We waved good-bye to Hoppies at 6:30 this morning to get an early start down the Mississippi River. The morning had some fog.
The sun tried to break through. We saw this plant with its smoke stack split in half by the fog.
The fog hung on the limestone cliffs with the train below it.
Mining the stone is important industry here. This quarry was so huge I could not get it all into one picture. The plant barely fit in this picture.
The quarry was further along.
The trains run along to take some of the rock. We passed our largest tow yet. It was filled with rock and was 5 barges wide and 6 barges deep.
As if that wasn't enough, it had another barge off the side, that carried 3 of those big rock carrying dump trucks and a front loader.
It is amazing it all floats!!!
We were doing 110 miles today. If that sounds like a lot for us, it is!! We normally go 7.5 knots, but with the Mississippi current we were going between 11.5 and 12.5. We were still dodging all sorts of branches and trees. It felt like we were dancing down the river.
We passed Cape Girardeau with its decorated flood wall.
There was a mansion on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi there too.
Our stopping spot for the night was Little Diversion Creek. There were three other looper boats tucked in with us for the night. This butterfly landed on the spotlight while anchoring.
On TV tonight, we got the news, weather, and ads for Mt. Vernon, Indiana. Although, we will not stay on the Ohio long enough to go back to our old stomping grounds, it was fun to hear the references.
Tomorrow, we will finish the Upper Mississippi and turn onto the Ohio River.
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