ARROW ROCK, MO

As mentioned on the previous post, we left Cades Cove on Monday, April 4th, drove 330 miles across Tennessee to Kentucky Dam Village at the head of Land Between the Lakes. Then on Tuesday, we drove another 360 miles to Arrow Rock, MO. There are only certain places to cross the Mississippi River, so even though it was over some 2-lane backroads, we took the shortest route. From Paducah, KY, we cut across to Wickliff, KY, then to Cairo, IL, then to the Cape Girardeau, MO river crossing.

Once across the river, we took I-55 north to St. Louis, then I-70 west to Arrow Rock. This is a very small town and the whole place is designated as an historical site. They have a nice Visitor’s Center and campground. Our campsite is at the end of the street, grassy, and peaceful. Not very many campers this time of year.

The town is very quaint with a few small businesses - a country store/coffee shop, several bed & breakfasts, a restaurant/tavern, a couple of antique shop, and post office. Lots of history here, obviously.

We’ve been here a few times before and it is one of our favorite places in this area. We were here in 2006 when we followed the Lewis & Clark Trail and also in 2008 on our way to Alaska. This is one of the places that a lot of the people came through on their way to Independence, MO to begin their trek on the Oregon Trail, which we followed in 2010. We didn’t realize it initially, but this area was also the starting point of the Santa Fe Trail.

Wednesday was a mix of clouds & sun and very windy. We took the opportunity to take care of some domestic chores. We went to the town of Marshall about 15 miles west and did the Wal-Mart thing. I got a needed haircut and we bought a few commodities.

Thursday was mostly sunny, but still windy. We went to the Arrow Rock Visitor's Center and picked up some Santa Fe Trail literature & maps, and then we rode the backroads for awhile. All the roads are letters of the alphabet rather than numbers - we drove on D, H, K, P, AA, AC, DD, and TT. All these local roads are two-lane, hilly, and rough.

Of course, we were driving slow - always looking for birds. Because of the wind, we didn't see that many - a few sparrows, blackbirds, mocking birds, and one Eastern Meadowlark that posed for LaVerne on a stop sign.