Day 101 Buckhorn Island to Alton Tuesday August 28, 2018

Day 101 Buckhorn Island to Alton Tuesday August 28, 2018

The full moon was out and beautiful last night. The temperature stayed warm. The day was sunny and temperatures again rose to the low 90s with a moderate amount of humidity. The "feels like" temperature index was down from 106 yesterday to 103 today! Breezy day again was relief.

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With no locks to worry about we could plan the run to Alton Marina. It was about 60 miles. And an exciting part of the trip is we would join the Mighty Mississippi River!!.

First off, the ride was very scenic on the remainder of the Illinois River, but with the scenery comes a price - no cell phone coverage since the middle of yesterday to just below the junction with the Mississippi. Some would say that is a good thing.

The sun came up bright again. It promised to be another hot one. I think it is hot even for the locals based on comments from some of the folks we would meet in Alton. But we have sun screens for the cabin windows that make a huge difference in keeping the cabin cool and the breeze was again in our face so the comfort level was fine.

The scenery was very nice most of the way down. Little to no development along the banks. Mostly due to the land being floodplain - especially on the left side.

 And we had barge traffic, but the river was wide and passing was no problem.

 And can anyone guess which tow barge this is?

 Why it's the Big D of course.

This is Grafton - just before the junction with the Mississippi

 The Grafton Marina - glad be decided to press on to Alton - about 10 more miles

You are looking at the junction of the Mississippi ahead

 And here it is

 I turned 180 degrees and this shot is looking back up the Mississippi

 The most dramatic thing is the beautiful sandstone bluffs for quite some distance - the barges are in the way ruining that National Geographic shot - but this will do - and there are barges everywhere. Makes you wonder about getting through the locks in my little PC (pleasure craft as the lock-masters call us)

The Spirit of Peoria - a tour boat that we  had to come from Peoria to here to see. It is a real paddle-wheeler.

The approaching view of Alton is dominated by the grain elevators and the casino boats - docked there seemingly permanently.

And then the "new"  Clark bridge. Built in 1993 - almost ready for a new one.

The flag is at half staff for Senator John McCain - a hero in my book if not the President's.

 
After getting tied up at Alton we walked to dinner. Here are a few shots from the shore side.

It is hard to see, but the Mel Price lock is just below the bridge.

So the work on the blog has taken a fair amount of time so I shall say.....

Good Night and May God Bless