Adventures on the Mississippi River bottom

As most people know by this, the Mississippi River has reached historic lows. Because of that old stories are appearing, many for the first time and river traffic has slowed to a halt. The slowdown/stoppage of barge transport, though playing havoc on the economy, hasn't stopped people from going to the river to explore. And so it was that we recent, with a couple of friends, with off on our own adventure.

We arrived at Cottonwood Point in Southeastern Missouri and found several tugs hard at work along with barges stacked by the shoreline waiting to be moved. This alone would have been enough but then, like the Statue of Liberty unexpectedly appearing at the end of Planet of the Apes, a relic from the river arose out of the sand.

As the work went on around us, I approached the risen treasure and, of course, had to strike my pose. Then I discovered the remains of fish, their skin, bones, bits and pieces. I couldn't help but wonder if they had been left behind trapped in small, drying pools of river water.

I made the circuit around this great old relic and found more fish bones. We thought they might be something else but decided, nope, it was more fish bones. Don's hand shows the scale. Seeing this really was an amazing experience.

Heading back to the truck and random pictures for the wrap-up. Our friend Mike had the good idea of driving down the ramp to save us the walk back up. Unfortunately, that didn't work out too well and we were well and truly stuck. Luckily, we live in a world where good Samaritans are living, breathing realities, one cute, furry friend included. Connect one 4-wheel drive to one tow strap and we were out and heading home.