West of the Mighty Mississippi

We continue to make our way from the Florida Keys toward Idaho. It has been rainy in the southeastern US, so we've been soggy.

We stayed in Chattanooga, Tennessee for a couple of nights. While we were there we visited the Tennessee State Aquarium, which was very nice. They had an amazing display of various sea horses and something called a Weedy Sea Dragon. We had never heard of these things before and they look like something out of a cartoon. We couldn't get a good picture through the glass, but here is one from the internet.

Weedy Sea Dragon

They have a huge Alligator Snapping Turtle that we enjoyed seeing. These guys are apparently getting pretty scarce due to hunting and habitat issues.

Alligator Snapping Turtle

They also have a variety of rays, including this Cownose Ray. 

Cownose Ray

Overall it is a very nice aquarium.

From Tennessee we moved on to Paducah, Kentucky. We arrived in heavy rain and it rained much of the time we were there. Today we drove into Illinois and then crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri. 

St. Louis Arch through the gloom. 

We are staying in Columbia and it is again raining. It is supposed to clear up tomorrow and we look forward to sunny days. 

Mark