East of Eden

We started our day on US 65, which had a fair amount of car and truck traffic, and a fair to mediocre shoulder. As the day went by, we moved to progressively smaller and less traveled roads. Missouri county roads, which have letter designations rather than numeric designations, are delightful.

Kerry claims to have given up diet Coke. I'm not saying he fell off the wagon, but this was his breakfast this morning.

Traffic jam on US 65. This tractor was going exactly our pace. We followed him for more than a mile before we got tired of his dust and stopped for a quick break.

Team S flying up a Missouri hill, faster than a speeding tractor.

A Missouri county road. The pavement doesn't look good, but it was surprisingly smooth and there was almost no traffic. Delightful.

We stopped for an early lunch in Chillicothe, since there is nothing but farms between Chillicothe and our destination for tonight in Jamesport.

Whoever painted this mural got the sky color exactly right.

We crossed over the Grand River. As you can see, it may not be as big as the Big Muddy, but it is at least as muddy. Actually, the Grand flows into the Missouri at Grandport MO, so all of its mud ends up in the Missouri.

If you travel up the Grand River, you will come to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Adam-ondi-Ahman is the site where Mormons believe Adam and Eve went after they were expelled from the garden of Eden. The Mormons planned to build a temple on the site, but were forced out of Missouri in the 1838 Mormon War.

We are staying in Jamesport tonight. The town is about 75% Amish, which means we paid a visit to a bakery. We ended up with a blackberry pie, but we also ended up eating a big dinner. Oh dear, I guess that means pie for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Jamesport seems to be a thriving town. It's a tourist destination. People come for Amish food and crafts. Adam-ondi-Ahmanles is about 10 miles due west of Jamesport, so a lot of Mormons also pass through Jamesport.

Welcome to Jamesport. Most of the cars belong to tourists. We're trying to avoid including Amish people and buggies in our pictures.

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