Day 9 Friday

   I will try to catch up a bit as the Internet has been spotty, or we got in too late!  We have been making very good time averaging 6.5 knots over water but 11-13 knots over land with the current.  We have had great weather knock on wood!, NO WIND!  Locks, have all have been very timely, except a few with an hour plus wait.  Wed.  we blew an impeller on the Generator so called ahead to a marina near Grafton Illinois and had a Tec put in my spare!  I watched him do the job so next time I will do the work. Took less than an hour!  We spent the night at the Alton Marina, it is just south of where the Illinois River joins the Miss..  We are now on the official Great Loop Route and have started to meet  Loopers in all shapes and sizes. Thursday we spent the night tied on the back wall of a lock off channel on the Kaskaskia River. We met 5 other boat doing the same. This was mile mark 117.  From about mile 156 there are no marinas until you reach the   Tennessee River off the Ohio!  I total distance of 177 miles. Today was a big day for us.   Ever thing was big.  The river is very wide down here,  The barges are big!  5 X 6’s and 4 by 7’s compared to north of St Louis where they are all 3 x5’s.  We have now gone through every lock on the upper Mississippi River 26 of them on this trip.  There are only 3 more looks on the entire Miss. And they are in New Orleans.  We started our run on the Miss. At Mile marker 812 and today me left the Miss. At mile marker 0 and turned up the Ohio which is also very BiG.  We are anchored for the night behind the Olmstead Lock and Dam at mile marker 694.6.  Tomorrow we will make Green Turtle Marine and Resort  On  Barkley Lake Kentucky,  where we can take a few days off and chill!