DESPATCHES
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8. Mississippi Crossing
June
15th.
Up at 6.30a.m. cloudless skies. Having hogged
the driving yesterday I let Peter start. We set off with
a flourish up the wrong road, OOPS! A quick U-turn where
it says NO LEFT TURN sorts the problem and we
lose the Healey that had tried to follow us. Just living
up to our reputation. Fortunately no cops about.
Onto Route 60 off Interstate 64, through Hamburg. A gentle
winding single lane road leads through tree laden valleys.
We follow an old single track railway line grass growing
through the rails and rejoin Route 50 at Huron. On Past
Loogootee, farms are getting bigger, countryside more open
and levelling out. We circuit Vincennes and cross
the Wabash river into Illinois. Evidence of irrigation,
roads getting straighter, farms getting bigger, trees getting
fewer. We pass through Olney, the home of the white squirrel.
No sign of other Healeys to-day, we are on our own. Something
we never dared do on the ATW Rally. It's quite a treat.
We head on into St. Louis, our stop for two days.
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Another paddle
Peter
and Julian paddle in the Mississippi. We wander round
the museum and wish we could spend more time but we
have a rendez-vous with all the cars back at Helen
Fitzgerald's pub. There has been an article in the
local paper telling people to come and look at these
beautiful cars. By now we have 20 Healeys in tow.
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Gateway to the West
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We
have a rest day in St Louis and a group of us head
into town to see the famous Arch, the gateway to the
West. There is a museum at the base with the history
of the pioneers Clarke and Lewis. I purchase the book
for bedtime reading. Five of us squeeze into a time
capsule built for two and speed to the top of the
arch, all of 630 feet high, taller than the London
eye. It is a major achievement in engineering and
beautiful to behold. |
Grizzly bear,Just happened to bump into this handsome chap
on the way to the Gateway Arch
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