Mississippi River 0 Leaving Home, Count Down - 4 Days to Go 25-JUL-2007 23:19:00 We are leaving Home in 12 days! The food is packed, the gear is all in order, the bills are paid and I'm more than ready to hit the river. We've been planning this for 2 years. It doesn't quite seem real yet. I think it's going to take a few days of paddling to relax and get into the rythm of the river. A lot of last minute things to do and of course we're still training for a race right before we leave, then August 6th we'll put in just before Bemidji and we'll be going downstream. See you soon. AZ, The final countdown, four days to go. It's been overwhelming, all the planning and preparation. Can't wait for the trip to actually start. I've been following Mike Zwonitzer's trip down the Mississippi. He'll probably finish the day we start. He will have paddled it in 59 days with some days off the river. We're hoping to get down to Natchez MS in 67 days or less because we want to race in the Phat Water Race and Keith Benoist, the organizer, offered to help us with a place to stay and shuttling us to the start so we could leave our gear at the finish. He says he has 8 dogs and an unfinished house. Maybe Joe could do some carpentry for our lodging. He sounds like a crazy guy. Shoudl be a good time. Anyhow, there is last minute cleaning, packing, and saying good-by to all our friends here, some that we won't see until next year. The only sad part of this is that we will miss the rest of the summer with some very good friends but they need to know this is a once in a lifetime adventure and we'll be here next summer. That's all for now folks. 0 Day 1 /August 6th 08-AUG-2007 00:12:00 Today is the day!! We were up by 5:00 and on the road by 6:00. Our friend Janet was driving us to the start. We were going to start about 25 miles from Bemidji but when we got there there wasn't any water, just cat tails as far as you can see. Then we went 10 miles down the road to another put in, there was water but very little and we couldn't get to, so we finally decided to start in Lake Irving just next to Lake Bemidji. We paddled 15 miles today since we didn't start until 12:00. We camped at High Bank campsite which was on top of a 120 ft sand dune. Was that a chore dragging all our gear up there. Went to bed early but didn't sleep well with all the poison ivy and raccoon running around. Short day short night. see you tomorrow. Hello to our families - we love you all. 0 Day 2 August 7th 08-AUG-2007 00:22:00 We didn't get on the water until 8:15. We didn't have a clock on top of our high camp site so we didn't know what time it was. We had to cross Cass Lake today about 8 miles across. We were lucky that the wind was behind us. It's a good size lake with lots of boats. About 2/3 of the way the waves were coming at us every direction. It was really hard to keep our kayaks going straight. Glad that we weren't in canoes. Even with a spray skirt we took on some water. We had to portage around the Knudtsen Dam then another 11 miles to our campsite. We paddled a total of 24 miles today. We're staying at the West Winnie Campground where the campground host was kind enough to let me use his computer to update this web site. I'm having a little problem adding pictures but I'll keep trying. I guess there are bears and raccoons here too so we have to try to figure out where to put our food. Other than a few blisters we're doing pretty good. Tomorrow morning we have to cross Lake Winnibigosh, a very large, shallow lake, that can get dangerous if a storm comes suddenly. I think we'll take the shoreline unless it's like glass. It's 11 miles across and a lot longer around then quite a ways to a campsite so I think it's going to be a long day. Well we're in a beautiful place for tonight. I don't know when we'll be able to post again so keep checking. Hello to Mike you must have finished your Mississippi Trip by now. We'll see you in a few weeks. Hi to every one at the Highway Department and to all of our family. We're fine really. 0 Day 5 / August 10, 2007 12-AUG-2007 16:22:00 Hot again! 