On Friday morning, September 10, 2016, I stood at the confluence of the continent’s two great rivers – the Missouri and the Mississippi. I stood with very mixed feelings: Incredibly excited, since this has been one of the goals of the trip and therefore one of THE highlights!! But sad in a way, too, as this means my ‘River Adventure’ is over – it ends here with the River.* I suspect I’ll be sorting those feelings all week, as I spend time transitioning back into the real world. Now the “AfterMath” begins again. 🙂
*Though I sympathize with those who say it’s really the Mississippi flowing into the Missouri! 🙂
ANYWAY . . . we’ve still got one blog pertaining to last week. Let’s get on with it! And let’s begin at the end:
The Missouri/Mississippi Confluence It’s not exactly easy to reach, but what a magnificent sight!! Pictures of each river, THE confluence, a tiny bit of history, and an unbelievable flood marker!! Confluence
Potpourri 5 It seems that you prefer the Potpourri section at the start, rather than the end. A collection of this week’s shots (a cannonball stuck in a courthouse, a Model A ford, etc), along with two updates from last week, as well! Pot5
Missouri Capitol It was good to see my own State Capitol again. I think I’d always taken it for granted. I won’t compare it to the other three I saw on the trip, but I’ll let you: MO.Capitol
Spirit Hill & Steamboat Bill Gary Leabman is well known in the general ‘river/paddling/adventure’ community, as well as his many other interests. He and Marsha Nyberg also own Spirit Hill, where I stayed in Hermann. What a marvelous couple – and such great hosts!! For more details – and a beautiful River view! – see Hill&Bill. After viewing, if you want to see more about Steamboat Bill and westward expansion, see GrowingWest
Gary and Sandy Lucy: The Artist and the Mayor As early as Sioux City – maybe earlier – I began to see marvelous “Lewis & Clark” paintings at many of the museums. Bev Hinds in Sioux City told me “that’s Gary Lucy’s work – he lives in Washington, MO”. Little did she know that Washington was one of my scheduled stops! In my efforts to try to get to meet him, I discovered his wife is mayor of Washington!! What a productive couple – and two really nice folks!! For a closer look, see Lucys. To see some of Gary’s works, see GaryLucy, taken from his website. (His “Inland Waterways” and “Lewis and Clark” works are classics!!)
Washington: The Corn Cob Pipe Capital of the World! What do General Douglas MacArthur, Mark Twain, President Eisenhower, and Rudyard Kipling, among many others, have in common? They all smoked pipes from THIS factory! The factory is not open for tours, but a visit to the museum, with General Manager Phil Morgan, was interesting and enjoyable. See Pipes.
Santa Claus, alias Bill Fields Bill Fields is a top-notch photographer and co-author of a beautiful book on Hermann (see link for details). His latest avocation, however is playing (being!) Santa Claus. On the day I met him, I instantly saw how well he fits the part!! (And he’s as genuinely likeable as Santa!) See for yourself: Santa (Long story, but my connections to Bill and Gary Leabman are each inter-twined through the other.)
All Aboard! Washington (like Hermann) is an Amtrak stop on the St.L – KC route. Two runs daily, each direction. I was down by the station for an arrival from each direction. See Amtrak.
Going to Hermann? You could also stay in a Tree House! Friends of Gary Leabman have an event venue (The Cottage) where, among other things, there are two new tree houses which can be rented. What fun! See Treehouses
Reflections! No, I’m not going to share some deep thoughts about the trip (maybe next week?). But I was walking on a walking path near the river (in my ever-present quest for another vantage for a bridge shot!) after a rain the night before. I noticed the large puddles reflected the trees above nicely. Tried to capture it – not sure I succeeded: Reflections. (For those of you familiar with MC Escher, these remind me of one of his ‘reflection’ works.)
Carnival Comin’ to Town! If you’re old enough, you remember when the carnival used to come to your town! I left the highway to pull into the small town of MOKANE, just off the Katy Trail, and it was like a trip back in time! Not sure if the equipment was arriving or about to leave. What do you think? Carnival
Correction I got it right in most places, but in the title of one of last week’s links, I referred to Parkview, not Parkville.
So the official 7-week adventure is over. But the memories will certainly continue, and I think some of those ‘River Remembrances’ will continue to manifest themselves for awhile in these weekly sharings. Right now, I’m unsure how the transition will occur in the Weekly Mailings. Watch for either a ‘looking back’ Blog #10 next week OR some other communication soon to fill you in on what’s ahead.
THANKS for journeying with me – and THANKS for the support!!
I’ll close with a final picture. For many, the St. Louis Arch represents “The Gateway to The West”. For me – coming FROM the West – it represents a symbolic “welcome back”. It also seems to hover like a rainbow over my many thousand memories of a wonderful adventure !!
