Gammel Dansk Floating in Lock Chamber

Nordic Tug Gammel Dansk (Old Dane) floating in the lock chamber --
Mary tending the lines and fenders.

The Gammel Dansk has a wine cellar that now contains a wide mouth fruit jar of “Shine” and some Kentucky Bourbon. He haw!  However, Mary has banned me from sippin' rum, shine or Makers Mark bourbon while at the helm. We are traveling on Kentucky Lake. The Lake is 150 miles long. Nice, flat, no maddening current like the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. It will take three days of trawler speed to get to our destination:  Paris, Tennessee.
Will send photos next of the Eiffel Tower. 

St. Louis and the Gateway Arch

The Gammel Dansk arrives in St. Louis!

Passing Under the Eads Bridge, St. Louis

The tiny Gammel Dansk passing under the Eads Bridge. 

The Eads Bridge was built in 1874 by Andrew Carnegie. It was the world's first bridge constructed of steel. It is 6000 feet long, and connects St. Louis, Missouri, with East St. Louis, Illinois.

Barge Tow at Night -- Happy Halloween!

Barge tow at night on the Mississippi River.  Scary -- or is this just
Dan's view of barge traffic on the river?

Can I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?

The Gammel Dansk in the chamber with buddy Loopers -- sharing the
lock ride down to the lower river level.

Fall Colors Near Alton, Illinois

Fall colors along the Illinois side of the river as the Gammel Dansk
and crew head toward the lock at Alton, Illinois.

Bronze Settlers

Dan and Tori check out the cool bronze statue collection of settlers
complete with their horses and covered wagon.

Depth Gauge at Lock and Dam #21

The water had been at 29 feet the week before they closed
this lock in Quincy, Illinois.

Looper Navy at Night

This is the 4:30 am view of our Great Looper Navy of 3 boats at the docks of the Quincy Boat Club on the Mississippi River in Quincy, Illinois.

Lock and Dam #20

Gammel Dansk gets a 28-foot ride down in the lock chamber at
Lock and Dam #20 at Keokuk, Iowa.

Below is Lock and Dam #20 filled with trees and debris from the flooding being cleared from the river.

Flying our Colors

This is how we have been traveling with our colors flying:  
Our Bainbridge Island Eagle Harbor Yacht Club burgee,
our Seahawks pennant and our Washington State flag.
The curious like to know why. We tell them the reason for our flags flying proudly is to show where our hearts still live. 

Here are the friendly flotilla members who took the picture above:

Dining with the Flotilla Crew

The crew of our 4-boat flotilla at our evening meal at

Big Muddy's in Burlington, Iowa.

We are comparing notes and sharing stories of the day's events
during our 72 mile water journey.

Barge Crewman

This crewman stood on a northbound barge headed as we exited
Lock #18 headed south.

American Pickers

Mary, Dan and Tori the Seeing Eye Dog visit the home base of the History Channel’s American Pickers TV show in LeClaire, Iowa  

Waiting In Rock Island, Illinois

The moon rising in Rock Island, Illinois

We have been off the river at a marina in Rock Island, Illinois the past two weeks due to the Mississippi River being above flood stage. The locks downriver have been closed to ALL north and south bound Commercial and recreational traffic. If the Good Lord's willing and the river don’t rise, we may begin southbound travels on Thursday morning. We have met other Looper boats, so we will be traveling in a group of 4 boats.