Burntside Adventures: Hammond Indiana

We left Benton Harbor on Saturday after a 4 day stay. We rented an Enterprise car and drove to Kalamazoo to meet up with my brother Jim and Nancy, at Sally and Dale's, (my niece). Had a great visit and a great meal of chili Sally made. The last couple of days we are at Hammond Marina in Hammond, Indiana. It is an inexpensive no frills, but huge marina near the Calumet River entrance which will take us into the Illinois River system. There are two options, the Calumet or the Chicago River, and they meet up 25 miles or so down the line, forming the Des Plains River leading to the Illinois. The marinas at the Chicago River are all high ticket, and Chicago doesn't hold much interest for me. So we left Benton Harbor and came here, where there are probably a dozen or so other looper boats, all waiting for the locks to open. The director of the AGLCA has taken it upon herself to organize the 65-70 boats that need to get through the locks into groups, because with that many boats and the back up of barges, it will be a a real traffic jam. We are in the first group, meaning we will likely go through the closed locks first when they open on Sunday October 13, or that's the current plan. We will like head down the river system on Friday and Saturday to position ourselves for that first lock through, with 14 other boats. Until then, doing boat chores, varnishing and re doing the weather seals on the pilot house doors, and getting in some exercise. There are some pretty good bike trails close by and Cindy is able to run. Not as many pictures, just not a lot to look at here. All industry, but it Keeps America Great!