ON THE WATERWAYS AGAIN!

Like ole Willie Nelson, we’re on the road again…….. ……….
We pulled the boat out from under it’s shady resting spot in the Alton marina and into the Mississippi River on Sunday morning September 23rd. After traveling through the two St. Louis locks (Mel Price and Chain of Rocks), under Eads Bridge, past the Arch, and down river for forty two miles, we reached our destination, Hoppies Marina (marina is stretching it) in Kimswick where we sat for the next two days. It seems that our first week underway is always exciting, but this first week wasn’t as bad as the first week last spring. Upon arrival Sunday afternoon, we received a phone call from our neighbor’s daughter saying there was a leak in her Mothers unit that was coming from above, which was our condo. SO, on Monday we got a rental car and drove back to check things out. There was nothing we could find to indicate it came from our place and we made arrangements that would reassure our elderly neighbor that things were O.K. Back to Hoppies! By then the weather forecast wasn’t sounding at all promising, with strong winds and rain expected, so we delayed our departure until Wednesday morning. Because all cruisers talk about their stay at Kimswick and the friendly folks that run the marina, we were most anxious to meet them in person. Fern and Hoppie are a couple who have been greeting and helping cruisers on the Mississippi for many years. Hoppie was injured a few years ago in an accident at the marina, and Fern has almost single-handedly been running the whole operation. She holds briefing sessions about the river and various potential anchoring points. Since their marina is one of the very last spots for fuel and shelter before Kentucky Lakes, her information is important. By the way, Hoppie is the last surviving river man who lit lamps as a young man, for night navigation, as did his father before him. They are an amazing couple. The pictures are of their marina which consists of three old barges near Kimswick, and that’s Fern.