30-Mar-2001 -- by Jonathan Beck.

The approach to this, our second confluence of the day and fourth of the trip, was fairly straightforward. We turned off of US 67 onto a small gravel county road. We headed east for about 1 mile, taking a slight jog in the road which is probably a survey correction jog on the end of a series of sections or township. We parked the Audi at an irrigation ditch, Little White Oak Ditch, and our GPS's indicated that we were 0.3 miles from the confluence. We proceeded north along the ditch until we intersected the 36th parallel. We were then 432ft due east of the confluence. We took a few pictures of the area. Due to the standing water in the field, and the pound or two of mud on our boots, we didn't feel like traversing the field. However, not wanting to settle for a mere attempted visit, Jody took one step into the field and remarked that he didn't sink too much, so I decided that was a challenge. I grabbed Jody's GPS in one hand, and mine in the other hand, and told him I'd raise both arms up when I'd reached the confluence. After heading due west for about 400 feet, I had a lock with the Garmin III+ on the confluence. I raised both arms in victory and shouted to Jody to take the picture. There wasn't much at the confluence, some soybean stubble and a somewhat dry spot. I headed back to Jody, we walked back to the car and headed to Little Rock, AR, Jody's parent's house and our beds for the evening. Next on the schedule is a 4 confluence day with N35 W91, N35 W90, N36 W90, and N38 W91 before heading home to Columbia, MO. What a way to spend a spring break! Some would call us crazy.