Today we leave the Illinois River and head down the Mighty Mississippi. The current picked up but that is not bad as this will increase our speed without increasing fuel consumption. Not the speed of light but maybe10 - 12 mph! If we were on land.... scooters would be passing us! It's all relative I guess. We enter the Mississippi at mile 218. We will travel along it until Cario (Kay-ro), IL where it meets the Ohio River.
There are pluses to the Mississippi. (I am already tired of spelling this out!) Faster current and the river is wider. Negatives; more wingdams*, fewer marinas or even anchorages and even more tow barges. It appears the people in IL and Missouri prefer to remain apart. This part of the river has few bridges other than railroad bridges, one car ferry. Crazy!
*Wingdams are stone walls created to deflect the river current towards the middle of the river there by eliminating the need to dredge. The river is very low this year and the wingdams are often easily spotted. Good thing, because they could do some major damage! Most of our charts and even the Garmin GPS show their location.
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| Wingdams are usually run perpendicular to the river |
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| This is a 'chevron', more V or U shaped |
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| This wingdam is becoming silted in. The force of the river is pushing the sand to the edges. |
We leave Grafton, IL today for Hoppie's Marina. Interesting bluff are on our port.
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| Grafton |
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| The City of Peoria |
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| This rock has some patriotic graffiti |
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| Bridge at Alton, IL |
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| Locking in at Mel Price Lock The wickets are just starting to show as it closes
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| New bridge under construction north of St. Louis. |
It's hard to believe that there is no place to tie up to and go ashore to visit this city! All this waterfront and not even a temporary dock or barge. So much to see but it is not accessible if you are boating.... what a disappointment! After a few pictures, we moved on downstream.
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| Limelight in front of the arch |
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| American Queen |
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