90+ degrees. We paddled 5 hours and went 16 miles, accompanied by abundant mosquitos. Just our luck, the mosquitos decided to make the journey with us! We stopped and stayed at the Pokegama dam campsite - With showers! Whoopee! We were invited by fellow RV campers to share their air conditioning, shower and dinner. Need to rest up - we have to do at least 30 miles tomorrow. ....by dz 0 Day 8 / August 13, 2007 14-AUG-2007 02:42:00 Today saw lots of rapids - class 1, possibly 2 white water. We made 21 miles today, setting up camp at 1:00 this afternoon in Palisade. Weather was predicted to be severe storms with 60 MPH winds and golfball size hail. We set up the tent just in time for the drenching downpour. Our phone went dead because of a lack of sun for the solar charger. We found an electric outlet in the outhouse so we are back in business. We went to town and had nice hot food that we didn't have to cook ourselves! We stocked up on supplies and headed back to camp. It seems that the local AA meeting is at the campground pavilion and since it was raining, we joined in. We met some real nice people. The heavy hail is predicted for later tonight so we might be moving our campsite to under the pavilion roof. Our bodies are holding out OK. We are sore but once the excitement of a new day dawns, the aches go away and our spirits soar as we continue to be amazed by the beauty surrounding us. ...by dz 0 Day 9, August 14, 2007 15-AUG-2007 14:39:00 We're finally at a computer so we can do our own posting today. Thanks for your help Dan, you're a very good writer. Today we paddled from Palisade to Aitkin, 31 miles. The wind was up but it didn't really matter because every 10 minutes we were changing directions. It became a joke when Joe told me that something was just around the next bend. The next bend would last forever and I swear we nearly did a couple of 360 turns, impossible but that's what it seemed like. We ate lunch on a beautiful sand bar across from a farmers field. The river is so low that we can't actually see what's on top of the other side but we can hear the cows mooing. Not much wildlife today except a couple of turtles, heron, eagles, and one deer laying down behind a fallen tree and the bank. I hope it wasn't stuck in the mud. Also at lunch a hawk landed right behind us, intent on something in the grass. It was really beautiful. We pulled into Aitkin around 5:00 and set up camp then we walked into town for Italian. Joe figures that if he feeds me well I can paddle faster the next day. We're definitely moving slower than Mike did on the trip he just finished but you're only as fast as the slowest paddler, that's me. At 5'2" I'm a good paddler but no match for Joe's gorilla arms and long torso. He's learning to be patient with me since we're committed to doing this together. Aitking is a nice little town. Walked back to the campsite where we saw a couple out for a walk with their dog, two cats, and their goat. It was quite a site. All of these campgrounds are virtually empty, just like the river. I wonder why? It started to rain so we moved in to the tent to write in our journals, That lasted a couple of minutes and we were both asleep - 8:30 PM. Woke in the middle of the night to an erie noise, you're imagination goes wild at midnight but it was still making noise this morning so we decided it was just some kind of bird. That's all for now folks. 0 Day 12 August 17 20-AUG-2007 01:30:00 Oatmeal for breakfast. Joe always gets up first and starts a fire when possible, and puts the coffee on. Almost as good as breakfast in bed. We decided to switch boats today to see if it made a difference. I definitely prefer his fiberglass boat. It tracks better and glides farther but I know how Joe loves his boat and it didn't really make me any faster so he can have it back.We portaged around the dam in Brainerd. It wasn't too bad but the water on the other side looked strange, lots of rust and maybe some chemical. There's a paper mill here so maybe it's some discharge from that. The river is pretty here, getting wider. Joe actually had to get out and haul his boat today it was so shallow. No current, its like paddling lakes.Expensive homes line the shore. Lots of waterfowl and instead of seeing so many eagles we're now seeing hawks and osprey. We paddled 27 miles today and pulled into Crow Wing State Park. After a mile walk, the lady told us we needed to paddle another 2 miles down river to the canoe site which was right next to the group site. She said there was a group there. We paddled and when we got there we found we were camped right in the midst of a Hmong family reunion with about 50 people and 25 tents. Interesting but pretty hard to sleep that night. They were having almost as good of a time as the Kemmer family unions and the Kuemil ladies group. Beef Minnestroni soup and corn fritters - wonderful!! We wanted to take a shower but discovered they were a good 2 mile walk away one way. Forget it, just wash up with the water we had. Up early tomorrow. 