We traveled from Paducah Kentucky to Ray Behrans Campground. It was an adventurous start to our journey. We followed the Great River Road. This path follows the Mississippi River from its start to New Orleans. Our intention is to follow it north from South Illinois to Minneapolis/ St Paul. An unexpected discovery on the route was Chester, Illinois, The Home of Popeye. Popeye was based on Chester resident Frank Fiegel who was said to strongly resemble the spinach eating cartoon character that first debuted in 1929. From here we followed the River Road to St Louis where we ended up on Expressways. As our trip to the campground was ending, we were passed by a pickup truck towing a grain wagon with Auger and chute. As he passed, the chute came loose and broke the driver side mirror of the coach. After chasing him down, he denied it had occurred and grudgingly provided us with his information. Luckily for us, we have a dash camera that verified our position. When checking to see what the costs were going to be, we discovered we could purchase the glass by itself for $59. Which made dealing with him pointless. This ordeal definitely proved that the investment in the dash cam was a good one. If the entire mirror had to be replaced, that would have cost about $2,500.
We toured Hannibal, Missouri, the Home of Samuel Clemmons, pen name Mark Twain, while we were here. It is a nice little town on the banks of the Mississippi. It appears the majority of income is derived from the town’s relationship with Samuel Clemmons. There is a tour of his childhood home, which we opted not to do. We walked all around town and looked in several little local shops. The people were very friendly. Many of them asked what had brought us to the area and were interested in our travel plans.
Not sure why but Hannibal has a Light house dedicated to Mark Twain.
We found this very nice park in town with this memorial to veterans. Behind the monument is a great view of the area. We have found several veteran memorials in the area. The park was nicely laid out and well maintained.
The town is overwhelmingly dedicated to Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and all things Mark Twain.
We went to the Farmers Market. It was enjoyable but it’s a little early to get fresh vegetables. There was a lot of home baked goods. We bought a few things- tomatoes, banana bread and cookies. Karma got to go and was a superstar there. We got stopped so many times so people could pet on him and ask about him. Luckily, he is very well behaved when we take him out. He loves to go anywhere with us and loves getting attention from others- he especially loves kids.
We had lunch at a local restaurant named what else but Finn’s. A local noticed Mark’s Navy shirt and cap and suggested Finn’s to us. Finn’s gives a 50% discount to veterans, so we were glad to give them our business. Mark got a “Ponyshoe” for lunch. It was a grilled Chicken breast with BBQ sauce and a slice of cheese covered in French fries with Cheese sauce. Lisa had catfish and onion rings. Nothing to write home about but it is part of the area’s delicacies. We are trying to eat at local places rather than chain restaurants and try some local favorite dishes. Part of experiencing different parts of the country includes experiencing their culture and their food.
Since we are camping at Mark Twain Lake, we felt it was essential to take a tour of the area on the hiking trails. There was a really nice trail near our campground. Karma was thrilled when he realized he was getting to go with us. It was nice but extremely hot. Karma had a great time, but he was ready to call it a day about the same time as us. Missouri needs to look at introducing Guinea Hens to the park. Guineas love to eat ticks. The ticks are record setting. Between Lisa and I, we picked off at least 200 ticks. Karma’s Seresto collar did a great job protecting him. Neither of us have ever seen this many ticks before. We found out later that we also got into some poison ivy. We had to go find some Fels Naptha soap. Mark swears by this for poison ivy. It works really well for him, so we got to go visit Walmart to find some.
Visit to Mark Twain state park is coming to a close. We will be heading to Clark’s Ferry in Iowa tomorrow. We are already getting pretty good at tackling the packing and unpacking as we travel. We have a system and it works for us.
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