Grand Rivers, Kentucky

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Today we pull up the anchor at sunrise traveled 124 NM along the Mississippi River, Ohio River, and the Cumberland River.  We were escorted by a tug through the Olstead Lock which was under construction and Lock 52 as they were pulling up the wickets.  We then locked up 10' on the busiest lock in the U.S., Lock 53 on the Ohio River.  By the time we reached Barkley Lock it was 9:30 p.m. We locked up 57' at night which was an amazing event for us!  We are docked at Green Turtle Marina and Resort, Grand Rivers, Kentucky.

Mississippi River and Ohio River confluence.

Upper half of the photo is the Ohio River.  Lower half is the Mississippi River.  Drastic color change!

This barge was pushing 50 barges!!! 10 wide x 5 deep! CRAZY!

Garmin enjoying the day.

Our escort.

Our Flotilla of 6 boats,  (Photo of the 5 boats being escorted with us.)

This lock has been under construction for so long that birds have a made mud nests under the tower.....

... and debris from previous floods have been deposited on top of the pilings over 20' up.

Lock 52

Crane raising the wickets.

Fort Massac

Alton, Illinois - Day 2

Relaxing day prepping for the next leg of our adventure!  It was interesting watching what was occurring 20' from our aft deck!  It was a bit strange being in a covered slip after so many months of open water and dockage.  I felt very enclosed and uncomfortable in such tight quarters.  Charlie "planted sod" for Garmin so he can "be comfortable" along this stretch.  He may not have opportunities to get to land for many days ahead.  He immediately started digging in the sod....ahh, that's not what's it for, G-Man!

Tomorrow, we are off to tackle the "most dreaded part" of the Great Loop...we won't completely relax for several days until we reach Green Turtle Marina in Kentucky.  We will encounter crowded locks, minimal anchorages with many Loopers needing to anchor also, no marinas, strong currents, huge barges, zero fuel stops.....Hopefully, it's not as awful as everyone says.  Let's do this and get it over with!  We'll make it fun!

Thinking I should be wearing a hard hat while viewing this!  Fortunately, these guys were very skilled and didn't take out 1/2 our boat!  They dropped zero mud on our swim platform!

Alton, Illinois

Perfect travel day! We left at sunrise and were immediately locked through the one lock today.  We had the lock all to ourselves, locking down 10' and were able to float without needing to rope around a bollard or hold a line!  The remainder of the day was easy breezy, relaxing, sunny, mild temps,  minimal traffic, zero issues, surrounded by trees lining the river with wildlife all around!  We traveled. 90.3 NM today and are docked at Alton Marina, Alton, IL.

We reached the most western point of our Great Loop travels today and joined the Mighty Mississippi River!  The landscape changed at this point to beautiful stone cliffs with Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, and Pelicans flying high above us!

Lock all to ourselves!

Lock dam.

Majestic Bald Eagle. Many gave us an air show again today!

Our view for the majority of the day.

Deer along the river bank.

One of many Golden Eagles today.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden_Eagle/id

Migrating American White Pelicans. Love these guys!

Approaching the most western point of our Loop.

One of two ferries today.

Thought we are a bit north for this flag?!

Ferry.

Grafton, IL.

Grafton winery...who knew?!

This camper claimed the island where the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers join.

Mississippi River joining the Illinois on our starboard side.

Hello Missouri and the Mississippi River!

Intersecting buoy.

Tour boat.

Garmin enjoyed the scenery today (for a few minutes, then took another nap).

 Alton, Illinois.