Admiration and envy. I have both for great river explorers like Lewis and Clark and their Discovery Corps, and John Wesley Powell, who with a handful of men by his side, made a deadly effort to chart a river passage through the Grand Canyon. Oh, but my admiration and envy reached new heights this summer when my wife, Shannan, and her father, Dave, traveled the Great River Road of America’s mightiest river, the Mississippi. Beginning at its humble trickle from Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the two adventurers started their modern day expedition.
Not only did they follow the powerful and majestic river as it snakes its way through ten states, but the father and daughter team enjoyed the sights, sounds and people in the heartland of the United States. Along the way Shannan and Dave encountered Americana past and present including the likes of the Civil War, Paul Bunyan and Babe, John Deere, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Joseph Smith, Mark Twain, American Eagles, southern plantations, of course a riverboat cruise, and modern time’s infamous
contribution to the mix, fast food.
A ten day bona fide road trip for the sake of the road itself is a vacation few contemporary families value. “What do you do? What do you get?” parents and children alike might ask. If being together on a father/daughter trip were not enough, then I contend the answer is: Dave and Shannan saw and interacted with the magnificent landscape of North America. They felt the full force of history while envisioning the future. They were imbued with the spirit and legacy of the river itself. Shannan and Dave lived as the Mississippi lives.
I remain impressed and jealous.
Tom
contribution to the mix, fast food. 
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