Dubuque to Clinton, IA

We left Dubuque on Oct 25 at 7:40 under very cold, frosty conditions. The strataglass was frosted over so bad that it required a rag dipped in warm water to get it clear. By noon it warmed up but then the wind picked up. We only had two locks to transit, but lock 13, the last one was a beaut. This lock forms the largest pool in the upper Mississippi, and by the time we reached the lock at the south end of the pool, the wind was howling somewhere around 25-30 mph inside the lock. That was excitement. All I can say is that we were glad no other boat was in there with us so we didn't have to worry about somebody crashing into us.

We spent the night at Clinton Marina which recently became part of the Skipper Bud organization. The state of Iowa along with Skipper Bud has spent a tidy sum rebuilding this marina with new docks, facilities, and a restaurant that opens next year.

We spent an extra day here because the forecast for winds was 35-45 mph with gusts to over 50. They didn't lie! We have eight (count em - 8) lines on our boat in a covered slip in a relatively protected area of the marina, and it is still moving around. As a PR gesture, the marina manager here, Chris Richardt allowed us to stay the extra night for no charge since the second night was weather related. This marina gets a five anchor rating from me (Quimby's only has it at three). Tomorrow we will continue our journey since the winds are forecast to calm down to 15-25 mph.

To kill some time today Jeff and I visited Fulton, IL which is the city across the river from Clinton. One of the boaters here in the marina offered his car for our use after we asked him what there is to do around here. We went over to Fulton to visit a windmill which was built from scratch and transported here from Holland in 2000 (pictured above). It is used to grind various grains into flour, and one of the millers gave us a tour of the windmill which was extremely interesting. I have a gallery of pictures on kodakgallery.com, and if anyone is interested in seeing them just post a comment and I will forward them to you.

We also visited a reconstructed village from the 1800's that had been built in a deserted quarry (not sure what was mined there). This was a collection of buildings that resembled what you would find in a village from that era. There will also be a gallery of pictures from this visit for anyone who is interested.