Meandering Mississippi
via bicycle from New Orleans to Itasca, Minnesota
with WomanTours
May 10 - June 18, 2007
Day 1 - May 25
Charleston to Cape Girardeau - 50.4 miles
We had a short ride today, and several of us wanted to see some of Cape Girardeau when we got in so Clark, Mary, Edith, Linda, and I started off riding together. At Morley 22.5 miles into the ride we came upon Linda and Barbara Anderson, they said the cafe had cold cokes. When Linda and Mary went in they found out they had home made pies so we all went in. Several others rode by, but only Michelle stopped. While we were there a local nursery school brought a group of 2-4 year old children around on a Memorial Day parade. They were very cute in their patriotic T shirts and were very interested in our bikes. As we were leaving Jackie came in so Linda and I stayed while she had some pie, but the others left. Jackie, Linda, and I rode the rest of the way into the Cape together. Along the way I took a small spill while I was traversing from the shoulder to the highway and there was a raised edge on the highway. No damage other than to my glasses which were bent and to my hip which is bruised. After checking into the Victorian Inn Linda went with me to the vision center in Walmart to get my glasses adjusted then we rode our bikes downtown to see the murals on the levee wall.
kids in Morley during the Memorial Day parade
Pierre-Louis de Lorimier, French-Canadian fur trader, Indian agent, and founder of Cape Grardeau, built the red house in the late 1790’s. It was his home and the seat of government for the Spanish district of Cape Girardeau, of which Lorimier was commandant. The house featured vertical log construction with a steep hip roof which broadened to cover wide porches. It was destroyed by a tornado on 11/27/1850, but the present building was carefully constructed following descriptions and a picture.
On the city side of the levee the murals had two themes--a Missouri Wall of Fame picturing famous Missourians and Missouri River Tales
each of the river tales depicted a famous event in the history of Cape Girardeau
the coming of the railroad 1880
the big flood in 1927
the Cape Girardeau Mississippi River bridge
the murals on the river side of the wall didn't seem to have a theme
this is a picture of the breakfast area of the Victorian Inn
Day 2 - May 26, 2007
Cape Girardeau to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri - 63.7 miles
Today was a medium length route, but my hip was a little sore, and I didn't think I should sit on a bicycle (even one with a comfortable seat) for several hours so I decided to ride in the van today. Two of the sag drivers--Ann and Gloria--have been very sick with a bad cold and cough and they rode in the van also. We didn't leave the motel until 9:45 and went direct to Ste. Genevieve. Gloria and I were both lucky and got rooms as soon as we arrived. Ann and the new cook, Linda, who was driving the van are staying in a different hotel so I don't know if they got rooms as soon as they arrived or not. I don't have any pictures as I didn't ride today.
Day 3 - May 27, 2007
Ste. Genevieve to St. Louis, Missouri - 60.0 miles
the St. Genevieve - Modoc Ferry
we entered our 6th state today
Modoc Rock Shelter - As early as 8,000 BC prehistoric Indians were camping in the shelter of this great sandstone bluff. These nomadic people, who lived by hunting animals and gathering plants for food and fibers, came here regularly for more than 6,000 years. Late Indian groups, who began to settle in villages, used the rock shelter occasionally when hunting. The pioneers and their descendants continued to make use of the shelter in historic times.
the Kaskaskia Mine quarries limestone from the cliffs and crushes it - as we rode along the road and passed one of these openings we would enter a VERY cold zone
a conveyor belt entering one of the mine openings; however, on Sunday it wasn't operating
the Eads Bridge with the Memorial arch in the background
me on the Eads Bridge
the Old Courthouse with its dome reflected on a nearby building
Inspired by the four golden horses at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, noted Venetian artist Ludovico DeLuigi masterfully created these bronze horses. His sculpture, San Marco II, is displayed just as the artist envisioned them—alive and ready to canter off their marble pedestal, They stand 12 feet high, stretch 9 feet long and weigh 2,000 pounds each.
horses from the Trail of the Painted Ponies are on sale at the hotel
Lewis & Clark
view across the river from the 18th floor of the Adam's Mark
Day 4 - May 28, 2007
St. Louis, Missouri - a rest day
Today was a free day and first I and several others met Jackie for a trip to one of the local bike stores. I wanted to get a new helmet since mine has two small dents from gravel on the highway. I checked online and the store was suppose to have Trek helmets, but when I asked for Trek they said they had discontinued that line. They also didn't have parts for CamelBak systems so the trip was worthless for me. I did, however, finally get a WomanTours T-shirt as the unisex shirts came in with a bike they had shipped for the replacement cook to ride during the trip. Jackie leaves today and Laura returns as our guide.
