Henry to Peoria, Illinois

It began raining on Thursday during the night and Friday morning there was still a good steady rain coming down as we pulled away from the old lock wall in Henry, Illinois.  I saw a BIG tree stump coming down the river as we were pulling away but it was well behind us.

Tree stump coming towards us

There were also quite a few "river dolphins" (aka Asian Carp) in the old lock canal with us and when we left in the morning they got stirred up.  I tried to get a picture of them jumping, but with the bad weather and trying to get lines in etc. I did not do such a good job.  Hopefully I can get some better pictures of them to post at some point along our river trip.

The trip Friday to Peoria was mostly in the rain with reduced visibility, but at least there were no locks to deal with this day.  We motored straight to Peoria and got there about 11:30 AM.

Coming into Peoria

There are some city docks at the downtown area, but mostly for small boats.  We were able to squeeze into a spot on the south part of the city docks.  One other "Looper" boat was at the north end.  I don't think anyone else could have fit a 40 foot or bigger boat at these docks.  It was nice to have a spot and free power for the night.

Our spot on the city docks in Peoria

River Boat "The Spirit of Peoria" also at the downtown docks

After lunch on the boat, Keith and I walked across the street to the Caterpillar Museum here.  Caterpillar started building tractors here in 1910.  Benjamin Holt was a founder of the Holt Manufacturing Company here in Peoria later to become Caterpillar.  Originally employing 12 people at the East Peoria, IL plant it was so successful that 2 years later they were employing 625 people.  Today Caterpillar is the largest construction manufacturing company in the world.  In 2016 it was ranked #59 on the Fortune 500 list. Since we have CAT engines in our boat, we wanted to take a look.

Caterpillar Museum

Captain Keith in front of the wheel of their largest earth mover

Pengi on the seat of a 1929 tractor

After the Caterpillar Museum, we got tickets to the planetarium next door.  The 30 minute presentation was pretty cool.  Keith and I were the only people in the auditorium for the show.

Lincoln statue in front of the downtown museum and planetarium

Downtown Peoria with the Caterpillar museum and planetarium dome in the back round