Scenes from the Illinois River

 We left the Illinois River this morning after 12 days of very straightforward travel.  No real current to speak of, not a drop of rain, and plenty of places to stop. At many times we were in the dead center of nowhere and much to the kids' horror had no cell service! 

For the most part the land around the river is pretty flat but occasionally there was some more interesting topography, especially as we got further south.

Our first confederate flag.  Spotted while we were still in the middle of the so-called Land of Lincoln. 

If I knew squat about birds I could tell you what this is. A pelican?

Rapunzel? My chart book included this as a landmark but unfortunately gave no information as to its purpose.

River levels on the Illinois are very low this year.  Some of the marinas are struggling because they don't have the depth to accept the larger boats heading south for the winter.

I'm sure you all know that I hate to be treated differently from the men.  I will make an exception when being treated differently means I get a decorated outhouse!

My sleep schedule is slowly adjusting to match daylight hours (Loopers refer to 9pm as "Looper midnight") which means I sometimes am up early enough to watch the sunrise.

We saw quite a few abandoned buildings on the river.  This one was my favourite.  Built on an old barge it is a real fixer-upper!

We found a giant Bass Pro Shop in Peorira. It even had a shark-themed bowling alley and a bar!

Sometimes the days on the river are long with not a lot to do.  So we resort to some silliness

When in Rome, drink as the Roman's do.  This Budweiser is branded as "America" complete with an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence and some lyrics from This Land is Your Land.