West Branch is famous for being the birth place of Herbert Hoover. The first president born west of the Mississippi. The Hoover library and historical park, including the house he was born in, was pleasant. We didn't spend a lot of time in this pretty town because we were anxious to get to the Mississippi.

We crossed at Muscatine. The Mellon capital of the world. We had a great lunch at a Dutch restaurant. Patti forced herself to ignore the many antique shops in town. We did stop to mail a big package of weight home, including all our cooking supplies. The building where Mark Twain first learned the newspaper trade was very interesting. At 3 PM we crossed Old Man River. I had been singing that song for weeks now. My lyrics somehow included wanting a taco from taco bell. It felt good anyways.

We saw our last Buffalo on a farm just east of the river. We camped at the city park in Viola, Il.