St. Louis to the Quad Cities August 15-22, 2013

Heading north.  We were very impressed with the owners of the Two Rivers Marina---they were expecting a big crowd Labor Day weekend, and the working guys opened each power pedestal and vacuumed out the spiderwebs; then scrubbed the pylon with a fingernail brush!  Holy cleanliness, Batman (Ben Affleck, of course)!

The marina owner, has  all the toys: a small tug, a dredge, a party boat he built in his machine shop, and a restaurant in Louisiana---MO, that is. I wonder if he also has a headache or two from time to time from owning a marina and a resturant.  Bless him.

Sing ho for the locks!  They create lakes and slow the current we faced in the goofy 200.  Two locks and a railroad swing bridge (which must swing open if it is too low for us to pass under) seem to be the order of most days.  We’ve been lucky with locks---most of the time we drive right in.   There are no floating bollards, and the lift is usually less than 15’, so with lines fore and aft we ride up easily.  Of course we learned this by attempting to use one central line as we do with a floating bollard.  Doesn’t work as the wind in the Midwest is as I remember it from my childhood in SD. Strong and unpredictable.  Two lines per lock from now on.

One of the interesting boats we passed was the huge Army Corps of Engineers towboat, the MISSISSIPPI.  Here is what Wikipedia says about it:

The M/V Mississippi is a working towboat for the USACE Memphis District. Ninety percent of the time it is moving barges, equipment and supplies in support of mat sinking operations. It also serves as an inspection boat for the Mississippi River Commission (MRC) during a high- and low-water inspection trip each year. Commissioners hold meetings at river towns in the boat's hearing room, which can seat 115 people. Its dining room has a capacity of 85 people. The boat has 22 staterooms and can handle 150 passengers. The Corps also uses it as a "giant floating ambassador".^[1]

Whew.  Emphasis on the 'giant' part.

A fun stop was the Keokuk, IA Yacht Club.  Lots going on there.  We slid easily into their fuel dock, where 2 fellows helped with lines.  One said  of the other: “Be sure he’s careful with his hands---he’s a surgeon”.  To which the surgeon replied, “I’d rather take out an appendix than drive that thing!”

The NINA and the PINTA were docked at Keokuk. They’re Brazil built exact replicas of the boats ol' Chris crossed the Atlantic with, way back when.   They also had an exciting night on the River---rafted together overnight while tied to an island when they couldn’t reach a safe harbor.  The Mississippi is unforgiving. 

Vic, the first mate on the Nina, left a Sacramento, CA computer company (and much bigger bucks) to sail on the Nina.  He’s never looked back---has enjoyed seeing the Great Loop 4 times, Panama Canal, Alaska and the San Juans, and many South American countries.  Their next stop is Green Turtle Bay in KY.  Google will get you more info.

The River was still as a millpond when we left in the morning.  The day was filled with tow boats, locks, and railroad bridges with and without trains.  Two of the RR swing bridges swing onto lock walls.  That sight was a first for us.

Our marina choice for one evening didn’t put their docks in the water this year.  Times have been tough.  Second choice had 0.0 feet of water at the entrance.  Not hardly enough, so Fred rocked us back off the bottom with the bow thruster, and we crossed the River to anchor behind an island, near Burlington, IA.

Next morning, we were ready to go at 6:30 am (can you believe it?) but the fog was waaaaaay too thick.  So we relaxed over breakfast on the back deck and enjoyed watching it burn off.

As we approached Lock #17 after lunch, we saw about 8 olive drab fishing boats rafted together in the middle of the river.  

Turns out the huge crowd of boats and people we’d seen a few miles before were at an $8.00 Boat and Breakfast party.  As soon as the lock opened, those 8 plus 9 other little go-fast boats joined us inside, and by the time we left the lock (last, of course) they were all out of sight.  Hooray for gas guzzlers---keep the economy rolling!

At 5:30 pm we graded our way into the Muscatine, IA marina,(0-2’ of water) and tied up in a slip that was wide enough but about 10’ too short for us.   Any port, they say….

Did you know that Muscatine was the Pearl Button Capitol of the world?  We didn’t either.  It was Sunday, so we missed the museum, but we did see the oysterman statue---oysters and

mussels: their shells were harvested and holes punched out to create buttons.  We’re told that discarded shells with perfect circles punched out can be found all along the shore.

Needless to say the industry has waned.  Check your buttons.  Mother of pearl?  I think not.  Plastic?  Probably.

Next day we continued up the River ansd crossed from Muscatine, IA to Moline, IL. 

Big brother Gene (he’s 10 years older than me and recently widowered after 62 years of marriage) took us out to dinner on Monday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we maxed our time together, drank coffee, shopped, visited the riverside hot dog vendor, just hung out.  Priceless.   Later this month Gene, a Korean War pilot who flew--and survived—100 missions over North Korea, armed only with a camera for photo reconnaissance, will be flown to Washington, DC as part of an Honor Flight.  Veterans, each with a chaperone, will spend the day visiting the war memorials.  A full 747 will leave Moline, IL airport at the crack of dawn, and return the vets in the evening.  Very special!   His comment----“they’ve seen my resume, right?  Do you think they’d let me drive?”  

Our last evening in Moline, after Gene had driven back to his home in Geneseo, IL, boat neighbors Scott and Laurie took us on an auto tour of the Quad Cities--- Rock Island and Moline, IL along with Davenport and Bettendorf, IA.

We saw the John Deere factories and research centers and well, John Deere is all over the Quad Cities. 

There is also much Civil War history there---including a POW camp and Veterans cemetery on the Rock Island Arsenal (where Gene spent a good deal of his career—at the arsenaal, not the cemetery….), and of course, the depot for the Rock Island Line---a mighty good line.

Capped the evening with a great dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant.  And the next morning we were off.

John and Laurie, Linda and Fred

A recount of the trip from the Quad Cities to the Twin Cities will be forthcoming.   In the meantime, be well and remember to breathe!