It was a two river day! We left Chicago and drove across the unending corn fields of Illinois. We crossed the Mississippi into Iowa near Rock Island and travelled south a little ways to Lock #14 where we saw a raft of 16 corn barges going thru the locks...it was more than 1,000 feet long!
Late in the day after the endless rolling corn fields of Iowa, we arrived at the Missouri river and camped in Lewis and Clark state park. It was almost 90 degrees and humid when we got there. We tried sleeping in our shelter but after an hour or so the bugs drove us into the van. We have screens for the windows (made by Gina!) so there were no bugs. A cooling wind picked up and we slept well.
The next morning we took a bike ride and wanted to cross the Missouri into Nebraska but the bridge was iron grate and very long so we turned around.
We drove thru the corn of eastern South Dakota until the grasslands started and then we drove some more. We got to the Badlands National Park around 5 PM. A beautiful place where weird rock formations jut out of the grasslands.
It was time for a little music so Gina got out her travel guitar.
We took a ride along the base of the formations and then climbed up a steep pass. By the time we got to the top we were both felling squashed so we cycled back to the campsite and stayed in the shady shelter for the afternoon, reading
Clever the way you got a buff biker to pose for the last picture. And clever enough to bring your own balladeer!
ReplyDeleteJeez I was thinking the same thing, Jack! Steve, you might have felt squashed, but you look great!
DeleteHow's the guitar playing coming along? I got a ukelele, but I'm sure I will never play a recognizable song even if I learn to change chords.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you guys are having a great trip so far! On your way from Glacier to Boise there is a great campground along the south fork of the Payette. It has natural hot springs right along the river and are some of the best I have ever been in! The campground is called Pine Flats and is just out side of Lowman, ID.
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