Day 9: High Water; Low Fuel

What a beautiful drive today! Eastern Missouri is a blend of lush farmland, layered rock through which the road was cut, rolling hills, and towering trees with undergrowth so thick you can picture Daniel Boone and his cronies pushing their way through the wilderness. Boone is in the forefront of our thoughts today because we listened to a great audiocast of A&E's Biography...about Daniel Boone! His final years (age 70-85) were spent in Missouri. But the bulk of his life was in North Carolina and later Kentucky, which he helped explore and then settle. Due to a variety of causes, top of which was a refusal to follow the government's rules regarding land warrants, he reached his 70s without an acre to his name, even though he'd had a hand in the development of so much land. The many thousands of acres he'd accumulated over the course of time had been subsequently lost over the same periods. A final parcel of property was a gift from the government to the 75-year-old Boone, brought about by the pleading of locals who felt Boone was "owed." All that to say, we really enjoyed the drive and the audiocast!

Illinois, on the other hand, especially the 20 miles closest to the Mississippi, was terribly flooded...so sad to see. And two levies on the Missouri, just north of where we were in K.C., broke yesterday. It's really a desperate situation in many of the low-lying areas. We're glad to have gotten across the land between the two great rivers, although in the next few weeks we're sure to see other places hit by high water.

Our major stop of the day was Hannibal, Missouri, childhood home of Mark Twain. As expected, the town had plenty of kitschy Americana, but it made a sweet impression. We hiked up a steep bluff that overlooks the Mississippi (all my DPU girls should know that I'm dying to pronounce it the "real" way!!) and walked around some of the ol' timey spots. See photos below.

After our legs were sufficiently stretched and our tummies happy after our picnic lunch, we climbed back into the truck...and made a near-disastrous mistake. We believed that I-72, which we'd reach on the other side of the river, was sure to have more fuel options since it likely was a larger trucking route than little old US 36 on the Missouri side. And so we passed by the convenient fuel stations outside of Hannibal and headed into Illinois. Major oops. We finally rolled into the first available truckstop 30 miles outside of Springfield; our truck's computer told us we had enough fuel/fumes for fewer than three more miles. Needless to say, we'd been holding our breath for the previous 40 miles or so! We won't make that mistake again, especially when we're hooked up to "Teensie."

We're now settled into a wonderful campground south of Springfield and have eaten a yummy dinner and gone for a bike ride around camp. After four nights in a row of bad storms and tornado watches, I think we'll all sleep really well tonight. Thanks to all who've posted and sent such nice emails! The contact means so much to all of us. Tomorrow, we'll launch into the Lincoln sites in Springfield. I'll try to keep the honest Abe stories to a minimum. 'Night, all.

It's Tom, Huck and their newest (and cutest) friends

no caption needed :-)

flooding in Illinois