Thursday, August 23, 2018

Arriving in St. Louis Missouri ends our tour of Meriwether Lewis' Eastern Legacy Trail which began in Philadelphia, PA to Harpers Ferry, WV, to Monticello, VA, to Pittsburgh, PA, to Falls of Ohio, Clarksville, IN/Louisville, KY and eventually down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi River to Camp Dubouis north of St. Louis, MO.

 We awoke to 58 degrees at 6:45 and left the campground to clear, sunny skies and took Rt 64 West almost the entire trip to St. Louis.  We saw many Monarch butterflies on their annual flyway; we saw soy and corn fields rather than the busy city and suburbs; we are both healthy and happy to do this together;  we were able to sleep through through the night night when we camped near night shift highway repair; we slept through low flying aircraft on the Louisville Airport flight-path; we slept through the roar of nearby railway freight and passenger trains. We lost an hour when time changed from EST to CST. We haven't seen many bird species other than those from the highway and short campground walks. Our wi-fi and cell-service is sketchy at our campgrounds. We were able to drive almost 2,000 miles from Lackawaxen at 65mph with trailer and truck working very well. We give thanks to our Lord for safety and the history of this great land.

Lewis and Clark left Clarksville together with 8-10 members of the Corps down the Ohio River to Ft. Massac, then on to the confluence of Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Ft. Defiance. (FT. Kaskaskia, IL). They then went up the Mississippi River and reached Camp River Dubois (Camp Wood) on December 12, 1803. 

We plan to visit St. Louis and St. Charles to see Westward Expansion Arch, Camp Wood, William Clark's grave site, etc. through weekend, then start the actual Trail, heading up the Missouri River to Kansas City, MO.