SEPTEMBER 2024 SUMMARY

Since this is not a race, more a series of legs dictated by the season, we are tracking pretty much where we planned.  I wanted to be off Lake Michigan by Labor Day.  While many knowledgeable folks poo-poo the notion of being off the lake, there is no doubt that fall weather patterns start to play.  Some folks behind us were delayed many days waiting for the lake to calm down.

That put us into the big rivers during September.  There was a good reason to move along smartly on this stretch.  Primarily, there is a paucity of places to stop and none of them were too inviting until you got to the junction with the Mississippi.  Grafton and Alton are strategically located, welcoming and offered an opportunity to rest and reorganize before heading down the big river.

The Mississippi River, from a cruising standpoint, is a sprint.  With virtually no facilities to be had and ominous reports of gigantic tows, floating debris and all other sorts of horror stories, you just have to suck it up and go.  Actually, it just wasn't bad.  Few tows, not much debris, the two stops we made on the river at Kaskaskia and the Diversion canal were easy.  Aside for the adventure of the water pump failure at the tail end of the Mississippi and subsequent slow ride up the Ohio, we have no complaints.

Now that we have rushed to get here, it is, once again, slow-down time.  With October to kill in the hopes that the hurricane season will sit down and behave, we will be making slow, but steady, progress southward.

Fingers crossed!

The most frequently asked question I get from back home is 
"when will you get home?"
I will continue with my standard answer... I don't know. 
Traveling the remaining miles is easy, knowing what the hurricanes will do is not. When you can only move about 10 mph you can't get out of the way quickly enough. So we will be cautious but continue to move and get there.

Thanks for being part of our journey!

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Paul comments in this font
Cheryl comments in this font

 

Comments

  1. Bob the DuckOctober 5, 2024 at 8:36 AM

    Bob the duck who is wise says “you get there when you get there”.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mary AliceOctober 5, 2024 at 11:17 AM

    Appreciate the perspective on the map showing the entire route. Pretty impressive you two!!!

    ReplyDelete

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