We got up early this morning knowing that it could be a very long day. There aren’t many marinas or anchorages along this stretch of the Mississippi, and we needed to go 59 miles and through 2 locks to reach Hoppies. Hoppies is a ‘must do’ for every Looper. Fern and her husband own this place and live on site. For every group of people stopping by she gives a little class on what to expect for the rest of the river trip.
We picked up another boat to add to our growing fleet. Cruising Buff joined us (with Passport and Footloose) for this stretch of the river. We met Cruising Buff in the Trent-Severn and it was good to see them again.
The topography is starting to change from flatlands to hill country, bluffs with beautiful curved rock, eroded and sculpted by nature. There are also many duck blinds on the river. Yesterday we saw some people constructing one. We aren’t sure when duck hunting season starts, but we wouldn’t like to be on the river then.
Both locks today had auxiliary chambers. We were able to get in the first lock very quickly. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the second lock. This area of the river has a lot of barge traffic.
We went through St. Louis. We got pictures of the arch and of several casinos on water. There were many barges and tows in the St. Louis area. We met several and passed a couple. The slide show pictures are those of all the scenery down and through St. Louis, including Our Lady of The River Shrine Light.
We really made good time today. With the current we hit 12.7 mph once and arrived at Kimmswick, MO. At 2 p.m. We had our meeting with Fern. She advised us of problem spots on the Mississippi, places to anchor and reminded us to have enough water on board since we won’t have a marina, diesel, water, restaurant or any other comforts for 270 miles!!!
2 locks – total 85
