The river revisited

It would seem that I can't stay away from the river. For our roadtrip from Atlanta I decided to head back to the river to show Juliet the places I stayed/camped,to see some of the people that were so kind to me,and to see how much the river had changed in 6 weeks. We drove across Tennessee in double quick time stopping only in Nashville to see the home of Pres Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory) the hero of the battle of New Orleans. We hit the river at Caruthersville Missouri,the home of Boots and Howard who had previously lent me a condo for the afternoon and taken me to dinner in the casino. It was evident the river had dropped at least 8 feet since i was last there. There were islands and sandbars where none had existed b/4. From there we checked out my campsites at New Madrid,Chester,Cape Girardeau,Cairo and Kimswick. The final visit was to Grafton where Alison had let me stay in one of her luxury B&B cottages for 3 nights. It is a wonder I am not still there. The last stray that came on to the property was a lovely dog called Murphy who stayed for 10 years and who had sadly passed away a couple of days prior.It was interesting to see how much the current in the river had diminished with the lower water level.
I also learned that the 3 paddle boarders who are vying to be the first down the river have all past St Louis.
I can't believe they will be allowed through the busy commercial traffic further south