On the Road to Hannibal

Our first stop was Locust Creek Covered Bridge. It's one of four remaining covered bridges in Missouri. It was built in 1868 and was part of Highway 8, the nation's first transcontinental road. It was a slightly muddy 1/4 mile walk to the bridge.

From there we went to Pershing State Park. As with all Missouri State Parks, it was well kept and had nice camping facilities. The lone camper was the camp host. Maybe on weekends it picks up.

After leaving the state park, we headed to the Swan Lake Wildlife Refuge. It was a nice drive around the refuge, but not a whole lot of wildlife at this time.

Right now we're in Long Branch Lake State Park. The lake looks a lot like Smithville Lake, but since there is a state park here, the camping facilities are much nicer.

Edit: Not as much nicer as we thought! Smithville is greatly improved!!