Sunday, July 29 ~ New Crew!

We said good-bye to our good friends Kelli and John this morning.  New crew, Krystina and her boyfriend, Tony, drove in late last night (as you saw on yesterday's post) with Krystina's jet ski (a.k.a. Sydney).  John helped Tony launch Sydney and away the Peltiers went with the vehicle Tony and Krystina drove down in. 

As we came to our first lock, we found it similiar to lock 15 and 15A, as 15A was an auxillary lock.  Lock 14 had an auxillary lock that they use only for weekends and holidays.  So, as a tow was in lock 14 heading south, we entered the auxillary lock heading north.  As we were getting ready to leave the lock, the lockmaster instructed us of the "canal" we would go through before we could get to the main channel.

Coming out of the lock, there was a tight squeeze past a barge.

Then, around the bend, it looked like a "Party Cove" by the Kinni!!!

After cruising through some VERY shallow water, in order to get through to the main channel, we had one more obstacle; we needed to go through the MIDDLE of these two rock piles!

We made it through safe and sound.  Not long after that, a nice American flag waved on top of a red buoy at us . . .

as well as a cool-looking windmill . . .

what appeared to be the "Elephant Graveyard" scene from "Lion King", and . . .

a "Lil Charlie" tow, helping a Marquette Transportation tow downstream through a narrow bridge.

Since we got a little later start today, we put the boat up on plane for a little bit.  Of course, Tony was jumping at the opportunity to take Sydney out and test out our waves!

Our stop for the night is just two hours short of Dubuque, Iowa.  We found a nice spot to anchor, that we remembered from a cruise about ten years ago.  We also saw the ski lift by our anchor spot where we did some summer "luging".  Tony and Krystina went to see if they were still open for business.

As you can see, they are still open . . . with beautiful views, too!

Saturday, July 28 . . . Peltier's Last Day :(

Short travel day to the Quad Cities (which consists of Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, as well as Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa).  We ended up staying at Isle of Capri Marina, in Bettendorf.  It was part of a casino resort.  The only place to gamble, however, was on a boat sitting in the Mississippi River, not on land (a little loop hole in Iowa's law).

Spent the day cleaning the boat, and grocery shopping to get ready for our next crew change.  After all of our chores were done, we went out for a nice dinner to celebrate a great week with the Peltiers!  When we were dropped off by the cab, we noticed next to the restaurant, John Deers' Corporate Showroom.

On to dinner at "Johnny's"!

Waiting for our main entrees, we decided to get a bottle of wine.  With a few drinks in us, John and Dave decided to sample what was left in a bottle at the table next to us!!!  They thought it was a FINE wine and we ordered a bottle, as well as finished the third that was left in the other bottle!

*Notice Johnny's "Elton John" look, as he and Dave sample the wine :)

After a wonderful meal, we could hear live music outside.  We found a huge courtyard with a live band and many people dancing . . . we just had to join in on the fun!  Not long after we started dancing, our new crew got into town :)

Johnny and Tony tear up the dance floor!

What a GREAT way to end a week with wonderful friends!

Friday, July 27

Great travel day . . . lots of blue sky with perfect temperatures!  Passed by Burlington, Iowa, where we traveled the furthest as a couple.  Krystina was 6 months old when we went in July, 1992.  Mike and Linda Peterson joined us.  We were hopeful to get to Hannibal, Missouri, but the water was high that year with a massive current.  We also found that Hannibal's harbor wasn't deep enough for our 1965 thirty-eight foot Chris Craft.  So, Burlington was our destination back then.  We're feeling like we're VERY close to home now, with having seen everything from here on north already!

Like many other river towns, Burlington has a unique bridge.

A little further up river, we saw some barges "anchored out".  Not a sight you see everyday!

Our destination was Muscatine, Iowa, for the night.  The marina in this town was too shallow for our boat, so we decided it would be a beautiful night for anchoring out.  We saw a DNR officer out on his boat and called him over to us to double check where the best spot for anchoring might be.  He was very helpful . . . let's say a little too helpful, as we learned that in Iowa you cannot leave your boat unattended while anchored.  Kelli and I had an errand to run in town, and we saw a carnival, so we thought it might be fun if we all went into town and checked it out.  Well that didn't happen.  Instead, Dave stayed back and made a beautiful spaghetti dinner!  John shuttled us to town and in the meantime, the DNR officer came back out to double check that someone was on board . . . you gotta love authority!!!  The night turned out to be a beautiful one, however.  The bridge in town was lit up with all different colors of flashing lights, as well as town with the carnival.  I guess we couldn't have seen that if we hadn't anchored :) 

Thursday, July 26 ~ A Relief from the Heat!!!

Woke to a rainy morning which finally broke the three days of above 100 degree heat . . . what a relief!  Set to go and realized we really did give the generator a work out these past three days, as the generator battery failed.  Luckily Two Rivers Marina, where we were staying, had a battery!  Dave and John did a quick put-together in the engine room, and after only a half-hour of work, we were on our way! 

