Fri-Mon, Aug. 24 - 27, 2018

“I woke last night to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered. Started humming a song from 1962…”* 

…Not really … Sue woke up thinking of that song, but everything after “thunder” isn’t true. Strong storms were directly overhead and pouring down on us like cats and dogs! We now know that all the work Brian put in resetting and caulking windows to stop the leaking really worked! We slept in a little extra and decided it would be a cleaning day. By late morning the rain had let up and left puddles that Bo loved to jump around in. No sunshine but cloudy without rain is fine. Sue did some laundry at the marina which is much easier for things like sheets and towels than our tiny machine – and oh so much fun! :-/ Brian took that time to check on a transmission oil leak he discovered in the engine room. Looks like we may be here more than 2 nights. He decided to post on a couple of trawler forums for advice. (* Night Moves by Bob Seger)

While at Grafton, we rode our bikes to the local BP, which we were told “has everything you’d need” -- maybe for a day on the water or a weekend at the marina, but not for the next leg of our trip … 5 days without power or fresh water. Thankfully, the marina has a courtesy van so people like us can get resupplied at the nearest Walmart Supercenter in Jerseyrville, about a 30 minute drive. The van itself was a little scary – drove like a boat (very loose steering – just like Sue’s dad’s cars!), non-functioning AC and wiper blades (it was sunny – whew!), ceiling material was held up with colorful thumbtacks. But it got us there and back – so were restocked (hopefully!). Unfortunately it was the checkout lady’s first day back to work at Walmart and she sounded terrible. Even worse, she said she’d had strep throat and a sinus infection as she licked her finger to open each bag and handled each of our items (yuuuuuckk!). When we got to the boat, Sue used disinfectant wipes on everything we bought and we tossed all of the bags rather than reuse, not even for dog-poop bags!

Bo got a lot of outdoor time running after a ball, though the sessions were short since the temps were in the 90s and heat indexes (or is it indices?) were 105+. The boat got a thorough cleaning inside & out, which it desperately needed. We’re not even to the muddiest river yet but rain storms and lock walls create mud, slime & muck that gets on the decks. A dog that sheds a lot (plus being anxious due to a choppy river) also adds to the grass & mud on deck & floors – yeesh!

We spent some time walking around town but neither of us is much into shopping, so we ended up buying ice cream, which was delicious - yum! Brian had one great find – a $5 inch-thick book of all the Eagles music!  We had some great dinners and some average dinners too. 3rd Chute Bar & Grill had great bar food, the Grafton Winery & Brewhaus was a little disappointing since it had been talked up but was really only average. Grafton Pub was delicious too. It took 2 nights to watch the entire Eagles Farewell Tour CDs recorded live in Melbourne, Australia – love listening to great old music!

Two nights in Grafton has turned into four. We’ll be on our way Monday morning, Aug. 27.