From July 2-8 Raina Clark will be posting on-the-spot updates from vessels on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers

I climbed aboard the M/V Theresa Wood, owned and operated by Marquette Transportation and on charter to AEP River Operations, on July 1 at about 1500 hours.

The Captain ordered groceries for the boat this morning and at about 1700 hours an aluminum skiff from S&S Boat Store out of Burlington Iowa, tied up alongside the Theresa Wood and delivered food.

July 2nd- About 2300 hours I stepped out of the pilot house of the Theresa Wood and walked out on the upper deck.

Rearranging the tow is more than playing a game of Tetris. Sometimes it's like playing chess with Bobby Fischer.

On July 6th I left the Theresa Wood at the locks in Guttenberg, Wisconsin and crossed the state of Illinois by car. At Pekin, Illinois I boarded the Thomas E. Erickson headed down the Illinois River.

I'm home now after five days on the Theresa Wood riding up the Upper Mississippi and three days on the Thomas E. Erickson riding down the Illinois. I couldn't have learned as much as I did in those eight days if I'd spent a year on phone interviews with towboat companies.

For the crew of the Theresa Wood: Thanks for the unforgettable ride!

There's a rift between Locks and the Towboats that pass through them. I wouldn't have known such a rift existed if it weren't for my trip on the Upper Mississippi the week before last. There is a good amount of waiting while a tow is passing through a lock and it used to be that a towboat crew could climb over the lock wall and get a drink or use a pay phone, or just stretch their legs. Not anymore.