Mark Twain's Hannibal

Grandma says:

“I had forgotten how hot and humid this part of the country can get, but I still wish we'd had more time to spend in Dubuque and Hannibal. I loved them both.

I was very impressed going through the Mark Twain Cave. I’ve been through other caves and this one was so different. The floor was clay from when the river used to flood in it, and the walls were limestone mixed with other minerals. I couldn’t believe how they let you touch everything!

The opening of the cave was really narrow – I thought it was going to be a shallower cave with a wide opening, since Mark Twain and his friends used to play in there. I couldn’t believe that the adults used to let kids play in there with just candles. There were a million ways to get lost and the guide showed us just how dark it could get. When the lights went out all I wanted to do was STOP.

Some scientist had been working on an experiment to preserve dead bodies. When his own daughter died, he put her in a copper coffin thing, filled it with his special solution, and stuck her in the cave. She made it two years, when finally they had to bring her out. The local kids kept sneaking in there to tell ghost stories and such, pulling out strands of her hair! When they removed her, she was pretty preserved -- she seemed only 2 weeds dead. Crazy stuff that you’d think would have terrified kids, but just the opposite! Different day and age.

Something funny, is that we've listened to the cd of Tom Sawyer about 5 times on the road so far. We're all listening to the same story – the same one I’ve read before – yet Peanut and Little Man have to keep translating it for me. Peanut actually corrected the guide at one point. (There was as disagreement about who had the piece of cake: Tom or Becky.)

One last thing: We went on a 2 hour Riverboat cruise down the Mississippi River. It started in the day and moved into sunset which was nice. I was really surprised to see how smooth the river was as we were cruising. It was almost like a lake. I live by the Willamette which is fast moving."