I began my day yesyerday at Berry’s Ferry, KY, a short downhill ride from Mantle Rock, looking out across the Ohio River, the same Ohio River that my namesake’s family has known for several generations residing in Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and Ohio. I noticed a family, that somewhat resembled my hillbilly West Virginia relatives, camping nearby. Attached to their truck was a large fishing boat. I approached them and asked what it would take to get them to transport me and my bike across the river. They said “not much,” considering that they were planning on catfishing in a few minutes. So, like the Cherokee, I crossed one of my family’s sacred rivers by boat. Thx to Jr and company for the help.
From there, route 146 out of Golconda is narrow, fast, and dangerous. Large portions had no berm, lots of 18 wheelers, lots of rolling hills, and very few places to stop. There were occasional Trail of Tears route markers but no points of interest in Illinois. The only thing remarkable was unexpectedly, the Grantsberg swamp. Yes, there was a full blown swamp in Illinois. No imagine passing through that with 300 other horse led wagons.
I traversed the only truly flat terrain of the entire 950 mile journey from Ware, Illinois (should be spelled “where?”) to Cape Girardeau where I crossed the mighty Mississippi by bridge.
Atone The Removal 