Dannel was the perfect crew for the slow haul from Paducah to Alton. An avid historian, geographer, and veteran river traveler, he was avidly interested in all the river sights, towns, and landmarks we passed. He was also a fervent journalist, constantly noting every item of interest, including every commercial tug we passed or met along the way. We documented more than 125 tug/tow units, many pushing empty barges north to receive the Fall grain harvest. We also saw many bringing down last years harvest recently unloaded from grain elevators after a season's storage and drying.

Dannel also enjoyed cooking, and treated me to hot oatmeal every morning and brewed the coffee. He much preferred cooking and journalling to steering, so I stayed mostly at the helm. Friends since the sixties, we enjoyed a reunion after nearly twenty years of little contact. He also prepared some kind of hot stewy concoction every evening, which always tasted good, though I never asked him what was in it. Some things are better not known.
Amajor highlight of our trip together was an overnight tie at Hoppe's "marina", which is a length of 3 barges tied to the shore by cables and anchored at the head to the sunken remnants of a civil war gunboat. Fern and her husband have been running the operation since 1973. His parents started it in 1936. It has survived more than 8 floods, including the great flood of '93. They are an unexhaustible source of river information, and answered a list of questions we had prepared for them. They are the first source of fuel after Kidde's at Cape Girardeau, 100 miles South. It took us 3 long days to get there. On the way we anchored behind wing dams, which provided slack water, and safety from the traffic in the main channel.