We headed out to the point just north of St Louis where first the Illinois then the Missouri join the mighty Mississippi to create “The Great River”, the lower Mississippi. Today the water moves slowly but there are signs of the high water this past Spring. Confluence Park is closed, still covered in mud and debris. We had to be satisfied exploring wetlands and watching tugs with long flats of barges lock through at Melvin Price Dam and Locks. The locks are an engineering marvel and the captains pretty amazing as they maneuver those gigantic loads with only two feet per side clearance.

The National Great river Museum is here by the locks. Displays tell an interesting story of the Rivers’ origins and historical paths as well as modern day changes and challenges. Usually they give tours of the locks but not today, there are contractor’s everywhere as they appear to be working on chamber gates. We watched a bit and it gave some perspective as to the scale of the locks; the rigging on the crane holding up one gate was rated at 400 tons.