It didn't take long to settle into life at home after 195 days on Tourist. Lawn mowing, weeding, painting, etc. I'm ready to get back on the boat! Pam has gotten reacquainted with Tommy at the nail salon and Patty at the hair salon as well as catching up on all the family happenings. She even went to the latest Harry Potter movie with her mother while I did some of the above mentioned chores. I did have time to get most of the river grime off of Tourist. The picture of the swim platform shows how grungy it was after plowing upstream on the Mississippi for 579 miles.

We got home in time to spend the 4th of July holiday (where else?) on the river with friends watching the fireworks, drinking, and eating. Once the sun goes down it's pretty cool to view all the boats with their lights on waiting for the show. Needless to say it's a mess if you're in the middle of the group. The 4th is one of those holidays that brings out everyone that owns a boat. We generally get a spot on the fringe and stay there all night to avoid the flotilla and not have to worry about drinking and driving.

This past weekend my Chapman's training came in handy once more as I was called to tow in a disabled vessel which had broken down in the main channel of the river with a barge approaching. Later the owner of the vessel decided to do his Bob Marley impersonation thinking that it would suffice for payment. I'd rather have cash but it was entertaining!

Next weekend we take the grandkids on Tourist. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can hit Chestnut Mt. and their alpine slide.

We're Home!

Tuesday 6/30/09 The last day of June and we're not home yet. I thought we would have been boating in our home waters for two or three weeks by now. Oh well! We've been having fun anyway.

We pulled anchor this morning in time to get to the Muscatine Municipal Marina by 8 o'clock to take on diesel fuel. The dock is not manned on a regular basis and a call must be made to get a city employee down there to pump fuel. No sooner did I call and two men showed up to get the fuel for us. Seems they were working on deepening the harbor when the office called them and as such were in close proximity. We took on fuel and got out ahead of the north bound barge that we had passed on our way to the fuel dock. This was our first break of the day because that enabled us to get right into Lock 16 just above Muscatine avoiding a 2 hour wait. Our second break came when we got to Lock 15 in Rock Island, Ill. They locked us through in the auxiliary lock which has been closed for the past few years. Again we avoided a long wait. By 12:30 pm we were arriving at Lock 14 and had to wait only 36 minutes before locking up. Probably the biggest break of the day came at Clinton, Iowa when we were able to get the train bridge to open for us. It seems that every time in recent memory that 100 plus year old bridge has been broken down or we have had to wait for a train coming from Omaha. We cruised on up to Lock 13 and our luck ran out. They had just started a southbound double which meant an hour and a half wait minimum. The anchor was dropped and we got cleaned up for what was going to be the highlight of our trip home once we got to Savanna, Ill. Finally at 5:26 pm we left Lock 13 for the last leg of the days travel.

Once we arrived at Savanna we dropped anchor and launched the raft. We were off to Mannys Pizza. A rough and tumble old bar that serves up the best thin crust pizza and tacos around. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves. This is one place where Pam can out eat me! No small task. You'd swear she was a trucker the way she scarfs the pizza down. It's almost embarrassing.

After returning to the boat we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the rest of the evening with a sundowner.

Wednesday July 1, 2009 Today we slept in which for me means 6 am and for Pam 7. Once underway we backtracked a couple of miles to Island City Harbor in Sabula, Iowa. The winter home for Tourist when she's not roaming the high seas. We took on fuel and off loaded waste before pointing North for the last leg of our journey home. We passed the eagles nest that has been in a dead tree beside the channel for several years. Just as before there was an eagle keeping vigil over the nest. We arrived at Lock 12 in Bellevue, Iowa around 10:45 am and left at 11:30. Lock 12 was the last of 60 lockages we made on this trip. We cruised past Chestnut Mt. ski resort and pulled into Midtown Marina in East Dubuque, Ill. at 1 pm.

