Paducah, Kentucky

Left our anchorage early this morning, no fog, cool but clear, a beautiful morning. Temperature today went up to 90, apparently a record high for this area. Travelled 48 miles down the Mississippi until we reached the Ohio River, then turned up the Ohio. We felt like we were going really fast on the Mississippi because the current gave us a boost. However on the Ohio we are travelling upstream, so went a little slower. The Ohio is a beautiful river compared to the Mississippi, the water is greener than brown, slower moving and calm, very little debris. We still met and passed several tows, but with less current, they left less wake. The first lock we should have gone through was not operating, so we just drove over the wicket dam. The second lock gave us a short wait, but we did get through within an hour. Arrived a Paducah at 5:30, needed to either tie up or anchor before dark. The lockmaster at Lock 52 had told us that Paducah had a barge on a floating bollard that we could tie up to for the night, and we did eventually find it. It is just a barge, and there is room for about 2 good size boats, so Zookeeper (52 ft Tiara) and Dream Fever (47 ft) both tied up to the barge, and we have rafted off Dream Fever. Jenny on Zookeeper was kind enough to invite us all over to their boat for dinner. Also gave us a tour of the boat, beautiful boat and great dinner, not to mention the company which was also great.
Today, passed several sandy beaches, one sandy bluff, lots of land with trees on both sides of the water, and many industrial areas along the water. We even passed by the city of Metropolis, which of course is the home of Superman.
On the Mississippi we were passing between Illinois and Missouri. Once we turned up the Ohio, we were passing between Illinois and Kentucky. I hadn't realized that Illinois was so large. Malcolm from Zookeeper went swimming off their boat, said the water was quite warm. We didn't try it.

The new Olmstead Dam will replace both locks 53 and 52 on the Ohio River; it is slated to be completed in a couple of years.

Zookeeper, Dream Fever and High Spirits docked at the barge at Paducah

Casino River Boat at Metropolis

Tomorrow we have a relatively short trip to Green Turtle Bay, so won't have to leave quite as early in the morning.