West of the Mississippi

Yes, we're in the area which has been hit hard by storms over the past two days, but we're fine!

We crossed the Mississippi River yesterday at Hannibal, MO. Hannibal's most famous resident was Mark Twain, and their "historic downtown" is devoted to tours of his boyhood home and haunts. Touring the buildings gave us a break from driving in the rain and reminded us of Twain's use of irony to make pointed remarks about the politics and way of life of his time (mid-1800s) in simple language that everyone could understand. He had some pretty good one-liners.

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."

"The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read."

During our self-guided tour, I pulled this cord repeatedly so that Ray could take the photo. We realized later that the horn wasn't only sounding in the room we were standing in but all throughout the museum. 

Oh well. They'll never see us again. 

Before we left, Ray got to whitewash the fence. I only charged him $10 for the privilege.

Between rain showers, we walked up some of the 240 steps 

to the lighthouse at the top of the bluff (you can park halfway up)

 and enjoyed the vastness of the Mississippi River. 

It's fun to walk another 200 yards and emerge into a clearing 

where there's a perfect view of what you've only been able to glimpse through the trees. 

We ate lunch in a park next to the river and I found the place Where the Sidewalk Ends.

(That one's for my literary friends.)

On our way to Lawrence, KS, we saw a lot of this:

And we spent today with family we hadn't been able to see in a long while. 

Ray took these great photos at the local park's visitors center 

while we enjoyed walking around and chatting.

Heading to Oakley, KS, tomorrow! 

Hopefully we'll drive out from under these rain clouds.