We departed at 0700, enroute to Hoppies Marina, located 62 miles down the Mississippi.  Lucked out and drove right into open doors of the Melvin Price Lock at Alton, Illinois.  Got through, moving on downstream to the Chain of Rocks Lock just on the north side of St. Louis.  Had to pass a tug and barges in the narrow canal and got to the lock only to wait and circle for a hour, then got through. During the canal transit we stirred up a pile of flying carp which provided entertainment for Beth and Joe. It was an opportune time to rest up for the "meat grinder" that is St. Louis Harbor.

This is obviously Joe doing his "Resting". Speaking of Joe and his ability to make friends, as we passed under one of the bridges in St Louis, we heard a voice coming from out of thin air, it was two MoDOT workers, working under a bridge, they told us that we were "living the life".
  There were Tugs and barges going every which direction, really churning the water up into 3-4 foot waves.
This is one of the piers for the new I-70 Bridge across the Mississippi,

 and of course the Gateway to The West: The Arch!
We finally got to Hoppies, Fern, the 39 year veteran of running the place assisted us tie up for fueling.  We then received her mandatory briefing on the frightening aspects of our further journey down the river.  No it really is not Tom.


Also attending the "Briefing" were "Wisconsin Al" and his extended family.  Theirs was the fourth generation of family to be part of this boat, and I do mean "part of it", his parents ashes were mixed into the epoxy that they used to rebuild the dashboard of this unit.
Hoppies Marina is one of the "Famous" must stop places on the river, it is pretty rustic, with total exposure to passing tug/barge wakes.  Sleeping this evening will be exciting.
This tug and barges sat off our starboard side for 30 minutes just maintaining its position in the middle of the river, wondering what was up, a local told us that they were doing a "Shift Change", swapping out several crew members for their 30 day stint on board,

They appear to be happy to  be going to sea for 30 days.

We sail at dawn for we have 120 miles to go.
See You tomorrow.