Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018

Thinking it would be just another day on the river, we had our first encounter with a serious tow wake. We came upon a tow with 15 barges coming out of a river bend just as we were entering the bend. The captain asked us to go by on the “1” which put us in the perfect spot to experience not just his powerful wake, but its echo off of the curved bank. The sudden and unexpected waves of 4-5 feet were closely spaced. A few things tipped over in various places on the boat but nothing broke and no one was hurt. Bo, on the other hand, was significantly spooked for the rest of the day – every time we encountered a tow he was hiding behind Sue.

We passed by Perry County, MO, which holds significance for Sue. Her great-grandparents, John Jacob Endres (born 1880) and Anna P (Sandler) Endres (born 1881) had a farm there in Perryville. John had been a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He passed away while in office in 1946. Anna lived to one day short of 102 years old! Sue and Brian were last in this area when they visited Perryville, MO, for Great-Grandma’s 100th birthday in December of 1981.

We reached our destination, and first anchorage of the trip, late in the afternoon. Just outside of Cape Girardeau, MO, we pulled into Little Diversion Channel. It was well protected from wind and waves and both shores were lined with mud. It was very quiet, no breeze, and HOT! Anchoring and getting the dinghy down for Bo to get to shore took a while and we were drenched with sweat by the time we got Bo into the dinghy. 

He was so excited for the ride, and then so many new smells and toads hopping everywhere. He almost yanked Sue into the river by going after one that hopped into the water, but she caught herself on a wood post sticking out of the ground – actually the post caught Sue …and she has the bruise to show for it.

Finally dinner! We felt so relieved that we have a generator to run the AC and power the microwave for our spaghetti with meatballs dinner. Then one more time ashore for Bo but his time we pulled the dinghy up onto some rocks instead of in the mud. Though this was helpful for our boots and Bo’s feet, the dinghy was already covered with mud from the first adventure. (see picture)

Having been denied his squirrel duties for several weeks (we have many at home in the backyard), Bo was thrilled to see 2 squirrels playing on the shore as we approached it the next morning. We were not so happy about it and had to wait for them to run off before pulling up on the rocks. Nevertheless, he jumped from the dinghy, did some kind of spin and landed on the rocks on his side. If it wasn’t for his life jacket, he would have had some bruised ribs, but of course he wasn’t bothered at all and scramble to his feet to try to chase them where he’d just seen them disappear. 

A little later, with the dinghy lifted back onto the sundeck roof, we were again ready for … just another day on the river.