April 30, 2000. On the river and moving at last.   see log entry for this date

We only went a few miles the first day. We tied up behind a couple of little islands, beside a park.

These islands were filled with nesting Canada Geese and other waterfowl, and we saw many families swimming about.

We put up a tarp here for shade; it was starting to get hot.

Here's the Minneapolis skyline in the background. Our two rotweilers, Thor and Sigfried, are making themselves comfortable onboard. They have just arrived back from France, where they have been since the N. Atlantic crossing on Son of Town Hall.

May 8. We passed through our first locks: St. Anthony's Falls in Minneapolis. The first one had a drop of 50 feet, the biggest on the whole river system. That's June holding the line.

see log entry for this date

A riverboat full of children on a cruise was behind us in the lock, and they asked many questions. Cameras were busy on both vessels.

The front gate opening; we've completed our first lock-through.

Check back again for more photos of the Upper Mississippi portion of the trip.

Poppa Neutrino takes his turn in the galley, inside one of the small 4x8' cabins on the Vilma B.

The tows are getting bigger! Many of these rigs are too big to get through the locks all at once, and have to lock through in 2 parts, which makes for some long waits sometimes.

Vilma B from shore, just below
Lock # 10, Guttenburg, Iowa

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