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Our summer road trip down the Great River Road continues in this episode. We start just after Lake Pepin and make our way to the Mississippi’s confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. Along the way, I’ll comment on the following places: the Upper Mississippi River National Fish & Wildlife Refuge; Winona, Minnesota; in Wisconsin: Alma, Fountain City, La Crosse, and Prairie du Chien; Dubuque, Iowa, and Galena, Illinois; the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa; in southeast Iowa: Muscatine, Burlington, Fort Madison, and Keokuk; in Illinois: Nauvoo, Quincy, Grafton, Alton, Chester, Shawnee National Forest, and Cairo; in Missouri: Hannibal, St. Louis, Sainte Genevieve, and Cape Girardeau, plus a few places in between these. I obviously won’t be going into great depth about any particular place but instead want to give you a sense of the variety of attractions and experiences you can expect along the Mississippi River, with some picks about my favorite spots (and where to get good food and drinks).

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It’s summer and many of y’all will be hitting the road to travel and see something new (or revisit places you enjoy). I haven’t done a travel-themed podcast in a while, so in the next couple of episodes, I’m going to go over the highlights of driving the Great River Road. In this episode, I start with an overview of what to expect from the drive plus some overall highlights. Then, I start a north to south trek down the Great River Road from Itasca State Park and ending at Lake Pepin. Along the way, I’ll comment on the following places: Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Crosby, Brainerd, Little Falls, St. Cloud, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the communities around Lake Pepin. I obviously won’t be going into great depth about any particular place but instead want to give you a sense of the variety of attractions and experiences you can expect along the Mississippi River, with some picks about my favorite spots (and where to get good food and drinks). In the next episode, I’ll cover the rest of the Great River Road from Lake Pepin to the Mississippi’s confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.

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In this episode, we continue our detour along the Missouri River with part 2 of my conversation with Steve Schnarr from Missouri River Relief. In part two, Steve describes the process the Corps of Engineers used to channelize the river, how it changed the river, what we lost, and how some folks gained new land. He talks about a Missouri River bridge that was built over land, and about the hopes for commercial navigation on the Missouri River that just never seem to realize.

We talk about the growing community of Missouri River paddlers and the special relationship between residents of river towns and the Missouri River. Steve offers a few tips on places to visit the Missouri River, including a couple of areas where you can check out remnants of the old river. We finish with a description of the mission of Missouri River Relief and their big annual event, the race known as the MR340.

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In this episode, we detour off the main channel of the Mississippi River to get to know its longest tributary: the Missouri River. Our guide for this exploration is Steve Schnarr, Race Director for Missouri River Relief. We covered a lot of territory (like the Missouri River), so our conversation is split between two episodes. In this one, part one, we cover some of the basics of the river’s geography, including where it begins and how long it is. Steve describes what we know of the ecology of the natural river, including where it picked up all the sediment it was so famous for. Steve describes the history of dam building on the Missouri River, why we did it, and how it impacted the Native American communities that lived along the river.

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February 1 is National Baked Alaska Day. April 14 is National Ex-Spouse Day, but April 22 marks Earth Day. We’ve had these (and more!) national days celebrating things silly and crucial, but we’ve never had a National Mississippi River Day. Until this year. It’s long overdue. On June 2, we’ll celebrate the first National Mississippi River Day. In this episode, I talk with Michael Anderson, the Director of Outreach and Education for One Mississippi, about it.

Michael begins by sharing a story about how the river lifted him out of a deep emotional hole and inspired him to help other people connect in their own ways to the Big River. He explains how his work at One Mississippi has helped grow a river-based community of 20,000 plus people who enjoy the Mississippi and take action to help protect it. He describes the varied ways people connect with the river and how any of us can find a way to build a new or deeper connection with the Mississippi, perhaps on the inaugural National Mississippi River Day. We talk about the events happening for National Mississippi River Day, as well as for the two following weeks known as River Days of Action. We finish with a few thoughts about what makes the Mississippi such a unique and special place.

In the Mississippi Minute, I offer a few thoughts about our work to protect the Mississippi and what we need to consider to do differently in the days and years ahead.

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In this episode, I have the pleasure of talking with accomplished chef and St. Louis area resident Josh Galliano. We talk about his path to becoming a chef and the family and cultural influences. He grew up in southern Louisiana near the Mississippi River, where he had regular access to fresh, seasonal products. Mostly, though, we talk about campfire cooking. Galliano prepares memorable meals on sandbars for a local outfitter, Big Muddy Adventures, and just generally loves the outdoors.

We talked about the importance of advance preparation, what foods do and don’t lend themselves well to campfire cooking, essential equipment, and maintaining cleanliness and food safety. We get distracted talking about paw paws, and Galliano offers some tips for breaking out of the hot dog and burger routine. We wrap up with a discussion about river-themed foods, which is the subject of a new cookbook he is working on.

Whether you camp from your car like I often do, or hike or paddle for longer trips, you’ll find Galliano’s thoughts and tips helpful.

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In 1964, four members of the Ku Klux Klan killed two African American men in Mississippi. The story of their murder and the following decades of stops and starts in the prosecution of their killers inspired my latest Frank Dodge mystery: Murder on the Mississippi. In this episode, I give some background on the murder of Dee and Moore and how their murder influenced my latest book. Murder on the Mississippi takes place on a Mississippi River cruise from New Orleans to Memphis. The story centers around the story of three African American sisters whose father was killed in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the 1970s by a gang of white men. They got a tip that the killers would be on the riverboat, so they booked a cruise to find them and hold them accountable. Their father’s murder, though, impacted each sister differently, which is one of the main themes of the novel. And while trying to find the killers, Dodge and his friends learn that some people on the boat aren’t who they claim to be. The book is already available for pre-order and officially releases on April 8, 2005.

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Living out of an RV or van seems more possible than ever before, and, based on what’s out there on social media, a lot of people have already taken the plunge. If you’re someone who is curious about what it takes to make the switch to full-time RV life, this episode is for you. I talk with Patti Hunt, host of the RV Life podcast, and someone with plenty of first-hand experience. We focus mostly on her personal story as she and her husband made the switch from living in a house to living in an RV.

Patti describes how they prepared to make the switch, the priorities that guided their choice of RV, and how they eased into RV life. We talk about the challenges of getting used to living in a much smaller space, when it’s advantageous to plan, and when it’s not. She passes on a few tips she learned about the etiquette of RV life, managing health needs on the road, and dealing with emergencies. Finally, she shares how, above all, the community she connected with in the RV world has been the most meaningful part of the journey for her.