0 Day 13, August 18 20-AUG-2007 01:42:00 It was a lucky day. Started out with us both being crabby with not much sleep last night. By mid day it was getting worse and we had to portage the dam at Little Falls through a long park and down some steep concrete platforms. We saw someone elses gear over a ways, one canoe and one kayak. When we started into town for lunch supplies the owners of the gear were walking back from town. It turned out that these were people we knew. They were Rollie, Bob, and Roger. Rollie & Bob gave a talk on their Mississippi River trip in April and were kind enough to lend us their maps of the southern portion. They are the ones that actually got me thinking this could be some fun and reminded me and Joe to take the time to see things in towns and take it a little easy - just enjoy. We talked for a while and decided to share a canoe campsite at the Charles Lindberg State Park about 3 miles down river. Earlier in the day we met Gary and Harlan, two guys with small plastic boats and paddled with them for 3 miles. They showed up later at our campsite too. Then the family next to us came over with their two kids. We had quite a party. We didn't eat until supper until 9:00 and it took a while to get to sleep but the company was great. Fun guys to be with. 0 Day 14 August 19 20-AUG-2007 02:57:00 Woke up to an overcast sky and mist. Rollie, Roger, and Bob were on their way after sharing their oatmeal with us. Ours was too hard to get. We planned our day. We were going to paddle 22 mile to the Stearns County Campground and see Joe's Aunt Marilyn and Jim on the way. We are having trouble gettiing cell reception here, but occasionally we have service. Paddled to the Blanchard Dam. Very difficult portage and the minute we started to move things it began to pour. Made things slippery and the rocks we had to carry everything over dangerous. It took us about an hour to finish, ate lunch in pouring rain, but Bob, Rollie & Roger took the portage on the other side and it took them 2 hours so I guess we made the right choice. After portaging the wind picked up of course against us. There were actually white caps and the waves were 1-2 ft. Very hard paddling and we hit numerous rocks. Now I wish we had plastic boats. There won't be anything left of ours when we get done. Tried to call Marilyn and Jim several times but couldn't reach them. Call Joe's cousin Corky & Hank and they met us at the campground with their son Nick with a trailer. They took us back to their house for a steak dinner and french silk pie. Did laundry and tried to dry everything out so we can start fresh tomorrow. Hank is going to get us around the next dam. I'll accept the help. This is hard enough that I don't feel guilty missing a little portion of the river. We could always do that section another year. So now it's time to sleep in a real bed after we hot tub. Hi Heather & Cody Our love to you both. Talk to you soon. Mom & Dad 0 Day 15/ August 20, 2007 28-AUG-2007 01:41:00 Hank took us around 2 dams in the St. Cloud area. Water levels are still low and our boats are taking a pounding. In spite of the nearly continuous rain and wind ( always in our face ) we made 20 miles today. We camped on Oak Island - directly across from the nuclear power plant! As always, the wildlife has been amazing. We watched a doe and her triplets play on the shore and a large flock of geese landed in the river right behind our tent. We are expecting a big storm tonight so we better tie things down on our sand bar island. Thanks again Hank and Corkie for the terrific 5 star treatment - it was wonderful! .. by dz 0 Day 16/ August 21,2007 28-AUG-2007 01:53:00 As predicted - we had a big storm last night on Oak Island. A big day today as we traveled 29 miles to our friends Rollie and Sue's house which is south of Elk River MN. Rollie has canoed the length of the river over a 10 year span and was an inspiration for us on this voyage. We witnessed another amazing sight - 26 immature bald eagles were perched in one tree drying their wings. Much like you see eagles on a totem pole - their wings were fully stretched out - all 26 of them! Thank you Rollie and Sue for the great meal and inspirational slide show. On a stop at a city park for water in Monticello we had the fortune