Wednesday, September 14th - After 76 Days Back in Missouri

 Cool night last night but we have had the AC running since we arrived here this afternoon. Looking at the 10 day forecast it might still be running the end of next week.

We went back to the Hamilton Family Café for breakfast this morning. We had another good meal, for a very reasonable price. Then I had to go back and check out  the Illinois end of the double decker bridge.

As we drove around trying to get close to the bridge we managed to get a view of the dam, from the Illinois side of the river. A plate can be lifted out of each of the arches if more water needs to be diverted downstream.

Once we found a way to get near the end of the bridge I took the photo below looking back at the dam. 

Then it was trying to get a good view of the bridge from the shore.

As I was making my way back toward where we parked the car I saw Kathy. She was determined to wade in the Mississippi.

She was in mud/silt halfway up to her knees.

I had to see the bridge up close and personal from the Illinois side.

I couldn't get on the old roadway upper deck, it was fenced off.

But I could walk the tracks.

The vehicles must have driven on grating.

It is just to cool. I couldn't resist walking out  on the railway lower deck. 

A shot of the view as trains leave the bridge.

I snapped a photo of the 23,000 sf Hoffman Mansion, along the river near Hamilton. If you get 10 people together you can arrange a tour, for $35/person. It is owned by James Hoffman, of James P. Hoffman Law Offices in Keokuk.

The drive from Nauvoo to Mark Twain Jellystone Park, near Monroe City (Hannibal), MO, was 90 miles. We drove IL96 before jumping over to I172 and then I72. All pavement surfaces were good and traffic was light.

Parked at Jellystone. Coach on good concrete pad. My only minor gripe is that I had to run a hose under the coach to get to a hydrant shared with the site on our left.

Kathy went for a walk and decided to play mountain goat and take a shortcut down the hill coming back.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.

Tuesday, September 13th - Checked out Keokuk, Iowa

A friend of ours from Florida sent me the link below. It is an article about the Dallas City house I posted about.

https://www.mississippivalleypublishing.com/daily_democrat/renovated-castle-is-part-of-dallas-city-history/article_1558f652-7599-11e8-a779-374b12832b8f.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share 

Good weather again today. Last nights low was 52. Todays high was a sunny 81, to hot but tolerable. We are not looking forward to arriving back in Centertown to 90 degree weather. Last May/June, when we scheduled Doctors appointments for September 20th, we didn't imagine the temperatures would still be in the 90's. Live and learn. Next year I won't be scheduling any summer Doctors appointments between early June and early October.

Hamilton, IL & Keokuk, IA are 12-13 miles downriver from Nauvoo. I wanted to see the lock and dam at Keokuk so we drove down today.

The Mississippi is almost a mile wide in this area. Hugh Cooper was the Engineer who designed and managed the construction of the Keokuk dam and power plant. The dam flooded a lot of low ground both sides of the Mississippi. This area is also called Cooper Lake. I was surprised to learn that the Mississippi is very shallow. The Corps of Engineers are tasked with  keeping a 9' deep navigation channel dredged.

Some areas near the shore are full of "lilies" that extend hundreds of yards out into the river/lake.

We had an excellent lunch at the Hamilton Family Cafe. Bowls, not cups, of soup came with the meals. The total bill for my excellent hot beef sandwich and Kathy's good chicken and swiss sandwich was $18.57. Kathy wants to drive back down there for breakfast tomorrow morning. A 6 oz steak and eggs for less than $11.

Are you ready to be bored? The Engineer in me came out looking at bridges, locks and dams.

The story about the Keokuk/Hamilton dam, power plant and lock is interesting. One of the most amazing things is that it was conceived and built as a private enterprise. As part of the deal to get federal government approval to build the dam across the Mississippi they had to agree to build the lock and give it to the government. How different things are today. In Jefferson City a group wants to build a barge terminal, but only if the government forces taxpayers to foot the bill.

The vantage point to see the locks is the upper deck of a bridge across the river. The bridge was opened to traffic in 1916. The lower deck of the swing bridge still carries rail traffic. After a new highway bridge was opened in 1985 the upper deck was closed to vehicles. The Iowa side is used as an observation platform.

Walking out onto the bridge, past the edge of the old brick street.

The street came in from the north while rail traffic came in from the south.

River traffic has the right of way so the swing bridge only closes when a train is ready to cross.

The white shack is set off to the side of tracks, directly above the swing mechanism.

There is more information about the bridge at:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keokuk_Rail_Bridge 

https://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=iowa/keokuk/

A tug was leaving the lock when we arrived. On the way back to Nauvoo we saw a tug with barges headed upstream. I thought there would be more traffic on the river.

The lock, dam and hydro electric plant.

If you are interested you can read more at: 

https://www.hydroreview.com/world-regions/keokuk-energy-center-harnessing-the-power-of-the-mississippi/#gref

https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/keokuk-dam-and-power-plant-project/

https://www.ameren.com/missouri/company/environment-and-sustainability/hydroelectric/keokuk 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.

Monday, September 12th - Poking Around Nauvoo

 Weather - another beautiful day. Last nights low was in the mid 50's and todays high was a breezy, mostly sunny 74.

Some more campground photos. From the far edge of the campground you can see the river. The view would be awesome if some of these trees were removed.

The "pine forest" is close to our site. It reminds us of MI's UP.

Downtown Nauvoo. The blue building on the left and the brick builing in the photo below, are hotels. We stayed overnight here, during a weekend get-a-way, sometime in the late 80's. We thing we stayed in the blue hotel.

