October 12, 2022

Hamburg, Illinois to Grafton, Illinois

Kip woke up this morning at 4:10 a.m. 😦 I got up around 5:30 a.m.  We took off from Hamburg at 7:00 a.m. (after I hurt my toe on the dock)!  The sky is cloudy, but it is not raining yet.

There are many deserted homes along this stretch, and many HUGE homes up higher on the hills.  

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This one even has cows in their yard.

A ferry hauling a truck across the river.

We are behind a bunch of boaters doing the Loop (called "Loopers"), so the marinas down the river are busy and it is harder to find a slip.  We had to change our schedule a bit in order to stay in a marina instead of anchoring on the river.  

Once we arrived at Grafton Marina, we got settled, walked to get groceries, Kip put a new flag on the boat (because the other one is under the dinghy, and you can't see it), sat in the (cold) hot tub, showered, and ate at the Oyster Bar.  I had chicken, Kip had two raw oysters and seafood ravioli.  Yes, we broke our eating out rule (again).  We sat on the dock until it got cold.

Statistics:

• We went 41 miles today
• We are 20 miles from St. Louis
• We put 78 hours on the engine since leaving Lake City
• We traveled 554 miles since leaving Lake City