LOCATION:  Labadie, Missouri – outside of St. Louis, MO
CAMPGROUND:  Labaddie Brewery, a Harvest Host site.  Huge parking area.  Great beer.  Lovely setting.  5 stars out of 5.  (Yes – the town and brewery are spelled differently). 
WEATHER:  Sunny.  Heading south.  High 65
DRIVE:  6 hours

We had heard that the road outside of Nauvoo (last night’s stay) was closed southbound.  While George was chatting up the local ladies last night, one had told him about a detour.  The main instructions were to turn at “the big red barn”.  Well, there were lots of big, red barns, and none seemed to have a decent road next to them.  We managed to find our way, although it was a bit dicey on some one-laned farm roads. 

We crossed over the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri.  All of a sudden – cheap gas!

This will be our departure from the Great River Road.  Another year, we hope to follow it farther.  We were on a SW route, and stopped in Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain.  We parked and strolled downtown – quite cute, but very touristy….Mark Twain Hotel, Mark Twain Museum, Mark Train Coffee Shop – you get my drift.

Then, through beautiful backroads countryside – reminded us of North Carolina and Virginia.  We passed through Missouri River towns, some with a lot of distilleries and wineries. 

Although we were in Missouri, we felt like we were travelling quite internationally….passing through towns named:  Lima, Mexico, Cuba, Rhineland, Krakow, and Japan.

Labaddie Brewery is lovely -out in the country even though it is not far from St. Louis.  We got settled along the line of trees.  Four  other Harvest Host RVers joined us. 

After setting up, we had some of their beers – really tasty! 

We are tracking the weather, as a cold front is supposed to be coming in with fierce winds and cold.  We need to boogie-down south ASAP.

DINNER:  Leftover vegan eggplant parmigiana