One week out!

Well we are surprising ourselves and still speaking and having fun! In fact last night was probably our most fun day and night so far! We have now moved down the river and have made our way to Illinois! They even had a welcome sign on the river for us! Iowa is indeed the LONGEST state ever! We have now managed to go thru every type of lock and dam that we will encounter. Most have a 10 foot drop but today we went thru one with a 38 foot drop and a new way of securing the boat while dropping, a floating bollard. The last 2 days we have had no issues with barge traffic and were able to get right in and keep moving. So much easier then high wind and waiting for 2 hours. We have also found the sun and each day we encounter warmer temperatures. Tomorrow may even be a shorts day for the girls! Yesterday we stayed in Keokuk, Iowa and crashed a party at the marina. We met so many fun and interesting characters. Judy was able to do a toilet drop of her camera and half of the night was looking for rice in the kitchen to dry it out! We think a new camera will be on her Christmas list. We tried our first "surf board" shots and that was interesting. They have shot glasses glued to a surf board and everyone needs to tip the board at the same time and drink them. Unfortunately for Judy she is quite a bit shorter then Jim and ended up wearing most of hers. We pulled into the Marina and met 2 boats that are from the St. croix area. Great people and one couple followed us to the same Marina in Louisianna, Missouri...even though the welcome sign was for Illinois. Tonight we are at Two Rivers Marina. The colors still amaze us as we sail down the river and we have had fun watching for bridges, casinos, and houses on stilts. Judy is busy reading interesting gossip from magazines, I'm busy with my Christmas stocking projects and the boys can talk for an hour about the locks and dams. We are happy with our progress and are looking forward to week 2 TOGETHER! Again we are at the mercy of Internet connection so please be patient and keep checking!