Reelfoot Lake is known for supporting a large Bald Eagle population. We get to meet a few after breakfast.
We had a beautiful view while waiting for the teapot to boil.
The State Park has a museum and raptor center not far from the campground. While we had seen one juvenile eagle flying over the lake last night, the birds here were wounded and couldn't survive in the wild.
This owl was very aware of visitors, tracking our movement with his head while keeping his body perfectly still.
Inside the museum, this map shows the routes of the Mississippi River over time.
This rowing canoe had unique oars that propelled the boat forward with each stroke, the opposite of a standard rowboat.
A close up of the rowing mechanism. The grey rod is a foot control for the rudder.
Shortly after leaving Reelfoot Lake we followed this truck across the Mississippi River from Tennessee into Missouri.
Caruthersville was the first town on the Missouri side of the river. We pulled in to get a close-up of the big river.
Barge traffic was moving down river at the same speed as "deadheads" large floating logs and trees. I wouldn't want to be on the big river in a small boat.
A boat launch and riverside park offered good views of the barge traffic.
Grain was being loaded onto barges in an operation next door to the town park.
A wall with steel gates protects the town from river flooding.
History of the biggest floods is stenciled on the cement wall.
Caruthersville is proud of native daughter and musician, Sheryl Crow.
Beth found us a local bakery for morning snacks. Though we usually find independent bakeries have delicious treats, these weren't anything special.
Looking for an overnight stop between here and Branson, Beth found an Army Corp of Engineers campground on allstays.com that said it was open in October. Most of the ACOE campgrounds close in September, so she called to confirm. They said the campground is open, but no one would be there to collect the fee during the week, so we should just pick an empty site and enjoy the stay on them.
We found a great site on a peninsula overlooking the lake. With temperatures in the nineties and minimal shade we were very thankful for the electrical hookup so we could run the air conditioner.
We walked both loops of the campground and there really aren't any "bad" sites. All sites had cement picnic tables and many even had structures to shade them from the sun.
Temperatures dropped to comfortable levels at sunset so we turned off the A/C and enjoyed a quiet night.
A few fishing boats headed to docks at the end of the lake while the sun set between rolling hills. This would be a great park to stay at with our sailing kayak.
Thank you Army Corp of Engineers. We highly recommend a stay at Robinson Point Campground.
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