to meet a woman and her child who were fishing. Hello to Jim Suttons daughter Mary. As large as the world is, we are all still connected. ... by dz 0 Day 17/ August 22, 2007 28-AUG-2007 02:17:00 We had a shorter, 19 1/2 mile day today. Our goal was to get to friends Oli and Bonnies' house in Minneapolis. They picked us up at the 42nd. street bridge in Minneapolis. Before we got there, we had to portage around the Coon Rapids dam, a distance of about 3 blocks. This dam is popular with fishermen. We stopped at an interpretive center for a quick visit. It is a place we would like to go again. Wildlife changed a bit too - we started seeing Great White Eagrets for the first time. Oli and Bonnie had a package of supplies that we shipped to them prior to our trip. The boats are heavy again! Thanks for the hospitality Oli and Bonnie. ... by dz 0 Day 18/ August 23, 2007 28-AUG-2007 02:31:00 Oli and Bonnie took us around the fallen 35W bridge to Hidden Falls, just past the University. By doing this, we skipped 3 locks which we don't have a problem with. Of course it is raining again. We must be starting to look like real river rats - a bum at Hidden Falls park was intent on selling us some pot for the journey! Today wasn't a good day for Joe. Steady paddling, sleeping on the ground and exertion caused his back to go out. He woke up barely able to stand. In spite of it all we accomplished 22 miles today. One good thing, today I am finally able to keep up with Joe! We went through St. Paul and had our first experience with barges. We have to be constantly on the watch. The water turbulence has not been too bad as they are slow moving. They are loaded with coal and sand. At times we seem to be racing them down stream. We are glad that the water levels are higher. We have not yet experienced any effects of the flooding that has been occuring. We set up our camp on an island - again in the pouring rain! As luck would have, our little island was directly in the flight path of Minneapolis Airport. Every 5 minutes without fail a plane would pass overhead! The Mayflies seemed to be hatching and the fish were a jump'n. Somewhere along the way I came into contact with some sort of stinging plant as my legs are on fire. Joe had a restless night. ... by dz 0 Day 19/ August 24, 2007 28-AUG-2007 02:53:00 In spite of itching legs and sore backs, we made 32 1/2 miles today. Our first lock was at Hastings. After a nice nap on a sand bar, we stopped at the Treasure Island Casino and had a nice cold COKE. It was wonderful! We continued on and locked through the Red Wing dam with several recreational boats. Being closer to the weekend, the boat traffic has increased dramatically. We camped on a nice sand beach outside of Red Wing. Joe's back is slowly getting better and still no signs of trouble from the floods. All is well. .. by dz 0 Day 20/ August 24, 2007 28-AUG-2007 03:00:00 Even though Joe is moving slow we know that today is going to be a big one. We have to cross Lake Pepin. Fortunately, there is no wind today, unfortunately, we encountered a new challenge; wakes from the huge pleasure crafts and cruisers on the lake. It took the entire day just to cross the lake. All the time we spent on Lake Superior has been a godsend. We have learned how to deal with the waves and turbulence. It can be frightening having waves crashing in all directions but our training has been good and strong. We have proved ourselves up to the task. After crossing the lake we stopped at the Dollar $tore to replenish our snack supplies and set up camp by the marina at Wabasha. We went to bed with sore arms that night after paddling 29 1/2 miles. ... by dz 0 Day 21/ August 26, 2007 28-AUG-2007 03:11:00 We were up early - after 7 miles we arrived at the Alma dam just as a large barge began to lock through. Since it was going through in several sections, we had time to enjoy a nice breakfast at the cafe. We finally locked through with 6 other boats - several of them being houseboats. The terrain has begun to change. Tall bluffs are beginning to appear and nestled in them are quaint little towns. These towns are river and rail hubs - railroad traffic has picked up dramatically. We struggled against a strong 20-25 MPH head wind most of the way. It felt like we were going upstream at times. We went through Lock #5 and totaled 27 miles today. It took us almost 1 1/2 hours to find a campsite and prepare for the predicted rain storms. We are just outside Fountain