Since November 1, 2008 we have travelled 5608.3 statute miles. Burned 5076.3 gallons of diesel fuel. And passed through 60 locks and over 2. Tourist performed like a champion and delivered us safely back home. An oil change and a wash job and she'll be ready to go again!

Travelin North

Sunday June 28, 2009 We had a brief thunderstorm last night which helped to cool things down a degree or two. Since leaving GTB we've had temperatures' consistently in the mid to upper 90's with humidity to match. Hot!!! Today was a get home travel day. We passed through four locks and rose a total of 2'. Took on fuel and travelled 110 miles ending our day in Quincy, Ill. We spent the night tied up to the Quincy Boat Club dock located just above The Adams Pier Restaurant which is built on an old bridge support. The Boat Club dock is an honor system pay format. Get the envelope, put your money in, and drop it through the slot in the door of the building. Just remember to block the gate open that separates the dock from the street when going to pay or you'll be swimming back to the boat. We had cocktails on the back of the boat and watched the parade of boats coming in from a weekend on the river. It's always fun to watch the launch ramp antics after everyone's been soaking up suds and sun and today was no exception!

Monday June 29, 2009 We left Quincy at 6:18 am (yes we left our envelope in the door!) and headed upstream. Morning is one of my favorite times on the river. Calm water and no traffic. It reminds me of making the first tracks in fresh powder from back in my snow skiing days. We made it through four locks again today and only had to wait a total of 1hour 50 minutes. Not bad when you consider that you could wait that long at 1 lock. We passed through our last bollard lock in Keokuk, Iowa and now we're back in the land of I got to get off my butt and handle a stern line in the locks. Our travel today got us to a point 7 miles below Muscatine, Ia. where we anchored outside the buoy line just off the channel. A great spot to block the wind with a killer view down river. Another good day knocking off 119 miles. Only 132 left to go.

Against The Current

Friday 6/26/09 Today we continued our journey against the current. We passed by Cape Girardeau, hometown of Rush Limbaugh and continued on upriver to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River. Just upstream about a quarter mile is Kaskaskia Lock which has a floating lock wall on the downstream side of the lock chamber. In addition to being somewhat unique the wall is available to pleasure boaters to tie to for an overnight stay free of charge! There are no amenities and you can only get off the boat and onto the deck of the wall. Since 911 no one is allowed to go ashore which would mean climbing up a ladder and crossing the lock gates to get to shore. Even so, it's a good, secure spot to spend a night. On the way in to the lock I thought I was going to lose Pam. As she was putting out the fenders and lines she let out a scream that could be heard back in Ft. Myers. Seems I forgot to tell her about the Asian Carp that jump out of the water as the boat passes. These fish can jump at least 6' in the air and they pop up like popcorn all around the boat. She thought she was being attacked! Several fish mistimed their jumps and hit the side of the boat. Once we stopped they went back into hiding.

Saturday 6/27/09 We pulled away from Kaskaskia Lock at 6:55 am and immediately ran the gauntlet of Asian Carp. Guess who screamed again?! Once in the Mississippi we were away from the carp. I guess even they can't swim against the current. We continued North to Hoppies Marina/gas dock at Kimmswick, Mo. and took on much needed fuel. If you remember back in November we stayed at Hoppies and found some great pie at the Blue Owl Cafe. Not this time though, we're headin home. Just for comparison in November the run from Hoppies to Green Turtle Bay consumed 177 gallons of diesel. This time we pumped in 328 gallons.

We continued on to St. Louis passing more moored barges than I have ever seen in my life. Fortunately the debris which is usually prominent in the area was minimal. Quite a bit of it was caught in front of the barges like you can see in the picture. We passed through Lock 27 and rose 7' and then on to Mel Price Lock at Alton, Ill. where we had no rise in water level. You can see in the picture that only one gate was opened for us to enter the chamber and at the other end you can see the gate and the water beyond. The upper gate lowers into the lock and you drive over it. Amazing structures! We continued on to Port St. Charles Marina in St. Charles, Mo. for the night.