Looking Back

• Counting mileage from Branson back to Branson, I put 6271 miles on the Blue Goose.
• I left Branson on July 22, arrived in Three Forks on July 26, started following the River on July 31, and returned to Branson on September 10, putting me on the road for 51 days.
• My trip took me into 9 states, with overnight stays (of at least 2 nights) in all 7 of those which contain the River, with Montana and Missouri [start and finish] getting the two longest visits.  I was technically not in Illinois, but the Missouri almost borders it as it empties into the Mississippi.
• I visited (with stays in) all 4 of the state capitals along the River.  (Actually, I stayed in Ft. Pierre – across the River – rather than Pierre, in SD, and those are different, but . . .).
• I visited (for more than 15 minutes) 27 towns and cites, with overnight stays in 23 of them.
• By rough count, I stayed in 15 hotel/motels, 8 B & B’s, one Resort, one Casino, and one 10 x 10 ‘castle’ with an outhouse, and no electricity [but a GREAT view of the Milky Way!].
• I  took right at 4500 pictures!
• I encountered 80 bridges over the River – I have photographs of almost all of them. (See another link.)
• I crossed 2 of the 3 remaining free ferries left on the Missouri River.
• Once the river part of the trip began, I spent considerable time heading EACH of the four directions EXCEPT west, essentially a direction the River never flows.  One of my (many) surprises is how far northward the River flows at the beginning!