Wabash Cannon Ball

We got away from home just before noon on Sunday.  We made our "drop dead" time somehow.  Christian and Laura arrived a little later than we expected, but Laura had breakfast all ready with a delicious spinach quiche (I think that's what it's called).  I had finished loading most everything and Joyce was putting the finishing touches on putting the groceries and "stuff" away when they arrived.  We ate, turned over the house keys and hit the road.

We made an intended-to-be quick stop at Joyce's mom's in Rogersville.  I say it that way because she stayed a little longer than planned, but she needed to say "bye" to her mom.  Traveling on, we grabbed a McDonald's at Mt. Grove and continued on east on Hwy 60.

Our first night was going to be Trail of Tears State Park on the river near Cape Girardeau, but a family crisis required good cell phone service, so we opted for a campground in Cape Girardeau.  It was a nice and convenient place to land, although a little more expensive than we normally shoot for.  But, the crisis abated somewhat and this morning we hit the road, crossing the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau, angling across the extreme southern end of Illinois and into Indiana.  It was a nice quiet drive, although we still were concerned with the family crisis.  Eventually though, news indicated we could continue our trip.  But, the stress had played on us somewhat, so we opted to stop a little sooner than we had planned.  After a couple of mis-steps for a campground, we settled on Ouabache (Wabash) Trails Park on the outskirts of Vincennes, In., right on the Wabash River (well, on the banks of the river).  However, the GPS, as usual, chose it's own path there.  It was a fun path, though.  It took us through St, Francisville, Il and onto the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd which crosses the Wabash into Indiana.  We didn't expect it, but it turned out to be a toll bridge.  But, it was only $1.25.  What we really didn't expect was that the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd was built on the old Wabash railroad bed - including the railroad bridge across the river (thus the name of the road).  There were two bridges, one crossing a swampy area leading up to the main bridge over the river.  Both were one-lane bridges as they were the original railroad bridges.  The main bridge was a heavy looking steel bridge and the smaller one built on huge piles driven into the swamp - after all, they used to handle freight trains.  We had to stop and wait for oncoming cars at both bridges, so I took that opportunity to take some photos.

Just crossed the swamp bridge.

Approaching the main bridge.

Because the Wabash Cannon Ball Rd ran on the old railroad bed, the road on the Indiana side was like a Taney County backroad.  Running through the tall ready-to-harvest cornfields made it difficult to figure where we were going.  The GPS wanted to send me back home, but I endeavored to persevere, and here we are at the campground...somehow.

Joyce is fixin' some supper.  Ummm.  Brisket, baked potato and fresh tomatoes.

Oh.  We passed the Indiana Military Museum on the outskirts of Vincennes.  Here's a couple of shots.  I would have liked to have toured it, but it was after hours.