Puttin’ the Shine On

Friday October 7, 2011
Millpoint Campground
Peoria, Illinois

Thursday was another lovely lazy morning.
Duckie was enjoying his view.

I was enjoying mine.

It has been simply gorgeous weather
here for the past 3 days
and we have so enjoyed being here
that we decided we’d just
stay through the week-end,
which will make it the entire week,
and use this time and great spot to get the shine on.

So after breakfast David Washed part of Winnona
got out the Rejex and went to work
waxing and polishing her up.

We hope Santa may bring him a ladder big enough
to enable him to reach the top.  But until then he
has it figured out.

I volunteered to entertain the waxer by
reading aloud from Donald Hall’s
Unpacking the Boxes: A Memoir of a Life in Poetry.(I think he likes to keep me out of the way)

 

Took a break for a great lunch
at my favorite outdoor dining establishment.

Yes that is dessert there at 4:00.

And then back at it.

Don’t we both look happy??

 

She’s gonna be SO spiffy when he gets finished.

Today, Friday,
David decided to give Ruby the wash and wax
routine first.  She deserves some TLC
after her rough bout with hail in Oklahoma
and being dragged around
after Winnona all these miles.

Check out the end result.
Candy Apple RED for sure!!

Then back to work on Winnona.
Waxer and reader back on the job.

And then later, as if that wasn’t enough,
he decided he had to move
the converter box up front so he could
switch it back and forth between the rear and the front TV.
SOME day digital and flat screens will get up on our
list but we don’t watch enough TV for them to be there yet.

The man can’t sit down.  If there isn’t
something that “needs” to be done then
he’ll create something.

BUT this idea didn’t work out so well.
He’d have to tell you the details of why not.
But everything will have to be put back.
But that’s for tomorrow.
He was plenty tired by bedtime.

A few week-enders moved in this afternoon
and they all, without exception,
have their party lights out, their campfires blazin’
and their music on. 

And we found the first draw back to Millpoint.
There are no “rules”. 
No posted quiet hours and no one
from the management back here to know
how late the music goes on.
In this case about midnight.

We of course have no lights, no fire, no music.
Just full timers on a permanent week-end
where the “partying” ends a bit earlier.
J

River Afternoon

Wednesday October 5, 2011
Riverpoint Campground
Peoria, Illinois

We like it so much here at Millpoint
that we paid for a 3rd night so here we still are.
David went running this morning and
we went for a second paddle this afternoon.

On his run this morning he passed by this older
Brave a distant relative of Winnona’s.

Lest I have you thinking that Millpoint
is an RV paradise I should mention
that it has a permanent trailer park
by which you pass on your way to the campground.

The campground itself was a local rural seasonal camp
but is being turned into an overnight campground. 
About 6 seasonals, still remain but as they leave,
their spaces are being converted into FHU RV spots. 
I haven’t found these remaining ones
to be eye sores nor have their owners been around.
Perhaps they will come during the week-end.

I did find this bumper sticker on the
older Brave pretty funny.

In the afternoon we went back out on the river.
So nice to be able to launch the kayaks
so close to the site.  We had brought them
back yesterday and left them on the carts.

So today all we had to do was go out
flip them over, grab the handles and off we went.

We paddled in the opposite direction out of the canal
and found  sailboats

and houses

including this one with its own harbor.

The usual water birds were out enjoying the river.

and its banks.

when they weren’t being scared off by our appearance.

We paddled back as the sun sank
and the trees sported their colors

We arrived just in time to watch it set
from the kayaks.

Another beautiful day on the river.
Definitely my kind of life!!

Miracle Cure & Fun on the River at Millpoint

Tuesday October 4, 2011
Millpoint Park
Peoria, Illinois

Aren’t we lucky, another
MIRACLE RECOVERY.
I took one aleve when I went to bed,
slept nearly 10 hours
and woke up feeling much better
and ultimately fine by noon.

So of course, we had to go out and explore the river.
Here is Winnona and you can see the river
off to her left.  As you can see, mid week
October and we have the place to ourselves.
Really FINE!
A great place we are definitely enjoying.

The campground has canals to buffer the river
and we are walking down the road toward one
of them to put in.
Boy do I LOVE being able to launch
by just walking 100 yards from the site.

Storing the carts in the kayak for the return trip

Ok now how do I get in without
stepping in the mud??

Did it and off we go down the canal.

And into the river

We decided to go upstream today.
The Illinois is a big river, very wide and
quite calm today.
So we figured we could paddle up and back
without needing to take the car and leave it somewhere.
More points for the campground!

The river seemed to have “our side” which was
more shallow and tree lined with a Nature Preserve
just north of the park.

And the “other” side where we saw a barge going
up what must be a channel.
Notice the “green thing” in the middle of the river.
More on that later.

Someone had built a “sea wall” and a fishing spot.

 

And just across from it, in the middle of the river
was that green thing I mentioned in the barge
picture.

From further away at the canal/river entrance,
I had thought it and several others in the distance
were islands.   But when I looked through my
binoculars, it looked like trees piled on top of each other.
What??

I pointed this out to David who said I don’t know
what it is but I’m not going out there, it could
be 5 or 10 miles away. 
Those of you who follow this blog know that
we had an experience on the Great Salt Lake
which David has clearly not forgotten.  :-)

But it really didn’t look 5 or 10 miles away to me
(to be fair neither did the one at GSL)
but unlike GSL this lake was glass.
So I said I was going out there.

And I did.
David watched.

So what do you think it is?

Any better idea now?

Hey, I’m going in.

Finally I coaxed David into coming out
and checking it out for himself.
It was 150 strokes not 5 miles away.

A fun adventure in the middle of the Illinois River
on a gorgeous Fall October day.

Fun for us that is.  Not so fun for
the ducks for whom these were built
and are rebuilt apparently in great ritual
after every flood.
Pick your time to visit this great campground
based on your desire to duck hunt or kayak.

Time to head back

and down the canal toward home.