Steve & April's Big Adventure: July 2007

So the big day finally came. The 4-day educational adventure on the barge with the Living Lands and Waters crew. Most of you have figured out that I am a total LL&W groupie and that has just increased after spending more time with them! We met in St. Louis, MO near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and rode out to the barge.

Missouri River, near the confluence

In the lock at the Melvin Price Lock and Dam near Alton, IL

See the lock doors closing behind Steve?

That keeps the water in to raise the level in the chamber so the barge can keep traveling upstream.

The water will rise to the 2nd white stripe above my head.

Bluffs along the IL side of the Mississippi River near Grafton, IL.

This is the Great River Road

Sunset at Pere Marquette State Park on the Illinois River.

What an amazing day to travel on three great rivers!

The LL&W tow and house barge

Day Two:

commercial fishermen, the Beasley Boys

(not to be confused with the Duke boys)

educate us about commercial fishing in the great rivers.

That is definitely a job I do not want. They work VERY hard!

Q. What did the fish say when he hit a brick wall?

A. Dam!

Well, we had a great tour of a lock and dam, provided by the US Corps of Engineers. This is a lot harder to get since 9-11, so we were very excited! All of this stuff collects behind the dam, but they don't do anything about it.

Because of the size of this lock (700 feet), this tow had to disconnect some of the barges and go through in two parts. This is pretty challenging for the pilot and the crew. When the barges are 3-wide there is only gap of a few feet for maneuvering into the lock.

Karaoke in Louisiana, MO

Ben tells us all about River Kids in St. Louis, MO

Day Three:

Coyote Pup hanging out in the road at Ted Shanks Management Area

Chickory

Wild Carrot. All flowers that look like this are carrots with one different gene that makes them perennials. They also have white roots, not orange.

Sam Thayer, our foraging guru. We tried this lamb's quarters and then collected more for supper. He has an excellent book called The Foragers Harvest