After the trip to the bike shop Jan, Linda, and I went to Hardees for a quick sandwich and then toured the Old Courthouse and the Memorial Arch. The cornerstone for the St. Louis County Courthouse was laid on 10/21/1839. The 4-winged structure with a dome in the center is built in Greek Revival style and was officially opened on 2/22/1845. One of the most important cases tried in the American court system began in the Old Courthouse in 1846 when the Scott family initiated a lawsuit for their freedom. The care ultimately reached the US Supreme court where the Dred Scott Decision of 1857 pushed the nation into the bloody Civil War. Ded Scott had been taken by his owner from Missouri, a slave state, to Fort Armstrong in the free state of Illinois and later to Fort Snelling in the Wisconsin Territory, another free area. A St. Louis jury decided in an 1850 trial that the Scott family should be free. In 1852 the Missouri State Supreme Court reversed the lower court decision stating the doctrine of "once free, always free" previously supported in the Missouri courts was no longer valid as times had changed. The case was appealed to the US Supreme Court and 7 of the 9 justices agreed that Dred Scott and his family should remain in slavery. Chief Justice Taney stated in the opinion that slaves were considered personal property, and the US constitution guaranteed property rights to citizens of the US. Taney also declared that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which restricted slavery was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court sanctioned slavery with this decision and helped move the country toward Civil War. The Old Courthouse became part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in 1940.
The 630 foot stainless steel Gateway Arch reflects St. Louis’ role as the gateway to the West. Jan and I purchased tickets to ride the tram to the top of the arch and then toured the Museum of Westward Expansion until it was time for our tram ride. They have two trams--one in the south tower and one in the north. Each tram has 8 cars and each car seats 5 people. The tram ride only takes 3 minutes and you can spend as much time as you wish at the top looking out the viewing windows and then ride one of the trams back down.
the runner, Old Courthouse, & Gateway Arch
rotunda of the courthouse
the Louisiana Territory - this area purchased from France in 1803 comprises around 23% of the territory of the modern United States
Red Cloud is one of the life-sized figures that move and speak in the museum
an appaloosa horse
the Old Courthouse from the top of the arch
the Adam's Mark from the top of the arch
the Eads Bridge that we crossed coming into St. Louis from the top of the arch
look close at the top of the arch and you can see the viewing windows
Day 5 - May 29, 2007
St. Louis, Missouri to Grafton, Illinois - 43.3 miles
Today was a fun day! First, we walked our bikes across to the arch, posed for a group picture at the top of the steps then carried our bikes down the steps and rode about .8 of a mile to the beginning of the Riverfront Trail. The trail had several pretty murals and had several rest stops. At the 12-mile mark the trail went onto the old Route 66 Chain of Rocks Bridge. The bridge is now solely a bike and pedestrian bridge and was decorated with several Route 66 mementos.
After crossing the bridge we were in Illinois again and soon began the Madison County Trail. At 17.7 we left the trail briefly to take a short detour to the Lewis and Clark State Historic Site.
Grafton is very small, and we stayed in the Ruebel Motel which had nothing but single rooms and not enough of them so several people had to stay in a different hotel UP a steep hill. The van took them and their luggage to the hotel and they left their bikes at our hotel. The owner was very nice, but the rooms were small and services were limited--no internet, no shampoo or tissues in your room, no access to ice in the morning.
beginning of the Riverfront Trail
first mural on the trail
The Freedom Crossing – In the early hours of 5/21/1855 a small group of people including 3 runaway slaves crossed the Mississippi River at St. Louis in an attempt to reach safety in Illinois. The group was apprehended and a detailed story of the escape was covered in local newspapers. Thus was preserved a rare example, with exact location, of an Underground Railroad event in Missouri. In 2001 the Freedom Crossing was dedicated as a National Park Service historic site.
first rest stop was at the Freedom Crossing - Patty is standing with her bike below the sign
two strings of barges are being pushed up river
For decades motorists on old Route 66 paid a toll to cross the Mississippi on this one-mile-long bridge. It now enjoys life as one of the longest exclusively bicycle-pedestrian bridges in the world. The bridge connects the Riverfront Trail in Missouri and the Confluence Bikeway in Illinois at a particularly scenic stretch of the river, overlooking the natural “chain of rocks” from which it derives its name.
a map showing the location of the Chain of Rocks Bridge and the bike trail
map showing the Missouri and Mississippi River Confluence
map showing the river ring
Route 66 display along the side of the bridge
my bike below a Route 66 road sign
Laurie
Lewis &
Clark Expedition
"The object of your mission is to..."
a full-sized replica of the keelboat used by Lewis and Clark
Lewis brought back hundreds of plant and animal specimens considered new to science. Jefferson shared them with colleagues and promised that Lewis’s published account would offer complete scientific documentation.
Tragically, Lewis never wrote that account. As Territorial Governor of Upper Louisiana, he became bogged down by the daily details of governing. He drank heavily and likely suffered from depression. On the way to Washington, Lewis died in Tennessee on October 11, 1809, an apparent suicide.
