[Judy Patsch]

For those of you who may have been looking at the webcam at 6 PM, yes, the MQ was there, just out of the picture. If you astutely observed the lock gates open and no boat, correct again! Murphy's Law was in force tonight. It was windier than heck, so naturally this was the time for the Government Bridge swing span to lose its power as the MQ approached. The gates had been opened and all was ready for the MQ's locking. She was at the tip of the guidewall when the word came of the power outage, so she went in to the guidewall to wait. And out from the guidewall. And back in...all just out of your picture range. After about a 45 minute delay, they got the span opened under auxiliary power and the MQ locked without incident. Despite the 'cool' breezes, there were several people out on deck, including .org's own Mary Sward Charlton, who in her short time on the boats has served in many capacities. The job du jour today was Riverlorian. This explains why at Muscatine several passengers asked me if I was the cookie lady... I didn't know who was on board who would have told them. It was Mary. It was fun to meet her and get to chat for about 10 minutes during the locking. She thinks she's going back over to the DQ as riverlorian soon, but if not, will stay in that position on the MQ. Phil Westbrook was out on deck too. John Dugger is Master, with Pete C. , Findley, and one other whose name I didn't catch, in the pilothouse. Hopefully the winds will decrease this evening, as she has the wide stumpfields above L&D 13 to negotiate during the night. It sure was good to see a steamboat up here again. She'll be in Davenport next Monday until 1. Now to get those suitcases unpacked from the Oregon trip...