May 18, 2014 Missouri, Illinois, Iowa

Sunday, May 18

Slept in this morning and did some “housekeeping” – small house comes in handy!  Made pancakes for breakfast, planned the day’s route.  First we walked a short trail in the park where we were staying. Nice views of Mark Twain Lake.

Campsite at Mark Twain SP

Lake Mark Twain

Deer print on the Whitetail Trail

Then we headed to the river and across to Illinois again to visit the town of Nauvoo.  On the way, there was a large temporary electric sign that said "It's Planting Season, watch for farm vehicles" and we have seen many, like this.

Nauvoo was one of the Mormon’s stop on their trek to Utah.  They have done a lovely job of restoring many of the old buildings, very pretty gardens and all.  We visited the Family Living Center which had people demonstrating crafts of the 1840’s period.  We watched a baker and sampled bread, a candle-maker, rope making, weaving and barrel making, including demonstrations of tight barrels and slack barrels, the tight ones being those that would hold liquid without a leak.

Finally found the visitor’s center but couldn’t see the film because they had a group coming.  No pressure, just a few subtle religious comments.  There is a large temple atop a hill and the way up was plastered with ads for the local Methodist, Catholic and other churches.

Next we went north to Henderson County Covered Bridge built in 1866, washed away but salvaged in 1984.

Back across the river to Burlington, Iowa.  The river was high, so that we actually drove through part of the Mississippi in the visitor center parking lot! Going through town we noticed many bicycle decorations and lots of beautiful, huge old homes.

 

Snake Alley in Burlington

Took a peak at Snake Alley which is in Ripley's for the curviest road.  Short but nothing but sharp curves. Woo hoo.

We drove to a local park called Starr’s Cave Park and walked a trail there.  What they didn’t mention was that the cave’s have all been closed since 2010 due to a bat disease. Still a nice walk on a beautiful day.

Heading north and looking for a place to lite for the night, we saw a sign for Big Hollow Recreation Area and found a nice area that is under development.  There were quite a few people in the electrical sites, but we had the primitive camping area to ourselves.  Quiet, lovely night sky.