Clark’s map of the west, published in 1814, gave Europeans and Americans their first accurate view of the upper Missouri and the Columbia River basin. By revealing multiple mountain ranges, his map ended the dream of a “northwest passage” through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
Clark resigned his military commission in 1807 to accept a position as an Indian agent in the Louisiana Territory. Later he was appointed governor of the Missouri Territory and went on to a distinguished career. He died in St. Louis in 1838.
Day 6 - May 30, 2007
Grafton, Illinois to Hannibal, Missouri - 97.8 miles
Today was a long day and there is a good Mark Twain museum in Hannibal, so when Laurie passed out the 97.8 mile route map she asked how many would be interested in sagging in from mile 51 in order to have some time for the museum which closes at 5 pm. Only 12 (including me) raised their hand so she said the van could handle that many and the Subaru (Little Bo Peep) would stay on the route for support. However, it rained and Hwy 79 didn't have a usable shoulder (there were lots of holes and gravel); consequently, the van filled up with 14 riders from the back of the pack by mile 35. At mile 51 in Clarksville 4 more riders got in the Subaru. I kept riding until mile 75.9 when the van finally returned for another load. However, at that point only myself and one other person was still interested in sagging, but I didn't get into the inn in time to go to the museum. One reason for the delay was that Stephanie, the sag driver, shut the door on her finger. Then while she was driving the van a rock flew up and cracked the windshield. Only six people did the entire route! The rain, the road conditions on highway 79, and the hills from Louisiana on--about the last 25 miles--made the day a hard one. Before taking a shower I cleaned my bike for the 3rd time on the tour. It is always a good idea to clean the chain after riding in the rain as it picks up a lot of road dirt, and so does the bike in general.
No pictures today.
Day 7 - May 31, 2007
Hannibal, Missouri to Keokuk, Iowa - 68.5 miles
Today was a shorter day, it was flatter, and although it was raining when I got up and the roads were wet when we left, it didn't rain during the day. However 11 miles into the route we ran into highway problems. We were on US 61N and for the first 11 miles there was a good shoulder then the shoulder became terrible. Holly tried to avoid some potholes by going up onto the road, but there was a deep edge and she fell. It was the same type of tumble I took several days ago and she got the same type of injuries--minor road rash. However, Judy, Holly, and I rode on the edge of the highway all the way to mile 25 where we got on the Frontage Road and then onto Business 61. At the sag stop we found out that the Canton Ferry we were suppose to get on at mile 36 had been closed down just that morning by a state inspection team. Now we would have to ride US 61 all the way to Keokuk except for about 9 miles where we could ride Missouri B. The Missouri road didn't have a shoulder, but it didn't have much traffic, and the road was in good shape so 7-8 of us rode together and made good time. Then Hwy 61 was OK for several miles even though it was only 2 lanes because it was a new surface and a new shoulder. But at about mile 45 the Highway changed, and we once again had a bad shoulder but this time with a 2-lane road instead of a 4-lane road. There just wasn't anyway for the traffic to get around us if we rode on the pavement and we couldn't ride on the shoulder. At mile 46.7 there was a small pull out area on the left where several people had stopped already and we joined them. The van came along almost immediately and already had a few people on board. Then the Subaru pulled in too and 3 people were in the Subaru. Linda got everyone who wanted to stop at that point into the van--with all the bike racks on top full, two bikes loaded on the front of the van, and a Bike Friday, which is small, was put in the kitchen area of the trailer. Several people continued to ride and did finish, but I didn't feel safe on that road.
Keokuk
is a nice small city. It owes its existence, its presence, and its
future to its more dominant force, the Mississippi River. Keokuk is
located at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi Rivers in
the southeast corner of Iowa. Today, nearly 11,000 call this beautiful
city home. Its name honors the Sauk/Fox chief, Keokuk, a descendant of
the aboriginal Algonquin peoples present when white settlers first
explored the area. However,it is unclear why the city was named
after a man who barely if ever spent any of his life in the town named
after him but one thing is clear, the town was christened with whiskey.
It is said that on July 4, 1829, at a river party celebration held upon
a steamboat here, Col. George Davenport proposed the name of Keokuk. As
they were non-residents, the official naming of the town took place 5
years later in 1834 by 9 citizens. In John Gaines saloon a decanter of
whiskey was set on the bar and at Gaines' suggestion, all those present
who wanted to name the settlement "Keokuk" were to step up to
the bar and have a drink. The vote carried 8 to 1. The town when named
contained one frame house and ten log cabins.
our 7th state
Gateway Garden in Keokuk
a painting of Chief Keokuk
May 11 - May 17
New Orleans to Vicksburg, MS
361.0 miles
May 18 - May 24
Vicksburg to Charleston, MO
444.6 miles
June 1 - June 7
Burlington, IA to LaCrosse, WI
346.1 miles
June 8 - June 14
LaCrosse, WI to Little Falls, MN
284.6 miles
June 15 - June 18
Little Falls to Itasca, MN
151.4 miles
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