Shopping Cart Run?

When my daughter and I go out on the water, we always see the great Blue Heron. It is a given. Sometimes we see so many, we count them. There always seems to be something that makes the trip interesting. Once, I counted 30 herons. But it may not always be Herons. We count swimming beavers, canoes, kayaks, and whatever else we come across on a continual basis. This time it was shopping carts. We counted 5 ditched shopping carts near or in the river. The last time I traveled this section, there were only 3, so the record was beat this time.

Another interesting part of this section is the bridges. There is a Metra bridge that passes over the river while also passing UNDER rt 20. As we were talking the shopping cart picture, we heard the train coming down the tracks. It was eerie to see something that you know is so huge and powerful pass over you so close. We were in such a peaceful state of mind and this massive machine barrels through it. It was very strange and slightly spooky to experience.

Further up the river is the casino boat. This time there were some folks enjoying the fresh air and possibly trying to forget how much money they lost inside. There were quite a few fishermen out also. We stuck more to the center of the river as to not disrupt any of the lines.

Once we got to the island park near the dam, my little skipper bailed on me. I let her run around on the island as I paddled up to the other side. She danced around and ran over the bridges as if she was on her own private island. I think she had more fun running around than she did floating on the canoe with me. She would not admit to it.....but I think she did.

We spun around and headed back to the launch. As we did we caught the attention of some photographers. One guy was taking some shots of a couple models on the edge of the island and another was on the piers near the river boat. I don't mind getting photoed while out there, but I never know if I should smile and wave, pose, ignore them, or splash around like I am drowning. They always seem to get so excited as I paddle by, like taking pictures of the sunset and the flowing water was getting boring.... YES, A PADDLER!