June 23, 2013: Onawa, Iowa to Yangton, South Dakota

We got on the road about mid morning, crossing over the Missouri River to Nebraska and following it north along the Lewis and Clark scenic byway into Sioux City, Iowa.  Along the way, we drove through the town of Winnebago, and couldn't resist stopping for a photo.
We hopped on the interstate north so I could hit the South Dakota welcome center and stock up on pamphlets, primarily looking for info on South Dakota golf courses.

We got off the interstate in Vermilion and headed west, following the Missouri River again, which begins to run East-West here.

Just north of Yangton, we stopped at Spirit Mound.  It is a huge natural-made chalk hill in the middle of the prairie.  The Indians had told Lewis and Clark that 18" men lived there and would kill anyone with arrows who approached the hill.

Lewis and Clark hiked the four miles from the Missouri River to the hill to investigate.  They did not find the little men, but did have wonderful views of the surrounding prairie and they got their first glimpse of the massive herds of Buffalo that roamed the plains.  This is the only spot that is documented where Lewis and Clark both stood.  We hiked up the hill on a path through the thick prairie grasses, but we saw no little men or buffalo.

There is a 100 mile stretch along here that is a combination of national and state recreation areas where dams on the Missouri create lakes.  We scored a campsite right on the Lewis and Clark lake and were thinking of taking the kayak out, but it was very breezy and we were tired.  We made a tee time at the local municipal course for the next day.

June 17, 2013 Pere Marquette State Park, IL to Granite City, IL to Bowling Green, MO

Yesterday, we drove through a gorgeous stretch of Mississippi riverfront, but did not stop at any of the small towns for photos because we wanted to get to the campground early enough to watch the Open.  Today, we returned south along The River to do some exploring.  Before we left Pere Marquette State Park, though, we drove a narrow scenic road in the Park to a number of lookouts on the top of the ridge.  Unfortunately, these viewpoints are only scenic in winter when the leaves are off the trees.  This is prime winter eagle viewing territory, so the overlooks are for bird-watching.  I did get one photo of the flooded, muddy river in the distance.

We stopped in the small town of Grafton with lots of restaurants, bars and a marina for the St. Louis weekend crowd, but it was deserted on this Monday morning, except for flood clean-up crews.

 

We could see high water marks on the sides of buildings and their road next to the river was gone. 

End of the road

Their entire ballfield was under water and a house sat in the middle of the river, with no way to get to it except by boat.  

 
 

The homes that did escape damage we on the tallest stilts I have ever seen.

 

 A little further south we came upon the quaint village of Elsah that was a real step back in time. This hamlet had been mostly cut off from the world until 1965 when the River Road was built. Beautiful stone cottages with amazing gardens, picture perfect churches and an old time school.

 

 

We continued southeast along the river near St. Louis to check out the Lewis and Clark historical site. It had a short film and exhibits about the team wintering here preparing for their amazing journey to the Pacific. 

Although they have an area where you can view the confluence of the Mighty Mississippi and the Missouri rivers, it was flooded, so we went a 1/2 mile up the road to the Confluence Tower. The tower gives a bird's eye view of the confluence as well as the incredible flooding. Friday night trivia buffs, listen up: The Missouri is longer than the Mississippi, runs faster and carries more silt. We were told that you can still see the Missouri waters more than a mile downstream from the confluence because of the different color due to the higher silt content.

 

 

 



The water to the first tree line is all flooded farm fields.  the Mississippi is on the right between the trees, while the Missouri is coming from the far right.

Confluence of Mississippi and Missouri



View from the top at the parking lot with our RV

We drove west on the interstate around St. Louis and stopped at a rest area to have some lunch.  We saw this is the dog walking area... !



His pooper scooper was a big bucket!

We drove north to Bowling Green, Missouri to a campground with guaranteed good internet service. Yeah!

While watching the news, we found that we must have been under a silver-lined cloud because much of the St. Louis area experienced drenching rains, flash floods and a lot of street flooding, but somehow all we saw was a little drizzle.  Planning a tourist day off tomorrow to play some golf in Hannibal,Missouri, home of Mark Twain.