When travelling after Labor Day you miss out on some novel entertainment, like the Wild Axe Company.

We could have gotten some axe throwing lessons but alas, it was closed.

The new Mormon Temple completed in 2002. It is built on the site of the original Temple that was destroyed in the 1840's.

We spent several hours poking around Nauvoo. We had lunch at the only restaurant that was open. There really isn't much to the town, other than all the tourist who come to see the "old city" down by the river. The two non-Mormon museums were supposed to open at 1 PM. No one showed up to open either of them. The city opens the door to some of our nations dark past.

In 1831 Joseph Smith proclaimed that God had designated western Missouri as the place where “Zion” would be gathered in anticipation of Christ’s second coming. This led to a steady stream of converts who wanted to get established in the future “Zion”.

Many of the people already in Missouri discriminated against the Mormons. Violence led to the 1838 Missouri/Mormon War. Missouri’s Governor issued Executive Order 44 ordering Mormons to leave Missouri or be killed. Joseph Smith and around 10,000 Mormons escaped Missouri and some of them established the new settlement that became Nauvoo, Illinois. They dug a three quarter mile long, 8’ deep, 12’ wide, canal to drain 800 acres of mosquito infested swamp into the Mississippi. By 1844 the population of Nauvoo had skyrocketed to over 10,000.

It appears to me that people jealous of the Mormon’s success once again started persecuting them. Smith ordered the destruction of an anti-Smith printing press. The Illinois Governor promised Smith protection if he would turn himself in and stand trial for the destruction of the press. Smith and his brother who also had been arrested, were murdered 3 days later, while in jail. The result was a series of running battles between Mormon’s and non-Mormons. Under pressure from the Illinois Governor Brigham Young, the new leader, agreed to abandon Nauvoo and leave Illinois in the spring of 1846.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.

Sunday, September 11 - A Day of Remembrance - This day in 2001 2,977 People Murdered on American Soil by Islamic Terrorists

 It started raining a little before 10PM last night, and didn't stop until 9AM today. It was a good soaker rain. There was very little standing water when the rain stopped.

Last nights low was 57. Todays high was a breezy, mostly sunny 74. Lovely weather.

We did some driving around and looking today. We saw some interesting buildings in Lomax and Dallas City when we drove through yesterday but I didn't take any photos. We went back this morning and checked them out before crossing the Mississippi and checking out Fort Madison, Iowa.

You just don't get to see stuff like this while travelling the Interstates.

The Pink, a bar in Lomax, IL

We weren't sure what this building in Dallas City, IL might have been. The surrounding structure seemed like it might have been a school at one time, but the main old building seemed way to ornate for that. It looked like everything was being torn down. I wished I would have been a little more bold while I was there and looked for a way to get in an peek at the interior.

The cornerstone said Oct. 31, A.D. 1895

A  home in Dallas City. More on the sign on the balcony, at the left side of the building, later.

We still see Trump signs as we travel, but no Biden signs.

The Mississippi River at Dallas City. The land you see on the other side of the water is an island. The grain elevator is on the other side of the river. You can see the island on the above map photo.

Crossing the Fort Madison Toll Bridge was interesting. It is a double decker swing bridge. There are two lanes of highway traffic on the top deck and two sets of rails on the lower deck. The highway deck is reasonably busy but the rail deck is very busy, train after train. The bridge and approaches total about a mile in length. It has a 525' swing span, for barge traffic. (I just read that the swing span is still operational. It "swings" about 2,000 times a year. I may have to get sit and watch it tomorrow and Tuesday.)  It was opened in 1927.

When entering the approaches you are warned that the maximum width is 8' (most Class A motorhomes are 8'4" to 8'6" wide, not counting the mirrors) height 14'4", maximum length 60' and maximum gross weight is 16,000# (our coach has a GVWR of 35,000#). No semi traffic is allowed on the bridge.

When we were on the approach, heading west from the IL side, 5 engines on a train passed us going east. When we got off the bridge on the Iowa side the end of the train has still not reached the bridge.

There is a toll collection booth on the bridge but today it was unmanned. A sign said "No Tolls" The bridge is owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

From the Fort Madison side.

The approaches to the main span seemed very narrow.

Once you were on the main span the bridge seemed wider.

Fort Madison marina.

 

We drove up and down several streets looking at houses, and the business district. The we had lunch at the Chuong Garden restaurant in Fort Madison. The food was good and very reasonably priced. After lunch we went to Old Fort Madison. Kathy sat in the shade on a bench out by the river while I toured the fort.

There was a reenactment going on right after we arrived. There were 5 guys dressed up as soldiers and maybe 7 dressed up as the French or British attackers.

A canon occasionally fired from the blockhouse on the right.

I have only fired a flintlock once so I'm not a judge of the actors techniques. I will say if all the misfires are any indication of real life back in the early 1800's I don't understand why a few Indians with bows and arrows didn't wipe out the entire US Army. I watched misfire after misfire. These guys could have run up and stabbed the opposing forces before they reloaded and fired.

As I was touring the fort I did have a good conversation about the history of the area, with one of the reenactors. 

I don't know if you can make it out in the photo below but there are 4(?) engines pulling a train across the bridge eastbound. The engines are off the main span and on the Illinois side.

I turned around and took a photo of the end of the train as it was still passing through Fort Madison.

I think there are only 3 RV's in the campground tonight. It is a quite place.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.