Tuesday 4-11 Locks & Dam on Rock Island

 

Visiting Iowa

We started the day out by doing laundry in Nauvoo, when we finished we went across the street to The Apron Café to have breakfast. When you enter the cafe you walk to the front counter to place your order, there were a few breakfast items in a case and no menus. The owner simply asked if you wanted a breakfast sandwich or something from the case. Larry and I both had the breakfast sandwich, it came with two eggs, four strips of bacon and a slice of cheese on two pieces of white bread. Larry didn’t have the eggs but was charged the same. We weren’t sure how much the meal was going to cost considering there were no menus or prices on the wall. We also asked for water, they did not have water by the glass you had to buy bottled water. We were very disappointed with the sandwich, it was cold and it cost $17 for two sandwiches and one bottle of water.

After being robed at the cafe we headed across the Mississippi River to Fort Madison, Iowa. As we were driving through we saw the fort from the Minnie. We stopped in Burlington, Iowa to stretch our legs. The last two weeks we have been following the Great River Road and the Great River Road signs have been green but Iowa’s have a black background they stand out and look very nice. 

 

The Great River Road sign in Iowa

We had to cross back over the Mississippi River to get to Rock Island considered it is in Illinois and we were in Iowa. There are only two ways onto Rock Island, you either enter from the south or the north and since it is an island you must take a bridge. The south entrances was the closest so that is where we headed, unfortunately as we were getting to the bridge there was a sign saying you couldn’t be over 11’ tall and Larry was pretty sure we wouldn’t make it so we had to drive around to the north side of the island. When we got on Rock Island we didn’t realize it was an army base. We stopped at the gate and the gentleman told us we needed a pass, he also told us if we hurry we could get the pass at the visitor center. We got to the visitor center just as they were closing and the gentleman refused to process the pass so we went back to the gate and the gentleman told us it may take twenty minutes to get the pass. He had to issue the pass in between letting other people on base. We had to fill out two forms and give them our driver’s licenses. Well, I forgot mine at home and we only had my passport. Larry gave our passports to the gentleman but he also had to give him his driver’s license. They ran the information through the FBI background check process and then issued us a five day pass even though we were only going to be on the island for about an hour. After getting the pass we went to the Mississippi River Locks & Dam Visitor Center. We got there at the perfect time, they were in the process of letting a barge through the lock. This lock was half the size of the one we saw the other day so they had to split the load in half. We had gotten there right when the first half was going through the lock. Once it got through they had to close the gate and lower the water again. There is a traffic bridge from Illinois to Iowa that goes directly over the lock and there is not enough room between the bridge and the water to allow the barges to pass so whenever a barge goes through the lock they have to swing the bridge so the barge and tugboat can clear it. This was cool to watch. Once the bridge was swung open the tugboat and the rest of the barges entered the locks. When the tugboat was waiting for the water to fill the locks, the captain came out to say hi to us. At this lock they had to put a lot more water into it. This was a great thing to watch. The gentlemen inside the visitor center were very nice and answered the questions we asked them.

 

Mississippi River Locks & Dam Visitor Center on Rock Island Arsenal

                 The lock gates opening                      The traffic bridge swinging open

Both section of barges in the lock                The tugboat pushing the load

After watching how the lock worked we went back over the Mississippi River to Davenport,  Iowa. We decided that we would spend the night in the parking lot at the Isle Casino and Hotel. The parking lot is huge with a dike that has a bicycle trail on it. When you walk on the dike you get a great view of the Mississippi River and a marina. Before I went over to the casino I made red beans and rice with sausage in it for dinner. While Larry took Flo for a walk I baked oatmeal raisin cookies for dessert. After the cookies finished Larry and I went over to the casino. It was a nice casino except smoking was allowed, I guess I got spoiled by the non-smoking casinos. I spent an hour and a half in the casino and left $5.00 dollars richer. We had a great day. 

    

A view of the Mississippi River               The Isle Casino and Hotel entrance