City. Joe's back is sore but better. ... by dz 0 Day 22/ August 27, 2007 28-AUG-2007 03:24:00 An easy day today. We were planning on taking a tour of the Winona Boat factory, the manufacturers of our kayaks. After 8 miles we locked through dam #6 and called our contact at the factory. Bad news. There was 4 1/2 feet of mud in the factory from the recent monsoons. The factory was shut down and nobody was in a good mood and certainly not giving tours. This was a real disappointment. The good news is that today we had sun! We charged the phone and took a cab ride into town to do laundry. Russ, a friend, picked us up and returned us to camp. Tomorrow is another hard push - hoping to make 27 miles and into La Crosse. Even though we are in the areas hit hard with flooding, it has not affected us. The flooding is confined to the smaller streams and not the big river. The locks control the water levels and tend to even out the effects. We haven't seen an increase in the debris in the river and everything is going according to plan. Our equipment is good and we are doing well. We just need a little more sun! ... by dz 0 Day 23/ August 28, 2007 30-AUG-2007 02:33:00 Jim Brown from Winona Canoe visited us this morning bearing gifts! We talked about our trip and he left us with some nice new (clean!) tee shirts. We left at 10:00 into strong head winds on our way to LaCrosse. We locked through the Winona dam then through the Trempealeau dam. After lunch, Joe talked to a reporter from the local newspaper and we headed out, only to be met by strong winds and high waves. After lock # 7 in La Crescent Mn., we met up with Mike and Lorie Zwonitzer. Mike is an experienced Mississippi kayaker. We went to diner and had a nice hot shower and dry bed for the evening! It was a long day - we traveled 31-1/2 miles and thanks to Mike and Lorie, we had a nice day. ... by dz 0 Day 24/ August 29, 2007 30-AUG-2007 03:04:00 We had an early start today - arose at 5:00 AM and we were on the water by 7:15. Of course it is raining again. We traveled 15 miles to the Genoa WI (#8) lock with a following (at our back) wind. We were like corks in a hurricane. We had 4' waves following us making it hard to control our boats and pushed us in every which direction. Just getting into the lock was a challenge but with the help or the very friendly lock operators, we managed to get through. We tied up below the lock and walked into Genoa. We chowed down on hot roast beef sandwiches and coffee at Ruby's Cafe. We had several curious stares as we sat at the counter soaking wet, hungrily eating our food. A fun aspect of this trip so far has been the little cafe's we have visited. Most of them are filled with the rich history of the Mississippi. Like Ruby's Cafe, their walls are often lined with pictures and stories of the people who have passed through their towns. We stopped at the grocery store and bought real bread and ketchup. Funny how you begin to miss even the simplest things. When we left Genoa the sun came out. After traveling 34-1/2 miles today we arrived in Lansing, Iowa. We are camped on a sandy island. The Army Corps of Engineers are dredging the river here and barge traffic is heavy. We are seeing lots of white pelicans and turtles are everywhere on the river. Their heads pop up like periscopes all around us. At times it looks like sticks in the river that disappear as you get close. We have found that if we can locate the current in the river channel, paddlng is much easier. Its good to know because we want to start racking up some miles - we have nice weather ahead and are glad to be on the move. There is a lot of river ahead! ... by dz 0 Day 25 August 30 01-SEP-2007 16:28:00 Up at 6:00AM, cold night last night and 90% humidity. Everything is wet and sandy again. It's hard to get moving sometimes when you're cold an wet. I guess I never expected to be cold on this trip. Our only worry was being too hot, but at least it's really nice for sleeping. Camping on sandbars is interesting. When we have sandwiches for lunch, we literally have "sand"wiches. If we were birds it would be good for our gizzards. The sun peaked out and dried things up but it was 8:30 before we were on the river. The River is wide here, not many islands, and no sandbars. We are glad we stopped last night when we did or we would have been paddling into the night looking for a place to camp. We paddled a fast 14 miles to Lock & Dam No. 9 There was a barge right behind us and one coming out of the locks northbound. Joe radioed ahead and they let us go through before the southbound barge. Good timing. Later in the day we stopped in Marquette IA for ice cream and a pop. Another quaint river town full of lots of history. We ate in the Veteran's Memorial Park and read all the names from wars as far back as the Civil War. There were many family names of Knapp listed on each war which is a family name in my family. Maybe I'm related to someone here. The pop and ice cream were just the ticket to keep going, 10 more miles into the little town of Clayton where there was a small strip of sand to camp on. Here the water smell funny. 