Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky…

After the scary ordeal of crossing those two skinny bridges we were both ‘happy to be at our next campground. Also we were glad we would stay for three days before charging on toward Virginia. We camped at the Canal Campground, another COE Park.

Since our campground is located just a few miles north of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, we drove down the scenic road to the land between the lakes and man, oh, man, everything was so very vibrant green and lush!

Driving around we found the remains of an old iron ore smelter that had a pull out to a historical marker with tidbits posted about the history. The iron ore smelter is adjacent to a road we then explored and discovered Hematite Lake. We noticed a 2.4 mile hike around the lake and although we didn’t do the hike the day we discovered it we made a plan to return the very next day to do it.

Hematite Lake is so named because of all the ore found around the lake and that is why the smelter was located nearby. The remnants of the smelting process yielded lots of variously colored pieces of hematite along the shoreline of the lake. We found pieces that were glossy black, purple and vibrant blue along our path.

But best of all was enjoying a nice hike in the lush woodlands around the lake. The lake at times was so still there were magnificent reflections of the clouds on the water. About halfway around the lake a 1/4 mile (practically new) boardwalk took us over the swampier parts of the lowlands where we saw many birds and frogs and turtles.

The most interesting sighting of the day was an American Woodcock. About the size of a robin these short legged stocky woodland birds are solitary and rarely seen so we were delighted to watch this one probing the ground for earthworms. Having forgotten my good camera we were unable to capture a photo of it so we only took our memories of it with us.

Our three day stay at Canal Campground was just what the doctor ordered. What a nice and relaxing place to spend some time. We both would like to return to this area someday for further exploration but it quickly became time to press on…

What a Horrifying Experience…

We were only in Missouri for one night and the next morning we continued on northeastward. Our route leaving Missouri into Illinois was crossing the Cairo Bridge on highway 62. What a mistake this was!

We crossed that bridge into Illinois which we soon realized no one driving a large RV or fifth wheel should ever drive across! I mean NEVER EVER!!! This cantilevered through truss bridge over the Mississippi River on U. S. Highway 60 / 62 between Birds Point, MO, and Cairo, IL is not meant for large rigs yet truckers cross it daily.

Each lane of the bridge is 10 feet wide but with the bridge trusses straight up from its edge it really leaves each lane with about 9 feet to work with. As we approached this white-knuckler bridge we prayed we see no Semi Trucks on the nearly mile long length. 

Well we had no such luck and as we approached the truck I squeezed as far right as I thought humanly possible and when we passed the truck I’d be surprised if one could  fit a thin dollar bill between our two mirrors. We are still shocked we didn’t lose a mirror on that bridge.

Now you think we would relax after crossing that bridge but noooooo… there is another bridge just like it crossing over the Ohio River leaving Illinois just a few miles after crossing the first one. The second was a clone of the first bridge but was even longer and the first half of it was under construction forcing us into a single lane!!!

Again we prayed to see no trucks but yet again we were denied our prayers. The first truck we passed we were again greatly relieved not to have hit mirrors with and then just before we were exiting the bridge another Semi-Truck was coming onto it it. There is a slight turn off the highway onto the bridge so when this truck came on its tail end was across the middle line in our lane.

I have absolutely no idea how we didn’t get side swiped only to surmise that we must have had our prayers answered after all. It took a good while after crossing these bridges before either of us could calm down. Be advised - DO NOT EVER CROSS THESE BRIDGES… I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if we didn’t have 10 years of RV driving experience behind us!

A few hours later we pulled into our next site at the KY Corps of Engineer Canal Campground in Grand Rivers, KY. We will be staying for three days and hopefully by the end of our stay we will forget about this horrifying experience…

NOTE: We are currently in the Shenandoah Valley near Woodstock Virginia until who knows when…