Goodbye Illinois River, Hello Mississippi

 

 

I guess you could say we have hit another milestone. Today we are at mile 0 of the Illinois river, in Grafton, where the Illinois River and the Mississippi meet. According to the guide books we could take the Mississippi all the way to New Orleans but it isn’t recommended because of the strong current and commercial traffic. Instead the safer and more scenic route is to take the Mississippi until we meet the Ohio River. The Ohio leads to the Tenn-Tom Waterway that takes us to Mobile, Alabama.

 

This last stretch of the Illinois river has been extremely lush and wild. We haven’t seen much evidence of civilisation for days except for the odd bridge. The water is still this odd brown colour but that doesn’t take away from the undeniable beauty. It would be perfect if there wasn’t so much debris to watch for or tows to contend with. (come on, you knew that was coming). Navigational aids are just a suggestion and not to be trusted as it is not uncommon for them to be out of place.

 

We are at Grafton Harbour today to fuel up, pump out, do laundry, and stock up before heading down the Mississippi. But more about that....next time.

 

Early morning .. Adamant 1 & Sea Mist

 

 

 

 

Hmm which way do we go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

debris

 

In the middle of nowhere and it looks almost manicured.

 

Every hour or so we pass these.

 

a hitch hiker

 

 

 

more markers out of place

 

Adamant 1 and Sea Mist

We need more pictures of Folly.