The lower section

People on the river have continually been nothing but gracious to us throughout our journey. We spent the past two days enjoying ourselves in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Bud and Jean, thank you again for a fantastic weekend! 

1300 miles from Lake Itasca, we've now completed the upper portion of the Mississippi. Tomorrow we'll paddle by the confluence of the Ohio River, where we're expecting the current to pick up considerably. The past few days we've been able to paddle nearly 7 miles per hour, over twice the speed we paddled in the headwaters. We should make it to New Orleans in no time!