Sunday - we were up early and wanted to get going but since we were rafted to Queen Kathleen we didn't want to be inhospitable and wake them up. They had been so kind to allow us to raft. They even said we could stay another day if we wanted to.
Kathy and Mike came out of their cabin when we started the engines. They helped us cast off. I believe they planned to stay another day due to weather. We hadn't seen anything too bad (weather wise) so took off.
We saw sandstone bluffs along the way. We're getting close to Starved Rock State Park.
A fenced in viewing platform is on the top of this bluff overlooking the Illinois River. The park is best known for its fascinating rock formations, primarily St. Peter sandstone, laid down in a huge shallow inland sea more than 425 million years ago and later brought to the surface.
More barges and tows. The Illinois River had them but we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into (the Mississippi River)
I saw these trees along the river banks with roots exposed. The drought reached here as well. In some cases the trees lost all footing and just toppled over. Sad to see as you can speculate that the loss of trees will cause erosion of the soil along the shore.
This was so cool. Hundreds, maybe thousands of pelicans at this point on the Illinois.
We arrived at the channel for Wharf Harbor Marina at Peoria, IL. When we made our reservation, we were told the entrance was shallow but soft on the bottom. I turned into the channel trying to stay in the middle. 'Chunck', we hit something hard but it didn't stop us so kept going. The depth sounder was flashing 3.9ft, who knows what the depth was. I know we were stirring mud. Just kept going slow. Our instructions were to dock on the T-dock at the end of the covered slips which was at the mouth of the harbor. We were to favor the north end of the dock so the boat wouldn't block traffic going in and out. So I slid in went forward while Jerry was on the forward deck. From the next dock, we heard some women shouting "it's a woman driver" "yeah". I backed up so Jerry could lasso the cleats on the dock. No one was around on this dock to help out with lines.
Once we got situated, someone invited us over for a drink. Sounded good to me so we grabbed beer and wine and walked over. We had to get the dock key anyway. Dock B was party central at this marina. They had appetizers, and been at the drinking for awhile. Nice folks. We could have stayed for dinner but opted to try the steakhouse just up from the marina. It had been recommended to us by the Harbor Hosts at Joliet.
We went back to the boat about 7:45, showered then walked to the steakhouse. It is a cook your own steak or for $2.59, they will cook it for you. We let them do the cooking. Food was good, service was great. The name of the place is Alexanders Steakhouse. Funny story, I was going to make reservations. The sign on the building was 'anders steakho'. I looked up Anders Steakhouse and couldn't find anything. Finally looked up steakhouses in Peoria and found Alexanders. (you had to be there)
Oh, the folks on the dock invited us to breakfast for Labor Day (the next day).
Monday - Labor Day - I fixed muffins to take as our breakfast offering. One of the guys is the cook. He had bacon, sausage, hash browns and cook to order eggs. A few others brought stuff, and the Bloody Marys were flowing. It was fun to spend the morning with new friends. One couple is planning to do the loop in about 5 years when she retires. So we provided them with lots of answers to questions.
We spent the rest of the day cleaning the boat and staying cool in the AC. One lady offered to take us to the store. Jerry said something about walking or riding bikes and we were told emphatically that this was not the place to do either. So we resigned ourselves to stay at the marina.
Tuesday - Off about 8:00 this morning. Took it very slow going out and didn't bump anything this time. Passed downtown Peoria, IL
Nice looking paddle boat at the downtown dock.
Peoria Lock at 9:00am. This is an 8ft drop and the first time we'd been offered the option to tie up or float. We opted to float along with Quest.
We left the engines running and it worked just great. It was just the 3 boats in the lock. Stayed far enough away from the others to be comfortable. I wouldn't want to do this everywhere and I know they don't offer this when locking up as the water can boil.
After we passed a large tug, Jerry heard on the radio from a couple of other boats that an Asian Carp had jumped into their dinghy. I went to check and sure enough, so did we. It was really the first time we had seen them and after looking into it, I'm sure it's because they hang out in shallower waters and not so much in the main channel where we spent our time. Some smaller boat owners had told us that they keep old towels in the boat to pick up the bloody mess from the carp and throw the carp, towel and all back in the water. They leave quite a stinky mess.