As we headed northbound, it looked as though we were traveling on a fall day, as the leaves were beautiful in their "autumn colors", which was really their need for water :(

Saw some great sights in different towns today.  Hannibal, Missouri, the home of Mark Twain, was the first.

On the left side of the town we saw an American Flag by an overlook.

On the right side, a lighthouse.

And in the middle, Mark Twain's paddlewheeler and hotel :)

In Quincy, Illinois, {thinking of Admiral Quincy :)}, a unique bridge . . .

and a restaurant on a SINGLE pilon . . . WOW!

Interesting note: Dave, Lee, and motorcycle friends had lunch here about three years ago on a cycle trip, and here it is on our river trip . . . what a coincidence!

A little later in the day when we were just about to Keokuk, we saw the Des Moines River which is the border to the state of Missouri and Iowa ~ getting closer to home!!!  :)

Once in Keokuk, Iowa, we went through Lock 19; a 1200' long lock, which is long enough to hold a double tow (in our area, full-length tows need to break apart and lock each part through separately).

Check out the railroad swing bridge . . . it pivots on the lock wall!

Take a look at the river on the upside of the lock gate.  You can see where the lock water level is . . . we're almost there :)

Interesting lock door . . . the gate actually DROPS DOWN!!!

Going down . . .

and down :)

We pulled into Keokuk Yacht Club, and what were they serving at the yacht club?  MEXICAN . . . we finally got our Mexican food and didn't have to go to Chillicothe, Ohio :)

Another lovely day on the river!

Wednesday, July 25 - Northbound on the Mississippi!

Went to an interesting restaurant in Grafton, Illinois, last night called Finn Inn.  The food was okay, but the atmosphere was fantastic!  Each booth had it's own acquarium of local fish.  Here's what we saw:

But in the booth across from us, there was a sea turtle over 100 years old!!!

Kelli and I started out today with a wonderful walk literally straight up the town's hill (and a BIG hill it was!).  At the top there was a winery, zipline, and BEAUTIFUL views!!!

This is an adorable town with unique shops and about 4 wineries!!!  Wonderful, friendly people too, as Kelli and I stopped to pick up a few things at a convenience store and a woman in front of a hair salon asked if we were going to the marina and needed a ride (the heat was near 90 degrees already . . . on it's way to 108!!!).  We told her we were wanting to get some exercise, but then I asked her if she worked at the salon.  She said she was the owner and then I asked her if she had five minutes to cut my bangs :)  Charging me only $3.00 {she said she only charges $13.00 for a haircut . . . something I probably shouldn't tell Dave :)} we couldn't thank her enough for opening her salon to us!  FYI, she said in one week she was headed to Luck, Wisconsin, (where some of our friends are originally from) . . . small world!

 A lighthouse in Grafton marks the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

Once we got going, we passed our first tow: "Titletown" by Marquette Transportation.  The captain stepped out of his quarters and gave us all a wave (you never see that!), then he hailed us on the radio!!!  He saw that we were from Prescott, so we had an interesting conversation with him.  He said from the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, it would take him approximately 5 -7 days to get to St. Paul, depending on traffic at the locks.  He works 28 days on and 28 off.  The captain also knows Pat Loutsch (works with the tows in our area and is a neighbor of ours!) . . . is the world getting smaller by the minute?!?! :)

We don't see many bridges, but have seen a few ferry boats . . . it must be the way to go down here.

With the excessive heat again today, the guys found that scrubbing the boat with a long rinse-down of everyone on board was the way to go!

Traveled 65 miles with a 2 knot current.  Arrived in Louisiana, Missouri, at 5:00 today.

Not a bad travel day with not leaving the dock of Grafton until 8:30 and waiting 3 hours for a tow in the first lock of the day!

Tuesday, July 24 . . . Coming Out of the "Twilight Zone"!

As you looked at the VERY interesting place we tied up to last night, if you looked closely, you might have noticed there were no hookups to electricity.  We're giving this generator a work out as it's been running since 2:00 yesterday afternoon, and it is now 5:00 p.m.!!!  It's doing a super job of keeping us cool in this not-so-dry 105 degree heat!!!  Hooked a hose from the aft deck to the upper deck where we all took turns spraying each other to keep us cool :)

We came to our only lock, after an hour into our cruise this morning, and we saw our good 'ol neighborhood tow from the Mississippi River, Cooperative Mariner, push out.  We were able to float through this minor 10' drop.

A little further down stream we began to see large hills . . . could it be the bluffs of the Mississippi River?

Twice we saw car ferries . . .

and many houses on stilts!

As we were getting excited about getting closer to the mighty Mississippi, John went down to the salon to get a snack, when he noticed this on our aft deck!!!

It turns out one of those Asian carp had jumped into our aft deck and worked hard to get back out . . . unfortunately he didn't make it as you can tell :(

Kelli and I watched carefully to everything around us as we were only a few miles from the Mississippi.  What gave it away?  Those big, beautiful Mississippi homes snuggled in the bluffs.

We finally made it . . . the confluence of the Illinois River and the MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI!!! :)