Monday merged with the Illinois River.  Quite the experience as we headed further south with our goal of getting past St. Louis, MO. before dark.

Lock 27 in Alton, IL. carries the most cargo than any other along the Mississippi River.

(courtesy of our Historian, Sandy)

We encountered massive amounts of large debris along the way.  Makes the flooding up in Princeton/LeClaire seem like a kiddie pool.

We made it to St. Louis around 5:30 P.M. still overcast and misting a bit.

Maneuvering through floating debris and barge traffic during rush hour took up the next 60 minutes.

Barges to the left and right of us.  John did an awesome job of getting us safely through.

Made it to Hoppies Marina for the night.  Nice older couple who have been doing this for 41 years.

Fern gave us the scoop for our Tuesday venture to the Ohio River.  

This supposedly is the hardest part of the trip.