I cut back to an idle and Jerry donned his life jacket and the boat hook, picked the fish up by the gills and tossed it into the water.
Passed this dredging operation
This rig was crosswise in the channel. We called the captain and asked how he wanted us to pass. There really wasn't room for us to go around so he moved out of way to let us by.
Not many places to anchor along the Illinois River. A tug service offered boaters to tie up to barges. That was our plan for the evening but when we got there, three other boats had taken up most of the space so we continued downriver to check out an anchorage. We heard Goldleaf on the radio and called them to see where they planned to stay this evening. They joined us at Bar Island anchorage. We rafted together and had adult beverages out on the foredeck. It was so good to meet up with them again. They are so close to crossing their wake. We met them November 8, 2011 at Bay Springs Visitor's Center. Then spent some time again with them in Mobile, AL. On and off again after that.
Wednesday - Jerry was up early. I heard him on the sundeck and got up. Everything seemed peaceful and the sun was just coming up. I grabbed the camera and got this shot.
After I took the picture I realized there was a storm off to the east. The wind shifted and was blowing in fast. Jerry knocked on Goldleaf to get Carl and Glenda up and moving. He noticed their anchor wasn't holding (our anchor was holding both boats) and we needed to unraft and get on the river. Maybe get ahead of the storm. Lightning, thunder, wind and rain.
By the time we got to La Grange lock the rain had let up.
The lockmaster handed lines to us at this lock. The wind was still blowing so they put us in front of the building to protect us somewhat. There is Glenda holding the lines for Goldleaf.
Huge silos of a different shape.
The barges are getting bigger and bigger
This one is 3x5. Don't want to meet one of these on a curve in the river which wasn't really an issue on the Illinois.
A railroad bridge that had to open for the barges and remained open for us.
A couple of hours later, the rain started again. We were meeting tugs about every 4 miles. If you look close there is one in the window.
The sun came out. My favorite way to drive the boat, kicking back.
A real fixer upper. Looked like it was a fine vessel in its day.
These guys are having to fight the current in their what looks like a dugout canoe.
And some more pelicans!
More wildlife. An Egret waiting for just the right moment to pounce.
A car ferry crosses the Illinois about 3.5 miles north of Grafton, IL.
We're coming into the marina at Grafton, IL
Several other loopers were already here. We docked close to Goldleaf. This was their starting point of the loop. They planned to spend a couple of days here before heading up the Mississippi to home in Iowa.
About 14 of us gathered together for a celebratory drink toasting Goldleaf for crossing their wake then had dinner at the marina restaurant. We knew all of the loopers except Allen and Peggy on Muriel June, a Grand Banks. Nice boat. We were outside until dinner came then moved inside because the bugs were getting ferocious.
Thursday - Elizabeth, Jeremy and Taylor are meeting us at Port Charles Marina in St. Charles, MO this evening. Yeah!!! Haven't seen them for several months, I can't wait. They are bringing our Expedition so we can shuffle it down the river with us. We are planning to spend at least a month at most of our next few stops.
Hard to get a perspective of the size of this gar, but it and a few others swimming around next to the boat were probably 20 inches long.
We leave Grafton about 9:30. A bittersweet farewell to Goldleaf. They are planning to do some RVing and may join us in Florida this winter. That would be great!
Glenda and Jerry taking pictures of each other as we're going by on our way out.
See ya Carl.
A short trip today. We leave the marina and travel about 10 minutes before we do a sharp right turn. We are now on the MISSISSIPPI River. Keep it in between the buoys as there are weir dikes coming out from the shore. A couple of hours north to the marina. Another boat follows us into the marina. We are looking at the paper chart and at the chartplotter. We pick a spot in between 2 dikes and head towards the marina entrance. Then 'BUMP', we hit something hard. So did Makin Memories, the boat following us. We call the marina, a little late. They would have directed us to come in north of an island that we went south of. Oh well, as far as we know, no damage.
It is shallow though getting into the marina. Pulled up to the fuel dock. Fueled up. They were expecting several other loopers so were having to shift around some boats. We stayed put for the 2 nights we were there. Elizabeth, Jeremy and Taylor arrived a little after 10pm. So good to see them.
