On Wednesday at 6:30 a.m., it was raining in St. Louis but Scott, my host, used the Weather Underground to show that by 7:30 the rain would stop, and so it did, and we had another hot day of riding along the Mississippi. 
They have a lot of bike lanes and paths, and we ended up riding all of the 57 miles to Pere Marquette State Park on a bike path, with only about 5 miles on a marked bike lane. Very nice. Scott led us through St. Louis to the river path. 
Camping was only $5 each, and we ate supper in a nice resort lodge in the park. 
We had the best sleep in 3 weeks, and today the most comfortable riding of the trip. Reason is that it became overcast last night, and temp dropped to 64 F, and it was still overcast and 64 F at 10:30, and stayed overcast until after we got to Pleasant Hill. Compare that to 85 F in St. Louis with 86% humidity. 
We crossed the Illinois River and I am at 1176 miles—over half way to Lake Itasca. 
Now, after a roast beef dinner in the local diner, it’s sunny and comfortable. Amazingly, we once again missed storms around us in the area.
Tomorrow’s episode will be Hannibal the Great, or Ever the Twain Shall Meet.