7/25/22 - Cape Girardeau MO to Kimswick MO

Cool looking sunrise at Cape Girardeau

 Some thunderstorms and rain moved through last night but nothing too bad.  The rain did cool things off but it remained muggy and sticky.   We awoke at 6am and prepped for a second consecutive long day of cruising.   Plans for today were for 107 miles continuing up the mighty river to Kimswick MO.   It was still fairly cloudy but not enough to inhibit a nice sunrise.  Weather forecast was calling for a decent chance of some rain through the morning but not enough to keep us from planning towards an early departure. 

The gas tanks on the boat needed filled with the fuel in the bladder.   By our calculations and those on the chart plotter that is reading the fuel flow meters we estimated that we used about 130 gallons on our cruise yesterday and another 4 or so running the generator for AC last night.   With the fuel hose positioned well for a gravity feed into the tanks, the valve was opened and Renee put some pressure on the bladder by kneeling on it.   The flow started easily and we steadily filled both tanks.   As expected it appeared we had 15-20 gallons remaining in the bladder that we will have to empty when we get to our next stop so that we can stow the bladder away for the remainder of the trip.    Renee snapped a picture of the bladder in use and went ahead and put posts out on the AGLCA and Marinette Facebook groups to advertise it ‘for sale’.   We are hoping to recoup a decent amount of what we paid for it as well as be able to pass it along to someone else needing it. 

While kneeling on the fuel bladder Renee came up with “Caution” tattooed on her knee.  She does hurt her knees a lot so this may be apropos!  

The lines were tossed at 7:30am and we were back on the water heading north.  The cloud cover and much cooler temps made for a very comfortable ride and a happy pup!  Riva was full of spit and vinegar much more than her usual.  A couple of hours into the trip it did start raining lightly for an hour or more but with the full enclosure with windows closed it did not bother us.  

The landscape today was changing and more interesting.  Where yesterday was very flat today there were more hills and rock features particularly on the Missouri side (west) of the river.  It was still a fairly remote area but certainly more homes than the majority of the trip yesterday.   We continued along making great time traveling at about 14 mph.   

If you look closely you can see two canoes traveling down river.  These were two of only three pleasure craft that we saw over the past 210 miles

True troopers! 

Both Erik and Renee took advantage of the long, rainy day by taking naps while the other continued driving.  Good day to catch up on some much needed rest.  We arrived at Hoppies Marina at 3pm and our lines were caught by a couple of nice gentlemen who worked there.   Calling Hoppies a marina is really a bit of a stretch; it is really just several barges tied together with a fuel dock.    However, they do have electricity and fuel.   After settling in and resting for a bit we headed out to walk through town and go out to dinner.   

The old historical downtown was basically a bunch of mid/late 1800’s homes that are now utilized primarily as eating establishments or shops.   Unfortunately, almost everything was closed on Monday.  However, we did find out that the riverboat “American Queen” will be coming in to the town port tomorrow morning which will be cool to see.  The town should come alive in an attempt to empty all the money out of the tourist cruisers pocketbooks.   We were told that everything will be open and there will be music and entertainment in the downtown area.  

The new innertube in the rear tire of one of our bikes that we had replaced TWICE in Chattanooga this spring is flat again and won’t hold air :-(
It will have to be taken apart…. Apparently something sharp on the rim is cutting the tube

Very interesting and cool stone wall
There is a lot of this porous, Swiss cheese looking stone used around here and it is seen on the river banks

Anheuser estate museum was the summertime home of Fred and Mabel Anheuser in the early 1900s

Multiple old log homes to tour
These should be open tomorrow for us to take a closer look at

Tree stump with a carving welcoming guests to Kimswick

Just as we were walking out of the Hoppies we saw this old late 1800s house and talked to the owner, JT, who was in the front yard with his family.  He said that this was one of the first houses in the town and was originally owned by a tug captain who eventually sold all of the land to create Kimswick
He also said he would look in their shed to try and locate a 26”x1.5” bicycle tire inner tube for us. Can’t beat the hospitality of river folk!

We continued on our walk about 2 miles up the road to a much newer part of town with multiple businesses and strip malls. We had found reviews for a nice Italian restaurant, Frankie Gianinos, which turned out to be absolutely delightful for dinner!  We dined out on their patio where Riva could also sit with us and  split a delicious chicken speneini; One of the best meals we’ve had in a long time.  

After walking back to the boat we spent an hour or so emptying the remainder of the gas in the fuel bladder into our tanks. The fuel started out siphoning just fine but it turned out to be quite a fiasco getting the last couple of gallons emptied out of the tank. We are happy to have it empty and ready to put away for the remainder of the trip.  It served us well.  

We closed up all of the windows on the enclosure and battened down the hatches to prepare for the storms that are predicted to roll through later tonight before relaxing and heading off to bed.   Looking forward to seeing a little bit more of Kimswick in the morning.