37.5 miles today. Good paddling day. 0 Day 26, August 31st 01-SEP-2007 16:43:00 It's cool and damp again as dense fog covers the river. So thick you can't see the other side, much less any boats coming through. We didn't start out until 8:00 hopeing the fog would dissapate. It finally did around 9:00 then it was sunny and warm probably around 75 degrees. It was calm and there was a good current. 9 miles to Lock and Dam #10 in Guttenburg IA. Again, locking through alone, they let us float instead of holding on to the rope, which is much easier. One of the guys that worked at the lock asked if we would like some okra to take with us and told me how to cook it. I'd never had it and anything fresh sounds good so he lowered a bag with okra and vine rippened tomatoes from his garden 20 ft down to my kayak. This is so much fun. Next, we were going to stop for a snack at a little resort in Waupeton but as we were trying to fight the current upstream to duck in under the railroad trestle a sheriff's boat was coming out and told us nothing was open. Apparantly there had been an accident and someone had drowned so they were searching the river. It was very sad and put all our little aches and pains into perspective again. We continued on to another Marina 10 miles down river. The River here is about 1 1/2 miles wide. The closer you get to a lock the water is backed up for about 5 miles and you begin to lose your current, then everything seems like hard work. Evidence of flooding is everywhere. Lots of debris and large trees lodged against bouys, dislodged red and green channel markers all over the place. I imagine the barges have a hard time finding the channel, especially at night with all this mess. I guess it's a good thing we didn't come through here a few days earlier or the trees & debris would have still been floating down the river. We got to Lock & Dam No. 11 just above Dubuque IA and had to wait 30 min. for a small barge to come through, then it was 1 more mile to a city campground in Dubuque. Being a holiday weekend, the pleasure boats are already out in number and they are fast. We might just stay here a day longer. It's late and we've just paddled 43 miles our best day yet. As we were setting up camp people were coming down to see what we were up to. Very friendly people again here. One couple, Sandy & Ron from Cuba City WI told us they would cook us some brats and potato salad while we showered and set up camp. We must have looked pretty bad, everyone wants to feed us. Showers were wonderful and supper was superb. Thanks Ron & Sandy. This campground is right next to the dog track and casino. Also an ice cream truck comes around through the campground several time a day - just what I've been wanting. Didn't get to bed until 11:00. 0 Day 28 / September 2, 2007 04-SEP-2007 03:38:00 We had a busy campsite overnight. When we woke in the morning we discovered that our candle and Anne's favorite hat were missing. A candle is replaceable but a favorite hat isn't. We were invited to a nice bacon and egg breakfast by fellow boat campers Ron and Sandy. We hit the water at 8:30. We were taking a break at 11:30 on a sand bar Ron and Sandy again met us, this time with a new flashlight to replace our candle and several nice cold pops! Thanks again for everything. On Ron and Sandy's direction, we headed for a large sandbar outside Bellevue, IA. When we got there we were amazed by the collection of huge boats, all either parked on the sandbar or racing around. The waves were 2-3' tall and coming from every direction. We locked through and went to town. We were surprised to see that the railroad tracks went directly through the middle of town, right through the center of Main street!. Traffic on one side went in one direction, traffic on the other side went opposite. The