DAY 6 - SEPT 7 - WEDNESDAY     Leaving the Springfield, IL campground pre-sunrise, and already hot, we headed north on I-55 to I-155 and into Peoria, IL for the first fireboat stop of the day. Peoria is located on the Illinois River and they keep their fireboat in a boathouse on the river. Then it was up I-74 to Moline, IL, Davenport, IA, and Clinton, IA to see their boats all located on the Mississippi River.     A little east of Davenport is the small town of Le Claire, Iowa, which is home to Antiques Archaeology and the popular History Channel TV show "American Pickers."  We had to stop and check it out. The place is not very big, in fact we missed it on the first pass, but took a few minutes to take a look inside and buy some "picker" stuff.  Sadly, Mike, Frank, and Danielle were no where to be found... probably out doing their thing in some cluttered barn somewhere.     So, back on the road up to Clinton, IA to see their fireboat. As we then headed west out of town on Route 30 towards Cedar Rapids we encountered our first bit of bad weather.  One of those real dark sky, blinding rain storms, that make you wonder (being in Iowa and in a camper) what else might come along.  Fortunately, it was just a rain shower that lasted an hour and was done.     We hooked a right at Cedar Rapids onto I-380 stopping for the night at a cool campground in Waterloo, IA for Night 6.

STATES TODAY: IL, IA - (2) states for the Day / (13) different states so far

DISTANCE:  366 miles for the Day / 1919 miles for the Trip so far.

FIREBOATS: (8+) Peoria, IL; (9+) Moline, IL; (10+) Davenport, IA; (11) Clinton, IA

 

A warm humid morning start out from Springfield, IL

Peoria, IL on the Illinois River

The Peoria Fireboat house on the river.

Peoria FD Headquarters

Tower 1 crew checking the fireboat.... timing is everything!

The Peoria Fireboat looks like it has taken a beating in the river.

Moline, IL Central Fire Station

The Moline, IL Firefighters IAFF Local 581 restored 1949 Seagrave pumper.

Moline's fireboat is located at a marina along the river. Tough to get to, but close enough.

Across the river in Davenport, Iowa - a fireboat house on the Mississippi River.

Not sure what is in there....

A river rescue boat in the fire house.

Davenport's fireboat in the fire station.

 

"Antique Archaeology" in Le Claire, IA

 

Fire station in Clinton, IA

The Clinton, IA Fireboat is on the left at the end of the pier.

Iowa and so much of the country is covered by corn, soy beans, and other crops that
feed the animals and folks across the country.

Oh, and trains... there are a lot of trains moving stiff around out there.

After the rains came a spectacular sunset. The end of another successful day.
Waterloo, IA

 

 

2016 INDEX

WEEK 1
[Day 1] [Day 2] [Day 3] [Day 4] [Day 5] [Day 6] [Day 7]

WEEK 2
[Day 8] [Day 9] [Day 10] [Day 11] [Day 12] [Day 13] [Day 14]

WEEK 3
[Day 15] [Day 16] [Day 17] [Day 18] [Day 19] [Day 20] [Day 21]

WEEK 4
[Day 22] [Day 23] [Day 24] [Day 25] [Day 26] [Day 27] [Day 28]

WEEK 5
[Day 29] [Day 30] [Day 31] [Day 32] [Day 33] [Day 34] [Day 35]

WEEK 6
[Day 36] [Day 37] [Day 38] [Day 39] [Day 40] [Day 41] [Day 42]

WEEK 7
[Day 43] [Day 44] [Day 45] [Day 46] [Day 47] [Day 48] [Day 49]

WEEK 8
[Day 50] [Day 51] [Day 52] [Day 53] [Day 54] [Day 55] [Day 56]

 

CapeCodFD.com
2016