Today, the plan is to hang out at Grafton Harbor for a few hours since we only had about 58 miles to travel to our next stop. This would give us time to use the Courtesy Van to restock on groceries and such.
Jim and I went inside to borrow the van and were given some crude directions on a piece of paper on how to get to Walmart which was about 10 miles away. As it turns out, we were pretty much in a rural area surrounded by fields. There was no good cell service so thank goodness for the paper directions! We found our way to Walmart. When we got out of the van, Jim was sure to tell me to lock my door so I did. When we returned to the van, we learned that all of the other doors remained unlocked because they all had manual locks. Haven't seen a vehicle like that in a while!
We loaded up the van and headed back. We found our way with little problem. We found a BP near the Marina and bought gas for the van and returned the keys. (It is customary to top off with gas on return of the courtesy car.). Capt Bart had the boat ready to be fueled up to leave. We departed about 13:00 and headed for Hoppie's in Kimmswick, MO.
We arrived at Melvin Price Lock (200.8 MM) about 14:00. This is our entry into the Mississippi River. There was a 3x5 barge ahead of us. It took about an hour and a half for the Tug to breakdown the 15 barges to fit in the 600x110ft lock and then clear out for our entry. We left the lock around 15:30.
An hour later, we reached the Chain of Rocks Lock 15 miles down river. It was only a 12ft drop so we were in and out in about 15 minutes. It's now 16:25 and we only have 27 miles to go to reach Hoppie's, our overnight stay.
We found the Mississippi River to be slow going. There was significant barge traffic and lots of debris floating in the water that we wanted to avoid. We made our way on down to Hoppie's (158.5 MM) arriving after sunset at 15:20. Hoppie's was another new experience. It consisted of one long lateral dock. Our spot was to tie up next to the fuel stations. Hoppie's looked pretty busy with not many spots left.
We met the folks that docked behind us. It was a couple from Illinois. They sold everything they owned except what they had with them on their boat. They had a 6 year old child onboard along with their dog. They were starting the Great Loop.
We ate on the boat tonight as there were no nearby restaurants.
Sunrise at Grafton Harbor.
Jim driving the courtesy van out through the countryside on our way to Walmart.
Fields as far as you could see.
Selfie with the ship store and restaurant behind us at Graphton Harbor.
Chain of Rocks Lock - 12ft drop
Leaving Chain of Rocks Lock
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