Final thoughts

Well, we didn't exactly do the great loop.  Our plans changed over the past 9 months a few times.  But that's the advantage of trailer boat cruising.  Our truck was never very far away and we could take off for side trips, or journey back for one more visit with the grandson, or drive ahead if storms threatened... or just plain change our mind.

Here's a picture of the great loop we attempted

And here's a picture of where we went:

A slightly different loop, but a great loop, just the same!

Once home, I will add up all the expenses with relation to this adventure and post some general guidelines..mostly so that we can plan better in the future.  Also so that we can share with anyone interested what it might cost.   Fuel, of course, is the big item.  Marina costs were high for us, mostly because we were splurging and it rained a lot.  We boated about 1200 miles and we drove about 11,000.  We made 2 plane trips home and back.  This last leg we were gone for just over 2 months... and that was a bit too long, despite the many side trips involving real beds and bathtubs.

I'm sure we will be back out boating in a few weeks and we are already planning on meeting Western states C-Brats at various gatherings next year.  We are so happy we chose a C-Dory as the boat to use for this adventure... the C-Brats are a big reason why.  And we really loved boating on the East Coast, so we may be back to do parts of the Great Loop that we missed this time... maybe in 2016.  If we do, I may be blogging here again!

I will end this blog with a quote from the famous celebrity who visited us while on the Mississippi:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

"Tex", a fellow C-Brat.. had us in stitches with his impressions and witticisms

Miscellaneous Mississippi River Pictures

It was a cool cloudy day as the C-Brats cruised on down to St Louis.   Rain threatened but didn't stop the pod of dories.  Rob and I decided to go by land to the first locks to take pictures as the pod came through.  This is a huge lock (width and lengthwise, it is the biggest we've seen by far).  I'm not sure how "high" it as the river levels and height do change, depending on the time of year, by quite a bit.  It needs to be really really long because of the barge traffic.

For example, the other day we saw one tug boat pushing 15 barges... yes, really!  Apparently, the tug can control it going upstream but when going down stream, it can't stop.  It radios ahead when it is coming up to a port, like New Orleans, and requests assistance. Other tugs then are sent upriver to STOP the long row of barges.  So, the lesson is... stay away from those barges as they can't stop for you... heck, I don't even see how they can see a small boat!

The reason I got off onto the topic of barge traffic, is that the pod of dories was held up at the locks while waiting for a big barge to go through.  They waited and waited (and up above, we waited and waited).  Someone later said it took an hour and a half to get through the locks!

See those dots? Those are C-Dories!

waiting so patiently

Lining up

And then the dories are released into the wild...

Each evening of our gathering, we had a cookout and lots of fun and conversation.  Some people went to see Kenny Rogers at the outdoor "band shell" which was between the marina and the casino.  Which is appropriate as his biggest hit was "The Gambler"...   I didn't mention the pink riverboat casino (mostly because casinos aren't our thing... but others of our group say it was very nice).  Here's a picture:

We even had a special guest visit us one evening.. no, it wasn't Kenny and it wasn't Elvis.  More on that later.

We had mixed emotions on Sunday morning when we pulled the boat.  Sad to leave our fellow C-Brats... some of whom were going to spend the next couple of weeks cruising together.. all the way to Little Rock AR!.  (If we hadn't been gone so long, we would have loved to go with them).  Also sad to be "done" with our great adventure.  Now we are on our way home... Driving for the next several days.  And we must admit, we are also very glad to be on our way home.