Coal Valley, United States

The breakfast on concierge level was nearly the same as the Best Western in Memphis, but with higher quality food. An episode of NOVA, "Superbridge," showed the construction of the US 67 bridge at Alton, Illinois. Since we were in the neighbourhood, ...

... or background for many of the festivities that take place throughout the year. A bike path runs alongside the river in both states. Bettendorf and Rock Island have a levee -- Davenport and Moline do not, and suffer flooding, closed streets and property ...

The Plan -- Drive the Mississippi Great River Road from Lake Itasca, Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana. Two week-long legs -- Itasca --> St. Louis and then St. Louis --> new Orleans in a separate trip. I've been planning the trip for months ...

Thursday We leisurely went down the GRR, marvelling how the small brook we splashed in just two days before had grown into a wide river -- kind of like our boys. A stop at the Uff Da Store (happened to be stopped at a red light and spotted it!) in Red ...