27MAY2012 near Miller City, IL - I slept great and was on the water for a mile before sunrise.  the morning was very calm and there were no bugs, an unusual combination.  Advised to avoid Cairo, Illinois, I did just that, coming ashore at Wickliffe, Kentucky at 0915.  Calm prevailed as I paddled under the final bridge above the Ohio and as I made my way across the now extremely wide Mississippi.  I now am heading south on a route not shared with the Lewis and Clark expedition.  It is a sobering thought that our routes were the same for about 2,600 miles.  At Wickliffe, KY, Robert Joles carried me uptown for an iced drink and similar road food.  "BOAT SERVICES", a river boat assistance business, let me use their computer for EMail ... so folks know I am still moving.  Hungry I came ashore again at Columbus and found no food.  I did find an internet hot zone at the waterfront and did some updating while enjoying some shade.  It is 97 degrees and amazingly tolerable ... hot nonetheless.  Jason Morris happened along and took me to the State Park where a full menu walk-up cafe was operating.  A BLT and coke with the company of Jason and Kelly was enjoyable and filling.  Jason is a contractor with the biggest arms I have ever seen.  If he can't move it with those arms you had better have some hydraulic equipment on hand.  Leaving Columbus well fed I paddled down to Wolf Island.  I was not allowed to camp there due to some nesting bird that I might bother, so I went over to the right bank and set up camp amid the insects.  It was a challenge setting up the tent while being mosquito and horsefly meat, but I endured, put all my gear in the tent and went swimming.  The relief from mosquitoes, horseflies, sweatiness, stickiness and the in general heat was palpable.  Ahhh wonderful!  It was good to be clean and zipped into the tent ... I can hear an occasional horsefly outside.  The tent is a bit hot since I set up on sun-baked sand, but bearable when compared with more insect entertainment.  An interesting tidbit about my camping spot is that it is Kentucky yet on the west bank of the river.  As the tent cools and I get more ready for sleep I hear a horsefly buzzing the outside of the tent again.  Chuckle chuckle.
The major scenery today is the Ohio River and the size of the Mississippi as a result of the confluence.  The river is now about 1/2 mile across ... yet it does not seem to be a problem ... I mean it is flat and it is moving - no problem.  A big wind, though, causing big waves and SWELLS COULD BE A problem.  This river is very similar to Lakes Oahe and Andes, yet with current.  Both of those lakes can get big waves and so can this river.  No strong winds are expected anytime soon.   
Today I paddled from river mile 16 to mile 0 on the Upper Mississippi number system and from river mile 954 to river mile 931 on the Lower Mississippi number system.  The total mileage for today is 39.  Wind, when encountered, was a face wind.  Animals seen are great blue herons and ducks.  I heard a beaver slap the water and I saw a big cat pawprint in dried mud.  Big print equals big cat equals nervous chickens.