PEORIA

7/25/08---After quite a bout with the bugs before getting the door closed tightly, sleeping was great. We awake to a very calm morning with overcast, but the sun was peaking thru. After doing our routine maintaince chores we weighed anchor and proceeded north. Water in the fuel is still a bit of a problem as the sediment bowels had to be drained twice during the day.


Ever wonder where the power plants are located? Many of them are along the rivers. The Illinois Power Co has a large plant at the 118.4 mile mark. There are lots
of grain silos and many other products that are hauled by barges. A large shovel was filling a hopper feeding onto a conveyor belt. It looked like salt, but may have been rice.



The Peoria Lock & Dam at mile 157.6 was open. We were cautioned to pass thru the lock slowly. There was a lot of activity at the dam. The US Army Corp of Engineers had several tugs and other equipment working on it.


As we neared Peoria there was a lot of barge traffic. Carol rode along quietly reading her book. Under a highway bridge we got our first look at Lake Peoria. We saw three boats along the wall fishing with bows attempting to hit some large carp that were jumping out of the water.

Keith called the Peoria Boat Club shortly after entering the lake. They said we were welcome to tie up for the night. The water was very shallow entering their harbour. The depth sounder showed 1.7 feet. That depth must be below the bottom of the boat. I (Allen) eased along as a man on a radio directed me to the parking slip. As we got close he and several others came to assist. They tied us in between the dock and another boat. We connected into dual 30 amp power. The people were very friendly. One lady drove us to the store for a few needed supplies. Later one of the men loaned us his new extended cab pickup truck so we could go eat, at the recommended "Irish Villa Pub".