lock operators recommended a campsite about 3 miles downstream. When we got there, it was mayhem. There were jet skis and boats everywhere. After finding every campsite filled, we went back upstream and found a nice site on the side of the river. We created a comfortable camp using debris we found along the shore. Just as we were getting ready for bed we discovered that our sweet little campsite had one draw back. It was about 30' from a railroad track! We were dog tired and since we wanted to get an early start tomorrow, we were staying put. The passing trains only shook the tent 3 times that night. Not bad.... by dz 0 Day 29 / September 3, 2007 04-SEP-2007 20:33:00 We rose early to another hot and humid day. There were already alot of boats on the river. We have to cross a 3 mile wide lake today and the boat traffic is crazy. They would zip past, just about swamping us - but - they would smile and wave nicely! Everyone seemed to be in a real hurry to get nowhere. When we got to lock and dam #13, the Lockmaster delivered a message from Ron and Sandy and directed us to a campground only three bridges down. We knew we had arrived at the campground because the shore was solid boats. After a fruitless search for a site, we went back to our boats and set off again. Most of the sandbars were either under water or very soft and muddy. We finally found a site about 5 miles down river. It was a small spot, filled with flood debris. Joe promptly set about crafting a comfortable place out of plastic barrels, lumber, and lawnchairs. It also occured to us that when the river area floods, local waste treatment plants dump sewage directly into the river. We both agreed that we wouldn't wash our dishes in the river ever again. We traveled 40 miles today which brings us to a total of 751 miles since we left 29 days ago. We have lots of aches, blisters, and sunburn. Since we are down river from the campgrounds, we are hoping for a quiet, peaceful night. .... by dz 0 Day 30 / September 4, 2007 08-SEP-2007 11:05:00 It was easy getting up this morning - our campsite was overrun with bugs during the night. We just wanted to get out of there. We headed down river early and stopped at Princeton in search of drinking water. When we pulled up at the shore we noticed signs along the bank stating that it was illegal to tie up a boat along shore - no boat parking was allowed! Fortunately Bruce 'The Barber' was walking along the shore as we arrived. He agreed to watch our boats and fend off the police while we filled our water bottles. We continued on our way and locked through #14. It is another hot and humid day in the 90's with a strong head wind. After lock # 15 we picked the first island we came to for our camp. We are in the Quad cities of Moline, IL, Bettendorf, IA, Rock Island, IL, and Davenport, IA. There is lots of evidence of flooding all around us with mud and debris everywhere. Fortunately, the river is now back to normal levels. We had a nice surprise around 10:00 pm. that night. Firereworks lite up the sky all around us and we had a ringside seat. The rest of the night was filled with owl hooting, an increasingly common occurence. The terrain has been slowly changing. The banks are mostly tree lined and many sloughs or chutes jut off from the main channel. We traveled 32 miles today, a bit short of our goal. ... by dz 0 Day 31 / September 5, 2007 08-SEP-2007 11:28:00 The morning brought a hot, calm, and sticky day. Humidity was at 87% and once on the water, a southerly head wind. We stopped at the 'Marina' in Andalusia, IL for water and discovered an outhouse and non-potable water. We continued to an Army Corps campground called Shady Creek and were met on the shore by a large group of elderly RV'ers. They were looking for Christopher Columbus' ship the 'Nina'! They explained that an exact replica of the Nina was traveling up the river on its way to the Quad cities for an engagement. We met it downstream and it was only about 20' long! If they crossed the ocean in that tiny ship, they were definately braver than us! We had a long wait at lock #16 so we tied up and went for a walk to the observation tower just down the way. At the tower was a large group of Amish people all speaking Pennsylvania Dutch. Very interesting. We finally locked through 2 hours later, just in time for a torrential downpour. We headed to shore and hid under a downed tree - the best we could find. All the campgrounds were flooded and are