Here are two photos from Heritage Canyon, this cool spot in Fulton, IL consisting of a LOT of period buildings that were moved and reconstructed in this old quarry by a couple a long time ago. They are all filled with antiques and only recently had to be screened of from the public because people were stealing them from the exhibit. What a day, all made possible by Ray, the guy on our dock who had distinguished himself by scrubbing paint off the ramp. We inquired about this and he reported that he had discarded some paint in the trash and a racoon had stepped into it and then tracked it around on the ramp, causing Ray to feel guilty. We sure liked him, though, because he used some of my favorite words, "why don't you just take my car?". We did sight seeing and bought things we have been looking for, like a flosser and thermos, which we broke today already.

Today we turned south again after a day of wicked wind. I haven't ever seen wind like that on any day I've been on the water. We were happy to have been secured to the dock with eight docklines and a fat power cord that ran three heaters all night. But today it was calm, at least to start. We woke up right away by coming up on a railway bridge that was about three inches taller than we are and then noted a barge being pushed right out into our path from the right! A boat has to yield to the craft from the right, right? Not on the river, where the boat in the channel has the right of way, right...

Right now we are tied up two miles from Rock Island, IL, expecting it to be in the mid 20's again tonight. The marina (or someone around here) has wi-fi so I can post from my computer and add my photos, which I assume are probably identical to Jim's. He even has the exact same camera as mine. We agree about radio stations, politics, food, just about everything except temperature. He wants all of our living spaces to be above freezing, imagine that. We are going to walk to town after we finish our blogs and post a pirate watch.

My ribs are still sore. And if I would have mentioned the large chunk I tore out of my left hand when I fell down on the day it occurred, I would get a lot more sympathy, right? I'll do better next time.