Friday - We let the kids sleep in this morning and took laundry to the laundromat. Found one close to a Panera (I know, what a surprise). Back to the boat. The plan today is to position their car at our stop tomorrow so Sunday they can take off from there.
The run on the Mississippi is 218 miles from the Illinois River to the Ohio River where we turn left. There is one stop on the Mississippi at Kimmswick, MO. It's called Hoppie's Marina. They have been here for about 70 years. This is where we will stop with the kids. So this is where we leave their car. We explore Kimmswick, a small town with just a few shops and maybe one restaurant. One of the locals told us that for years, a tour company would run a tour boat and a bus to Kimmswick each week. Those that came on the boat would ride back on the bus and vice versus. Since the water levels have been so low, the tours have stopped and the town is really suffering. We picked up a few neat little things mostly for Taylor. Elizabeth got a new scarf and I got some fun margarita mix.
Dinner on the boat . A quiet evening but lots of fun!
This is the cut between the two islands that we should have taken to come into the marina. I'm not sure why the water looks so blue in this picture, I can assure you it wasn't.
We went through Mel Price Lock and Dam on the Mississippi. Our visitors have never seen a lock so they were impressed by its size.
Coming into St. Louis, this is one of two 400 ft bridge structures for the new Mississippi River Bridge. The bridge will connect downtown St. Louis and southwestern Illinois. Poplar Street Bridge currently carries three interstates including I-70. This project will relocate I-70 traffic from the Poplar Street Bridge to the new Mississippi River Bridge. It should open for traffic in 2014.
Bridges across the Mississippi with the arch in the background.
Some bluffs on the Mississippi River. The house on the bluff was cool looking. What a view!
Taylor at the helm. Papa instructing. She did pretty good on this big curvy river. We traveled 63 miles today. Had a wonderful time including the kids in this part of our journey. 
Arriving at Hoppies. This marina is right on the river. It's been around for about 70 years. Fern and Hoppie run the place with their daughter. The current is about 3mph so I had to go past and come back up river to dock in between two other boats. It's hard to imagine how this place has survived. It is just barges rafted together anchored to land with cables. Pretty crude arrangement but a welcome site knowing there isn't anyplace to stop for another 40 miles. 
Just wanted to give a perspective of how crude Hoppies is. Only as wide as a single barge with junk strewn all over. 
That's Wind Song to the left. 
This is the gathering place for the "Fern" talks. She is a heavy smoker so the obvious need for the ashtray. 
Here we are at the Kaskaskia Lock wall. Tuff eNuff (sailboat) is rafted to Murial June. I believe they did this so there would be room for us as well. Nice. Several work boats were tied to the wall in front of Muriel June so space was at a premium. Also, there were no cleats so we had to borrow lines from Muriel June to tie to the railing over 50 ft from the boat. It worked, thanks to their help. They also invited everyone over for docktails this evening. We discussed an early morning departure since it would be a long day.
A picture from the bridge sitting at Kaskaskia Lock. At the speed we travel we knew it would be a long day so wanted to get going early. Discussed our departure time with the crew of other two boats so we could sort of travel together. 
Sunrise was 6:36 but the fog stayed with us until after 7am.
Oh, did I mention that it was cold. I layered, grabbed my coat and gloves and was still chilled. We opened the windows to watch for floating logs as well as on-coming traffic. We were a couple of hours in before the fog lifted.
This shows the significant current against the buoy. Based on the GPS speed vs the water speed, we were getting about 3-5 mph help going downstream.
This tug had what looked like 24 barges (4x6). Most must have been empty.
Some shoreline along the Mississippi
This was a narrow spot. We waited while the tow got around the curve. 
Cape Girardeau waterfront.
The bridge at Cape Girardeau
Little Diversion Channel used to be a great anchorage but isn't an option with the low water levels. 
It's about 4:30pm. We've traveled the Mississippi to where it meets the Ohio River. At this point, we make a left turn and cross under the bridge at Cairo, IL. Once we make the turn, our GPS speed drops from about 12.0-7.5mph. Bummer!
All the activity in the distance is the building of the new Olmsted lock which will replace both lock and dam numbers 52 and 53. And what we find the next day at these two locks, it's long overdue.
