know they were going to get home in time for dinner…no problem!!!! Do you think they heard us laughing at them????

Just outside the lock we spotted these fellows…who just might have been in some trouble…hot and getting hotter…and wheels just buried in the deep oozy mud…seemed to be doing quite a bit of scratching, hemming and hawing…

Crew voted Beardstown Lock our favorite of the Illinois River…with no other boats or tows with barges around, they said we could just float in the middle if we wanted…hey, that’s a no brainer…no fenders to prepare…no lines to schlep…no boat h…

Pulled into Havana, Ill…Tall Timbers Marina…and plugged in big time…all ACs up and running…it was plenty steamy…and even with the breeze we were HOT!!!! We waited until the coolness of next morning to hike up to Dollar General and get some su…