Day 40: 10/15/06

Over the past couple of days, we were finally able to escape the whirlwinds that have engulfed the Quad Cities and us. While in Davenport, we had a bite to eat with the lovely servers of the Front Street Brewery. It was excellent!


Passing through Davenport and Rock Island, we passed one of the barges operated by Living Lands and Waters, a fantastic group that has focused their efforts on cleaning up the Mississippi and other watersheds by doing huge trash cleanups. In their last “XStream Cleanup" of the Quad Citie area, they removed hundreds of old tires, 50 pieces of furniture and dozens of appliances illegally dumped in the river. Learn about this and other projects by visiting (and donating) their website. They run cleanup and educational oportunities across the midwest!


This was our first bird’s eye view of a passing barge. At the Mississippi River Visitor Center, we learned that most barges passing upstream carry coal, salt, and oil, while downstream barges carry primarily grain for shipment overseas.


On one of the bridge pylons in Davenport, was a high-water mark from the flood of 1993. This interstate bridge was spared, but much of the south was hit hard.