It was a long easy haul down from Chicago through Illinois to Cairo. Six hours of straight highway, first through the tall grass prairie, all flat farms now, and then through the rolling river dells of South Illinois to the Mighty Water itself, the great continental crease that we would track to its silted end. We crossed the Mississippi on 57 south of St. Louis, saluted the muddy waters, and turned left through the lush farmland of the river bottom in Missouri. Paused for lunch at a rest stop and ate sandwiches from the cold meat, cheese, and fresh bread we'd picked up on the way out from Conte Di Savoia and Superior Italian Bakery on Western Ave. It began to sprinkle rain. A couple in a Ford pickup wearing some kind of ole time religious getup, Mennonites maybe, except the woman wore high socks, and they had Chihuahua license plates so maybe it was some kinda rude Mormons with the seven wife thing going on, they took in our travel style on the way to the public restrooms. The clouds had gathered thickly in the blue sky and fat drops of rain fell on the bread as we ate.