Finally the day arrived and we shoved off. Of course life on the Upper Mississippi means traversing the lock system put in place in the 30's and still operational today. Being a pleasure craft we are the lowest wrung on the ladder when it comes time to lock through and sure enough our first lock proved that when we had to wait an hour for a towboat and barges to lock downstream. Once able to enter the lock we had the whole chamber to ourselves.
The temperature was pushing 90 degrees as we followed the meandering channel north making a brief stop at Guttenberg for fuel before locking through Lock 10. Just above lock 10 we passed a huge pile of sand which had recently been dredged from the main channel of the river.
Continuing on traffic was light with no commercial traffic at all as we passed by the caves near Clayton, Iowa. Reportedly they use these caves for storage of some sort.
A few miles more and we arrived at our anchorage for the night. Garnet Lake near Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin. Pam helped top off the day by bringing out some delicious cowboy ribeyes that she had purchased for the occasion. Kim did the grilling honors. And of course a cocktail or two may have been consumed! The perfect end to a great day on the water.
Day 2 found Kim and I up early and with coffee ready we hit the trail by 7am. Cool and quiet, morning is one of my favorite times to be on the water.
A few fishermen and a lot of quiet water was all that we saw on the way to Lock 9.
Once through the lock the channel wanders back across the wide expanse of water to the Iowa shore and into the river town of Lansing.
We made a pit stop in Lansing for ice and a few supplies before continuing on. Once again the channel moves back to the Wisconsin side and Lock 8 at Genoa where we were joined by a few other boats as we locked through.
Once again we work our way back to what is now the Minnesota side of the river and on to our destination for the evening in a sand pit just above Brownsville, Minn.
The next morning we experienced another beautiful sunrise as we got underway again.
We passed through Lacrosse, Wi. and also Lock 7 without any delays. While in the chamber of 7 the lockmaster told us of a northbound tow that had just locked through. Once out of the chamber we picked up the pace and got past the tow with enough time to get to Lock 6 and lock through before him.
Next up was Lock 5A near Winona. We were on a roll. Not running hard but making good time.
Again we slipped right through and on to Lock 5 about 12 miles away. We made it in time to catch a northbound lockage and on we went.
Originally we had thought about spending the night in another sand pit near Alma, Wi. which we had stayed in before but the forecast was calling for storms through the night and with the good time we were making we decided to push on. The decision proved to be a good one since the pit that we had thought about was now filled in with dredge spoil.
Arriving at Lock 4 we had a 1 hour wait for a northbound tow to finish locking so we pulled off to the side and dropped the anchor between 2 wing dams. Apparently seeing us there attracted another boater to come over. Unfortunately for him he didn't notice the disturbed water from the wing dams and drove over the top of one with considerable grinding noise coming from the prop as it tried to slice though the rocks. Ouch!
Once through 4 we had only a few miles to Wabasha and Parkside Marina (www.parksidemarina.com) our home for the night. Undecided about dinner we came to the conclusion that we could make it to Slippery's (www.slipperys.com) and back before the rains came.
We enjoyed our meal and the short walk back and forth. After being on the boat for almost 3 straight days we were all happy to have a brief bit of exercise.
Apparently the front that was supposed to come through slowed down out west of us but was still forecast to hit in the next day. With the forecast in hand we left Wabasha in the cooler temperatures that arrived before the weather. And I mean like 30 degrees cooler! It's August. It's supposed to be hot and humid! None of us was totally prepared in the clothing department. Pam ended up wearing the sweatshirt that I had packed.
Just a short distance north of Wabasha we passed Reed's Landing and entered Lake Pepin, the largest lake on the Mississippi. Pepin covers some 40 square miles and averages 21' in depth. With a long open area Lake Pepin can get nasty in stormy times.
A few miles north of Lake City we pulled into Hansen's Harbor (www.hansensharbor.com) for some of the lowest priced diesel on the river at 2.99 a gallon. Hansen's is mostly a sailboat marina but with a well stocked ship's store and a well protected harbor and a friendly attentive family staff. It's nothing fancy but we always enjoy our brief stops when passing this way.
Filled up and pumped out we re-entered the lake for the remaining miles before we got back into the narrower river.
As we entered a short straight stretch of river we caught sight of a scene from the past. Steamboat's a comin! Slowly emerging around the corner ahead came the American Queen. A 418' replica of an old time steamboat built in 1995 complete with a working paddlewheel. (www.americanqueensteamboatcompany.com)
Kim and I have both been on the river since our childhoods and have fond memories of seeing the Delta Queen (currently retired) make the Upper Mississippi trip many times. Seeing this boat stirred up all of those memories.
Only a few miles more and we were coming into Red Wing.
We had made reservations at the Red Wing Marina (www.redwingmarina.com) which is located close to downtown and in the same basin as the famous Red Wing Boathouse Village.
As is usually the case anywhere we have travelled the boaters in the surrounding slips come out to lend a hand when docking. It was no different here. Cary from the next slip was there to grab a line. Once settled we began talking about where we were from and where we were headed. We told him one of the places we wanted to visit was Afton to dine at The Afton House. Further conversation revealed that we both were friends of the Afton House owners, Gordy & Kathy. He from Afton and us from wintering at Legacy where we our boats are on the same dock. Cary went so far as to offer us the use of his slip at the Afton Yacht Club for the night we planned on stopping. A very nice offer which we took advantage of later in the trip.
Dinner for the evening was on the boat with Kim using both of his grills. As usual it was dark out by the time we got around to cooking.
We had a down day the next day as the storm front came through. It rained hard all day keeping us in the boat. By the time we realized we needed more ice Cindy, the marina owner had gone home. Undaunted Kim called her cell number to see if she was coming back since we were still within the posted hours of operation. She apologized and said she wasn't returning but told him where the key to the ice locker was hidden and to take what he needed and settle up in the morning. That's the kind of hospitality we have always experienced at this marina and one of the reasons we come back.
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