We enjoyed the two hour gain in time and this morning we didn’t rush to leave as we were only going 305 km (189 miles). We arrived at Cozy C RV Campground at Bowling Green MO about 1:30 after a quiet drive through central Illinois. We were on I-72 for most of the trip and there was very little traffic, sure do like these kind of days. Cozy C is a nice little campground on Highway 54 just east of Bowling Green, it has very long pull thrus and at this time of year it is quite quiet, only about 6 other RV’s here. The wi-fi isn’t very good, sigh, but I am kind of getting used to that, don’t know if I will be able to post this tonight, I might have to add the pictures later.
Crossing the Illinois River
Court House at Pittfield IL
A Single Windmill
Crossing the Mississippi
When we were checking in I asked the owner about things to do in the area and he mentioned the lock on the Mississippi River at Clarksville was interesting. Now, we had no idea there were locks along the Mississippi but after setting up we headed to Clarksville to check it out and found out that there are 28 locks between Minneapolis/St. Paul and St. Louis and the one we visited was lock no. 24.
We lucked out as there was a barge heading south so we got to watch it going through the lock, it turns out this lock is only 600’ long and the barge was 1200’ so they had to break the barge into two groups to pass through the lock separately, this is called a double lockage and can take up to two hours. We watched the first half go through but didn’t wait for the second half as we wanted to be home before dark but it was very interesting to watch. As the barge was approaching the lock another barge went out and pushed it into line for the lock, the current is so strong the it tends to push the barge away from the lock. There was another barge waiting to go north so it is still a busy time along the Mississippi. I was chatting with a couple of the workers and they said the boats are lowered about 4-5’ in the lock – it doesn’t seem like a lot but I guess it really is.
Dam at Clarksville
Barge Approaching Lock
Entering the Lock
Front of Barge Going By Us
Now They Are In The Lock
They've Been Broken - You Can See the Gate Between the Barges
The First Half Exiting the Lock
Looking Down on Barges In the Lock
Tug Waiting to Enter Lock
Today we had a high of 70F (20C) – sure can’t ask for much better than that for the 7th of November and apparently it is supposed to be like this for about 4 or 5 more days, we sure won’t complain if it stays like this!
Five years ago today we were in an accident on I-95 at Rocky Mount NC, we lost our trailer, two people were killed instantly but John and I weren’t hurt; the Lord was looking after us big time that day and we are so very thankful that we survived and continue to enjoy traveling in our Airstream and finding all these new and wonderful places to visit and enjoy.
John grilled salmon for dinner tonight – it was very yummy and it was a great night for grilling.
And so ends another great gift of a day and we look forward to another good tomorrow.
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