We're heading home 8/21/08

Hello All

We are rapidly moving south and hope to be home by the end of the month. We traveled the whole length of Lake Michigan in 6 days as the weather was good and the water was relatively calm (for Lake Michigan) and are now a couple of days south of Chicago. We stopped in Hollard for an afternoon and visited with Barry and Cheryl Lilly. They very kindly hauled us around to several locations for reprovisioning.

The next day we joined Larry and Lola aboard "Lola Marie" in St. Joe. They are beginning their second loop and we will be traveling with them to Green Turtle Bay.

We left St. Joe and were in Chicago in just a few hours. We did not stop as we have been in Chicago many times. We did travel through downtown though and what a awesome sight!!! We would recommend that route to any boat that is able to get under the bridges. The next 35 miles has been described as pure hell - and rightly so. All the way to Joliet, where we tied up on a city park wall, was crowded with barges and tows with very narrow passages. It is all very industrial, very ugly and stinks! And unfortunately, you can't go quickly.

After that the Illinois River is fairly nice. We are beginning to see wildlife again. It is good to get back on the rivers - easy navigation and calm waters.

We send our love to all those loopers that we have traveled with over the last few months. We probably won't see you before we meet at Joe Wheeler in October. If you have time to do the Cumberland River, please give us a call. We'll be glad to do whatever we can to make your visit to Nashville memorable.

See you out there somewhere - or in Nashville - or at Wheeler . . . .
Ann & Rob