Well I got my wish, it has indeed cooled down. You’re all welcome too 😁. Last Wednesday we woke up to thunder and rain. It was just a light rain so we decided to push on. Further south we had to wait at the next lock for a barge to get through. The lock operator said it would be a while so we dropped the anchor and hung out. Once through it was getting late so we consulted our list of good anchor spots. We found a shallow spot behind an island and set up for the night. We were still exposed from the up river side, and a few barges passing by gave us a good rocking. The surrounding banks were soupy mud from the rain, so Skia was a disaster after going ashore. But we made it through the night and Thursday we kept pushing on.

The river seems to be a popular spot for predatory birds. We saw bald eagles, turkey vultures and tons of pelican.

We had planned on aiming for Grafton but the marina there never called us back. Meanwhile, as we are going along I started to smell burning. Don opens the engine compartment and smoke pours out. We slowly pulled off to the side of the river just outside the channel and drop the anchor. Don checked on things and realized it was raw water belt tensioner that was blown, and the belt had shredded. Luckily we had replacement parts for both on board. After letting the engine cool a bit we were able to get them swapped out. Just barely getting it done before a tow we had passed earlier caught back up to us. While working on that, Steve and Ann from New Adventure must have seen us on Nebo and told us to stop at Mel’s River Dock for BBQ and pie. After our bout of fun with the belt, pie sounded like just what we needed. Since Grafton didn’t get back to us we decided to go all the way to Alton, IL where New Adventure was, which would put us on the Mississippi river.

When we got to where the Illinois river meets the Mississippi you could see the division of the water. The Mississippi being a smidge clearer.

Steve and Ann met us at our slip in the marina, turns out they were right behind us, and invited us to dinner at Fast Eddie’s Bon Air. A locally famous spot for your 21st Birthday as the whole place is 21 and over with cheap eats. For a $5 cheeseburger we were impressed with the size and quality. They also had endless free popcorn 😄🍿.

The docks at the Alton Marina were covered, but these were A LOT nicer. Friday morning we actually slept in for the first time on the trip. When we got up we took Skia for a walk to Duke’s Bakery, which was very good. We got back to the boat just as it started to rain. That gave us the chance to catch up on the new seasons of some shows. Later we went to dinner at The Old Bakery Brewery. As it’s name suggests it was an old bakery factory turned into a brew pub. They had very good food! Some of the best soft pretzels we’ve had, this AMAZING raspberry jalapeno sauce and their salad dressing reminded me of Spot’s back in Buffalo, which is my favorite.

In the wee hours of Saturday we were woken up by someones boat alarm. A few hours later, I got up and went to a hair salon to get rid of the funky highlights the sun had given me. On the way back I stopped at the farmers market and got some mini pumpkins 😄. Had to get my Fall fix. Checked out some of the local shops and then we did some trip planning all the way to Nashville.

Sunday I had found what looked like a good place to watch the game that shall never be mentioned again 😡. Mac’s Downtown, was an interesting sports bar. Better than the last by far. One long side was completely open with plants everywhere. There were tv’s lining the walls with every game on, and the food was good.

On the way back we stopped at the 1904 General Store for some ice cream. At the marina, Eric’s Inheritance and The Grand Wazoo had arrived. We made plans for dinner with them and a new couple on a Nordic Tug, Second Chance.

Monday we walked up to the grocery store, came back and did laundry at the marina, with machines that actually worked this time. I took Skia for a walk and Don set up a meeting for everyone that planned to leave the next day. Ten boats gathered to discuss a travel plan. There were two more locks on the Mississippi, the first just one mile away. That evening we went back to The Old Bakery Brewery with Eric’s Inheritance, whose anniversary it was, the Grand Wazoo, and Second Chance. I was able to get a to go container of the raspberry jalapeno sauce! 😄😋.

Tuesday all who planned on leaving were up early. One of the boats called the lock and they said there were two Tug and barges coming down and once the second passed the marina we should head out and we would be able to get through. Once at the lock we still had to wait a while, but the current kept us all floating in place. After getting through both locks, we would be passing St. Louis. We coordinated with Off Leash to take pictures of each other passing by the arch.

We all planned on stopping at Hoppies, which is the last place to get fuel for the next 200 miles. They were an interesting place. Just a few old barges tied together. With limited space we ended up rafting to Off Leash. That night the manager also gave us a mini information session, which changed some plans because of the low water level. Some previously good anchor spots were not currently available.

Being out in the open on the river made for a rough night. Several of the giant barges went by in the middle of the night and we were jolted awake each time by the violent rocking of the boat. I swear one time I even had to brace myself while still lying in bed.

So after a not so restful night, this morning we all set off together again. We ended up passing one of the huge barges with 15 containers and kicking out such waves it was like being back on the Great Lakes. We could see why we were thrown about so much in the night. We all came to the Kaskaskia river, having to go up a lock we will just come back down tomorrow. It wasn’t that far but the next good anchor spot was too far to make it comfortably in one day. We in particular are in fuel conservation mode, so not going super fast. The Kaskaskia is a jut off of the Mississippi but calmer without the large barge traffic. There is a boat ramp and small dock to be able to get the dingy to for Skia to get ashore, with a nice park area. A good spot to just enjoy the day. Hopefully only a few more days on the river.