The limiting factors that determine the largest vessel and type of vessel are the depth of some of the canals and the height of the lowest fixed bridge that a boat must pass under. A safe maximum draft, which is how deep a boat sits in the water, is five feet, for saftey. Some of the canals have a minimum depth of 7 to 9 feet, under ideal conditions. The maximum height is under 19 feet above the water line, so as to get under safely a bridge in Chicago that is over one of the canals there. One of those canals that Chicago built to divert dumping sewage into the Great Lake. (history lesson) Heard rumours that a couple of college kids did it one year on jet skis. Bet they set a record time for quickest trip around the loop. Also, the trip during the northern part is strictly high summer, to take advantage of the short warm season there, when weather is calm. Also the larger the boat, the higher the overall cost of the trip. Big displacement boats require much more fuel to make the trip than a smaller boat that planes. For a trawler around ~45 feet, with adequately sized engines (plural) the estimated fuel cost for the trip with prices around $3/gallon is $6,000 for the trip. My boat, with a relatively moderate sized motor of 70 hp, will have an estimated fuel cost of less than $2,000. Also, the bigger boats cruise economically at about 15 mph, whilst at the same fuel consumption my boat will cruise at 30 mph. I'm doing my homework, to see if this is feasible anytime soon.

Hi all, My windows arrived!!! House was bustling with activity yesterday as they started installation, laid sewer, water and electric and poured the basement floor!! Jackson...so sorry to hear about your beautiful stone. Will keep my fingers crossed that you find something that you like even better. Robyn...congrats on passing inspections! Your insulation looked perfect so am not surprised! This next stage things will really start to come together...you must be excited! Amberm...you are getting so close to starting. We had so many delays and restarts that until that hole was in the ground I never really believed that it was going to happen. Our permits took 7 wks and thanks to reading all the stories here it sounded like it was not that bad even though it felt like forever! I think it was you that said you were building in a city in Canada...which one?? I grew up in Canada (Toronto & Calgary) and still have lots of family throughout the country. Hoosier...your concrete looks great!! It must be so nice to be able to supervise from the house (pj's and all) then having to trek down there everyday. Musicgal...you need to start packing and get into that beautiful new home! Carson...your neighbor sure puts things in perspective. It is so easy to get caught up in the not so important things in life as you build and a reminder like that really helps put things back in perspective. Hope she is ok. Jdez...I laughed so hard over your permit office comment that I almost spit my coffee out! The permit office did miss a few things...like support for a bump out window...it was in the garage so we were able to roll with it and create a cool window box to break up that wall. Caben...plaster looks good and that stone will look great under the raised bedroom. Autumn... Like that tile...it is nice and simple and should go beautifully with your counters. Jenniekehr...sounds like u are on a similar time frame to a few of us. What is going on in your build now? Here are some pics of my windows going in as I know how much u all like pics!! Front

There is wildlife, but the most to see in the main part of park are fowl:hawk, crow, a couple different woodpeckers, smaller birds, etc...Last year we saw an eagle...Can occasionly 'hear' deer...I don't snap good pics of birds, got a groundhog last year that was half way decent...We occasionally walk the trails...but probably, no matter how quiet you walk, don't see much of anything else... I suppose if you get there early, early...and this is what dh says, probably can see the animal kingdom waking up! juanital

in the mid-80's I was a mail carrier-so I walked about 8-12 miles per day, depending on the route I was carrying. I LOVED it. But it was just outside of the Hollywood area, so it wasn't a really scenic place. Now that I live in NW Oregon, there are more breathtaking places to hike than I can even share. But, ironically, my mobility is very limited and I can't do long or steep hikes any more. I like to do 2 mile hikes, and there are lots of gorgeous preserve areas around that have amazing walking/hiking trails. My favorite place hikes takes you over a very narrow suspension bridge to the the other side of a waterfall (Drift Creek Falls). Also, Silver Creek Falls-which has a nice, easy hike. This is the view from below of the supsension bridge at the swimming hole.