Floyd couldn’t resist the urge to pass…so we arrived at Hoppies Marina first. Looked about the same…but not near as intimidating our first landing there three years ago…and we landed twice this time…after getting fuel, Fern had us move up betwe…

St Louis…looking good!!! That arch is something else, isn’t it??? Oh, and notice that new bold gold burgee flying on the bow of the TUMBLEWEED…the other boaters noticed!!!

We spent the rest of the day traveling with BOREAS and BRANDY IV, fellow loopers…even though we didn’t really meet them til that evening at Hoppies Marina. Chain of Rocks canal…been there, done that…wasn’t near as scary as last time…I mean, it…

And, of course, more tow boats…and barges barges everywhere…

Mel Price Lock and Dam was our first lock three years ago…looming sooooo large ahead of us…this time nothing to worry about…and there were even two other boats there when we arrived…piece of cake!!! we felt like pros! Though we did notice the a…

Most people are quick to say that these cliffs between Grafton and Alton on the Mississippi River are the prettiest part and I’ll agree to that. Our other favorite is the Our Lady of the Rivers…she looked gorgeous at sunrise…and yes, we said a pray…

Oh, the mighty Mississippi…barges, tows, rocks, eddys, current, mud, odor, logs…really nothing pretty about it. I can’t say that I was looking forward to a repeat of this part of our LOOP…we knew what it was gonna be like…and it was. We had th…

we spent the day of Sept 6 resting…generator was tuned up a bit and just a couple of small laundry loads…other than that it was a very LOW key day. Ann and Bob Kallemeier showed up and insisted that we join them for supper…that was a no-brainer. …

And so PART 2 begins…as we head south to our new marina, we’ll be re-visiting those first scary days of LOOPING…we were and still are amazed!!!