Alton Harbor to Hoppies, Kimmswick, MO

We had two locks on the Mississippi River today, Mel Price and Chain of Locks, I called the lockmaster last night and the River was closed to commercial traffic until 7:00 AM. That means all the traffic that would normally pass overnight had to wait until morning. This morning we found the lock was available at 7:00 AM, so we got underway at 6:45 to make the lock by 7 and locked straight through. Between the two locks we saw many tows that had locked up through Chain of Rocks. As we entered the Chain of Rocks Channel I called the lockmaster and again we found the lock available and were able to lock straight through. The river flow is quite brisk and we are seeing a 4 mph push, today I saw 12.2 mph when we would normally see 8.2. So we arrived at Hoppies by noon and were able to go to the Blue Owl for lunch, great food in a very special restaurant.Tonight we went to Fern's briefing of the river and our travels the next few days. Then all the Loopers came over to Reunion and we met on the aft deck for decktails and conversation.

The bump is the lock wall, time to lower the pool

The St. Louis skyline

Stan Musial Memorial Bridge

Eads Bridge, the first steel bridge

The Arch

Arriving at Hoppies

Fern helps us land

Blue Owl, Levy High Caramel Pecan Apple Pie

Bakery Desserts

Loopers at Hoppies