DO NOT trust your GPS. More on that in a bit.

I continued down the Great River Road on Monday and Tuesday. All secondary roads. Some more secondary than others. As someone from the North East, I have found the Mississippi River valley to be so different from my norm. And beautiful. The River, the fields, the wildlife. I would highly recommend taking the Road on either side of the River.

Welcome to the Great River Road

I did stop at REI and picked up new living quarters and a chair for the warmer weather. 71 degrees today. And I needed to make sure it was all there and I knew how to set it up…

I made it to Cape Girardeau for the night. Sat outside and had a nice bowl of Pho. The hotel clerk suggested I see the town along the river so I headed there first thing this morning. An interesting set of murals on the flood wall downtown. And a surprisingly named courthouse.

Leaving Cape Girardeau I had intended to go down the west side of the river to Cairo, cross the river, and then go down the east side to Hickman. Unfortunately, someone neglected to tell their GPS to ignore ferries. When I entered Cairo to Hickman, the box chose the “fastest” route. Which brought me to Dorena, and a dead stop. Doing some research, it looks like I might have been able to call the ferry and get them to pick me up. But I sure didn’t see one around. So, down the west side of the river I went. After backtracking 21 miles. I should have suspected something when I hadn’t passed a single car in 15 miles and the road kept getting narrower. One time I’m kinda (sorta, not really) glad Janelle wasn’t with me. I’ve done similar things in the past. They were not our best times. The good news is that this took me through New Madrid and I got to see cotton baled like we bale hay. I was puzzled over what looked like cotton scraps stuck in all the roadside weeds. Turns out that is just what it was.

I stopped in Memphis, on Beale Street, towards the end of the day. Me and everyone going to the Liberty Bowl game between Mississippi and Virginia Tech today. I took a quick look around and skedaddled. At least I got some idea why hotels were so expensive. I’m spending the night an hour down the road.