Down the Rivers to Kentucky Sept 25- Oct 3

Cruising by St Louis on the Mississippi River
At Hoppies on the Mississippi River



















September 25 - Oct. 7

Monday September 25 we had some sun and warmer today so we are headed for Grafton.IL Stopped in St Charles for cheaper fuel and pulled into the new Grafton marina. We were in a covered slip and walked into town to the Ruebels Hotel. It was built in 1884 and a solid oak bar was shipped from Bavaria to Grafton in 1904. We had a drink at that bar and took some pictures of the hotel that is said to be haunted by a little girl name Abigail.
On Sept 26, we started toward our next destination on the Mississippi and actually got through the first lock when Sam on Niagara Myst called and told us about the Ohio being flooded. I called ahead to Hoppies Marina and they said the Ohio was flooded and many boats didn’t leave this morning so they had no room for us. Since that was the only reasonable stop, we turned around and went into the marina in Alton,IL. We were surprised to see Seascape and Peacekeeper there also. Went that night with the group to Fast Eddies for a .99 cent hamburger and .29 cent shrimp. The marina had a nice pool and hot tub here so we went hot tubbing.
On Wednesday September 27 the Ohio is still high and we had called yesterday to have a mechanic look at our fresh water pump. He said he’d come today so we did get the fresh water pump fixed without having to replace it. That’s good. Also it sounds like the weather will start to warm up. I was worried about anchoring when it would be so cold at night especially trying to keep Linus warm. We don’t want to run the generator all night. Another evening to use the hot tub.
On Thursday September 28, its time to move on to Hoppies. We went by St Louis and got some good pictures of the Arch. Unfortunaely St Louis has no marinas on their waterfront . Lots of loopers rent a car from either Grafton or Alton and visit the city. Since I visited St Louis many times when Chris and Sandy lived there, we decided against seeing the city again. Jim also had a conference there a couple years ago and we spent time in St Louis at that time.
Later, we went through two locks on the Mississippi and arrived at Hoppies at about 2. Fern Hopkins holds an informative session each evening and tells all the boaters about the upcoming run on the river, where to anchor, cautions about the tows, etc. A nice lady who is quite a friend of boaters and really enjoys her role. There are no marinas until we get to Green Turtle Marina on Kentucky Lake. We still need to run 150 miles of the Mississippi and 60 of the Ohio River and then 30 of the Cumberland River. The barge traffic is very heavy at times and some of these tows are pushing up to 35 barges. Very intimidating coming toward you. The key is to get on your radio and talk to them to find out how they would like to be passed. Most are very nice and it’s gone smoothly.
On Friday September 29 we are traveling with Niagara Myst, Susan Darlene, and Room with a View. We all came in and stayed on the lock wall at Kaskaskia Lock for the night. Peaceful place and we enjoyed happy hour with the group.
On Saturday September 30, we left the lock wall at 8:30 and headed for Kidd fuel dock. We’ve been doing very well fuel wise especially with such a current that is going with us. We did get 83 gallons at the fuel dock but our mileage has been the best so far. We only burned 4.4 gallons per hour. Anchored in Little Diversion Channel in Cape Giradeau. Room with a View and Daddy’s Farm were here when we arrived and then Niagara Myst and Katie Sue came in. Very calm and it is warming up. The sun finally came out and we have a forecast for the 80s for the next few days.
On Sunday we anchored near Cairo IL. We are still running with Sam and Diana on Niagara Myst. It’s in the 80s and sunny and we plan to leave early in the morning. We have two locks to go through on the Ohio but since the river is so high, the wickets are down so we can just float through. That saved us lots of time since the wait for some of the locks can be long! Last night we anchored at the mouth of the Cumberland river and it was very pretty and peaceful.We are seeing lots of Blue Herons and also monarch butterflies. Someone said that we are in the migration path of the Monarchs, they frequently hover around the boat - very pretty.
Today, Tuesday, Oct 3 we arrived at Lake Barkley in Kentucky at Green Turtle Marina. We plan to stay for a week or two. Amy and Ed are meeting us here this weekend and we will also have some work done on the boat. I’ll update pictures on the web site once we have good internet access at the marina. I also dropped my cordless mouse and it’s now at the bottom of the Illinois river so until Amy brings me a new mouse I’m stuck using the touchpad which isn’t as easy.