Sunday, Oct 5 while at Hoppies in Kimmswick, Mo waiting for the winds to die down,  a group of "loopers" walked about a mile to a farm associated with Anheiser Bush where they have a theraputic riding program, Ride on St. Louis.  They help both handicapped youths and also war veterans.  A group of about 20  acapella singers performed.  They sang together and also had several quartets singing mostly old tunes.    It was a great afternoon.

Monday, Oct. 6, we left Hoppies at 7:15 am with 6 other "loopers"... traveled 110 miles down the Mississippi to Little River Diversion where we set about anchoring for the night.  We had a little problem getting our anchor to set so rafted off two other boats, Moondance and R & R.  Had a light rain shower, but it cleared up and was a nice evening--everyone went to bed early.

Tuesday Oct. 7 left anchorage at 7:15am.  Continued down the Mississippi to the Ohio.  We were all happy to get off the Mississippi River - it was muddy, had lots of logs, branches and twigs to avoid, along the all the barge traffic.  A little stressful!   We turned up the Ohio River and arrived at Lock & Dam 52 near Paducah, Ky at  3:30 and requested a lock thru.  There was a lot of barge traffic and it became apparent we would not have time to lock thru and get to a good anchorage spot.  We all dropped anchor near the Hwy 24 bridge.  This night we rafted with Roxanne, Jane & David Anderson.  Our inverter quit working so hoped the refrigerator would still be cold by morning.

Wednesday, Oct. 8 we called the lock tender at 6:30 am and requested a lock thru.  We finally cleared the lock at 10:50 am.  We are on the way to the Cumberland River, one more lock and the marina at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, Ky.  Looking forward to a nice hot shower! 

Arrived at Barkley Dam and Lock around 3pm, had to wait a while to get in the lock.  All of us got into the lock together, tied up and ready for the 51' rise.  Turned off the engines and waited to get to the top.  When we tried to start the engines to leave the lock...they did not start!  Thank goodness for David and Jane on the Roxanne.  They pulled up alongside our boat so we could tie an onto them and they towed us to Green Turtle Bay which thankfully wasn't far from the lock.  However, it was getting dark quickly and had a few tense moments getting into the harbor.  The staff at the marina stayed to help secure us to the gas dock.  David and Jane were terrific and we can't thank them enough.  We had no electric hookup or water, but we were safe.

Thursday, Oct 9 we had the mechanics look at the boat to figure out why we couldn't get the engines started.  It all had something to do with the electrical system and anchoring out two nights without electrical hookup.   We now know we need to run the generator once a day for an hour or so to be sure the battery banks stay fully charged.  Thank goodness we didn't need an engine replacement!  I splurged and got a manicure and pedicure at the spa.  The group had dinner at the local marina restaurant...all were relieved to be safe and secure.

Friday, Oct 10...we got up and it was foggy and rainy so elected to stay put.  Rained off and on most of the day.  Used the courtesy car to make a run to Walmart for a few supplies.  The group got together for a potluck tonight...a very nice group of people to travel with, and we hope to stay in touch with all of them.  We plan to leave tomorrow for Pebble Isle Marina in New Johnsonville, Tn.

A recap...we left Harbor Springs, Michigan on Saturday, August 30 and have traveled 1063 miles. Of the 42 days we have been "on the loop", 14 days were traveling, and 28 were "loitering".