Fortunately, 26 miles into the day we reached Cave in Rock. Like many river towns in Illinois, Cave in Rock is just a shell of it's past glory days. The town is named for the large rock cave that used to be home to river pirates in the early 1800s. In the early 19th century, these outlaws used to call the cave home while they waited for settlers and curious boatmen to explore the cave. When the travellers would stop, the pirates would murder the boat's occupants and then float them downstream to sell the cargo. Later, the cave became a combination bar, gambling casino, and whore house known as "Wilson's Liquor Vault and House of Entertainment." The proprietor and his crew of regular customers continued the tradition of robbing river travellers who visited the cave. Many of the town's original buildings still stand, but are rundown and deserted, leaving you to stretch your imagination to a day when the streets were bustling with travellers and merchants from a much more prosperous time.

After taking the ferry across the Ohio River, we exited Illinois and entered my 9th state of the trip, Kentucky. Not only is Kentucky the 9th state of my trip, but it is the 46th state in which I've visited. The only ones I'm missing are Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska and Hawaii. I'm not sure what circumstances in my life will ever lead me to Alabama and Mississipp, but hopefully something will get me there within the next 10 years. After the states, I'll try and notch off the continents.

Anyway, that night we made it to Marion, Kentucky and stayed in a hotel owned and operated by a family from India. Unfortunately, Marion is a dry town, so our attempts at finding a cool little bar and grill were fruitless, so we ended up at a Chinese restaraunt. I can not for the life of me figure out how immigrants end up in such small towns in the middle of America. It seems inconceivable that a young man, sitting around his dinner table back in China would stand up during the middle of dinner and announce "Momma, papa, I've made a decision as to what I'm going to do with my life. I'm going to go to the land of opportunity, the land of dreams, the land where whatever you want can become reality. I'm going to open an all-you-can-eat, buffet in Marion, Kentucky."