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Muriel June tied off at Hoppies, the last fuel stop and “marina” for 250 miles. Kaskaskia, Illinois We left Hoppies this morning about 9 a.m. and had a very beautiful and peaceful float down the Mississippi from Mile Marker 158 to Mile Marker 117.  It was so very peaceful today that I could almost envision […]

All you boaters who are reading our blog, or those of you who have enjoyed traveling vicariously with us, we need your help.  Hoppies is our next stop on the Mississippi.  It is the only stop for boaters in a 250 mile stretch. The Corps of Engineers doesn’t see any reason to keep it going. […]

  Swarms of Mayflies hatched last night covering our boat, windows, and screens.  Mother Nature always has a balance, however, as the swallows and fish knew exactly where to find breakfast this morning.  Still, there were hundreds on the boat that we washed off this morning before leaving to cruise only 20 miles to Alton, […]

Illinois River mile marker 0, Mississippi mile marker 218 We pulled off the tug dock at 6:30 this morning watching a front that looked like it would slip south of us—and it did!  So, it was much cooler this morning, but we received no rain.  A great day to run the 88 miles we needed […]

The dredded dredge blocks the Illinois River with floating pipe and cables connected to bouys. Usually you go outside of all the bouys. This time the MJ had to weave between them. A long twelve-hour day with lots of entertainment filled our day.  We left Hamms Marina by 6 a.m. and crossed Lake Peoria into Peoria, […]

Chillicothe, Illinois We loved the cool and lingering clouds from ISAAC for the 65 miles on the Illinois River. We are now at mile marker 178, and that means we have 178 miles to the Mississippi River.  We passed many campers along the river: families fishing, playing in the river, and water skiing.  Passing huge […]

Seems like each year we have a hurricane to report and this year is no exception.  For the next two days we will be hunkered down in a very safe harbor along the Illinois river called Heritage Marina.  It has tall earthen mounts surrounding the harbor for protection.  Funny how these “I” storms have followed […]

“Minding the Bollard” in Illinois River locks. Where in the heck are we?  We are in Grundy County, Illinois at mile marker 273 on the Illinois River.  We came about 55 miles today, through 3 locks and more bridges than I could count.  We started at 6 a.m. from the Calumet Canal off Lake Michigan […]

Our Chicago good-bye at day break gave us an impressive view of the city with the first light from the east shining upon the skyscrapers.  Our last evening at the Columbia Yacht Club featured a great dinner on their foredeck overlooking the harbor.  This morning seas were a little rocky on the beam as we […]

Muriel June has been parked near the Chicago Police Boat center. We had some good conversations. However, when they put the red lights on hang on because they do not follow the big “No Wake” sign next to us. Our time in Chicago has been outstanding, from the many athletes and friends on the Muriel June, […]