Gassaway's Adventures: ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

ILLINOIS AND MISSOURI

At Davenport we made a right turn and followed the Mississippi south towards St Louis. We crossed the river and stayed on the Illinois side at Pere Marquette State Park, a really nice campground near Grafton, IL. Once again a nice bike path along the river all the way to Alton, IL, about 20 miles from the campground.

FALL COLORS AT PERE MARQUETTE STATE PARK

We spent part of a day in St. Louis and any visit there has to include the Gateway Arch. To get to the top you take a 4 minute ride inside of a small capsule. Not for the claustrophobic, but great views from the top. The other reason for a stop in St. Louis is to resupply as there is a Costco, something lacking in Iowa.

VIEW FROM THE TOP

On a drive on the Illinois side of the river we happened upon an auction a decided to stop a watch for a while. As we listened to the auctioneer it became apparent that although he was speaking fast, he wasn't really saying anything much of the time. Take a listen.

One day took a tour of one of the locks on the river. Some of these locks a long enough to hold a 15 barge tow, but as I learned, any size smaller can use the locks. While taking my tour, a canoe was allowed to pass through.

Next we made another right turn and headed west. We made a stop in Van Buren, Missouri. Van Buren is a small town in the middle of the Ozarks on the Current River. The river is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The Current and Jacks Forks Rivers are spring fed and very clear. No white water in these rivers, so we brought out the inflatable kayak. I parked the truck several miles down steam and hitched a ride back to our RV park with the RV park owner. We then spent about 3 hours on a peaceful float though some very scenic country. With the clear water we could watch the fish and turtles swimming beneath us. With this being the off season, we only saw one boat the entire time. We are told that in the summertime, the area is very popular with folks floating or canoeing down the rivers. The area businesses make their living off the summer season.

ON THE CURRENT RIVER

We also spent part of a day just exploring the area. We went to Alley Spring and its mill along with Big Spring. Both springs feed the Current and Jack Forks Rivers and are a very vivid light blue. Alley Spring comes up out of the ground in a large pool at the rate of 80 million gallons a day. Big Spring surfaces at the base of a cliff and discharges 286 million gallons a day. That’s a whole lot of water!