September 24, 2012 Day 136 Kimmswick, MO Total miles to
date: 2873.9
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| Leaving the Grafton Harbor shortly after sunrise |
We left Grafton Harbor at
7:15 under a sunny sky and with steam coming off the water, leaving the
Illinois River behind as we entered the Mississippi River. There were rocky cliffs to our port side
between Grafton and Alton that commanded photos!
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| Rocky cliffs line the Illinois shoreline |
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The Spirit of Peoria was in Grafton!
We thought we were in the wrong place
for a minute! |
Our trip today took us
through two locks, both with dual chambers.
The smaller chamber is used primarily for pleasure craft, and the larger
for the tows and barges. We called the Mel Price Lockmaster and the lock was
ready for us when we arrived, so we drove right in. Strangely enough, he did
not close the gates for 30 minutes, then he did not lower the water for another
30 minutes! So what we thought was a quick lock through was not so quick!
Our 2nd lock
was the Chain of Rocks Lock (the one that had been closed for six days last
week and created the huge backup of all types of boats). We waited about 15
minutes and then we were put in the smaller chamber with a working tug boat
that had barges three wide. All in all
not a bad “locking” day!
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The Gateway Arch
towers over the river |
By 1:30, we passed the
city of St. Louis with its famous Gateway Arch, completed in 1965 as a monument
to the westward expansion of the US. It
overlooks the Mississippi River and attracts millions of visitors each
year. We did not make a stop in St.
Louis this time. Many Loopers will go to a marina in Alton or St. Charles and
drive into the city from there since there is no marina in St. Louis.
The tows with their barges were everywhere today and we had to be vigilant. Bill was on the radio frequently asking them which side to pass. One tow captain he said he didn't care which side, just so we didn't run into him! This is one busy river!
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| Carried Away at Hoppies |
We arrived at Hoppies
Marina at 3:30, our destination for the night. Hoppies is a must stopover for
Loopers, partly because of location and partly because – well it is Hoppies.
Fern and husband Hoppie have been there for 39 years, have taken over the work
from his parents, and their children will do the same one day for them. The marina is comprised of three barges that
boaters tie up to. They also have power
and water available. Each day Fern holds
a training session on what to expect as we head down the Mississippi, Ohio,
Cumberland, Tennessee, and Tombigbee Rivers to Mobile. She gave us advice on
anchoring, passing tows on the winding river, locks, warning us of dangers etc. While there we met a young man who had
arrived by kayak – he was going all the way to New Orleans! We invited him to join us for dinner, but he
need to go farther than Hoppies today.
We had dinner on board
(the well known Blue Owl Restaurant, along with every store in Kimmswick, is
closed on Mondays). Joyce finished the laundry
and Bill imported Fern’s notes in his chart planning.
We will depart in the
morning for the Kaskaskia Lock which is a 42 mile trip.