filled with mud. We stopped at the marina in Muscatine, IA and then on to the Army Corps campground in Blanchard Chute, Iowa. The park ranger wished us luck because in the last few days, the mosquitos drove out three park rangers. After 29 1/2 miles, we were staying put....by dz 0 Day 32/ September 6, 2007 08-SEP-2007 11:48:00 Today it is overcast with strong winds. We had an hour wait at lock and dam #17. We stopped in New Boston, IL for lunch supplies and discovered most of the town closed and abandoned. This is a very depressed area of the country. There wern't any groceries available but I could have bought a bushel of tomatoes for $15. Joe would have loved that. We did manage to eat lunch at the local bar and headed out again. We are starting to see turkey vultures on the river now. The sloughs look like jungles. Vines cover the trees and hang down into the water, giving it a very unforgiving feel. The shores are lined with oaks, maples and huge cottonwoods. We stopped at Oquawka, IL to do laundry and camp. The name Oquawka means "Yellow Banks" because of the sandstone rock along shore. We camped at the boat launch and walked to town for a pizza at the 'Twist and Shout' in town. The owner offered us a ride back to our camp which we greatfully accepted. We stopped at a friend of his who builds cedar strip canoes and kayaks. We had a very nice visit admiring his beautiful boats. We traveled 34 1/2 miles today and since the days are getting shorter, it is getting harder to get the miles in. We have 8 more locks to deal with and after that we are hoping to pick up the pace. A big storm is predicted for tonight so we better batten the hatches.... by dz 0 Day 33/ September 7, 2007 08-SEP-2007 12:13:00 We were on the water by 9:00, again into a strong headwind. We passed Burlington, IA and through lock #18. We had a 1 1/2 hour wait while riding out the wind and waves. As I maneuvered into the lock, I grabbed hold of a rope hanging from the lock gate. At least I thought it was a rope. It was really a snake! I hope this was my only encounter with snakes. Further downstream I had another scary encounter with wildlife. A carp jumped out of the water along side me, hitting my paddle and slamming into my boat. They really do jump out of the water. Because of the wind, we were really tired as we pulled into Fort Madison, Iowa. There are no campsites or hotels available since this is Rodeo weekend in town. We are camped at the marina on the gravel pad along side the dumpster and Porta-Potty. The very busy rail tracks are just beyond the dumpster. Home-sweet-home. Across the street is the Schaefer Pen factory and in the distance is a double bridge, cars on top and trains below. The trains and barges are constantly on the go. The river really is the lifeline of the US. Before we left home we were told that we would get tired of having to eat. We have to keep our strength up which means forcing ourselves to eat and drink. Sometimes that isn't easy, especially when you are tired. We went 32 miles today, every inch of it fighting a headwind... by dz 0 Day 34 / September 8, 2007 10-SEP-2007 17:16:00 Man what a busy night! The band at the bar played until midnight and the with the Porta-Potty right next to our tent, we had many visitors. When the bar crowd finally slowed down, the waterfowl hunters began. Duck season opened in Iowa and goose season opened in Illinois this weekend. They all launched their boats at the marina, ... and I was wrong - there were 3 railroad tracks in back of the dumpster, not two! Besides the constant noise, Joe developed a leak in his air mattress that required reinflation at regular intervals during the night. It was good to get on the river again in the morning. We traveled to Dam and Lock #19 in Keokuk, Iowa. This lock is unique because it has an electrical generation plant. This huge lock has a guillotine type entry gate, not the typical swing type gate. The lock is 1200 feet long and can hold an entire raft of 15 barges plus tow in one pass. There is a 35' water drop so the turbulence inside the lock can be severe. Inside the lock, we held onto floats on the walls that rise and fall with the water level. After clearing the lock we docked at the tiny South Shore Boat Club and had a cold pop and a lively discussion with the patrons. People here really love the river. We ended our day on a sandbar about 7 miles from Keokuk. After traveling a hot 28 miles, we were looking forward to a nice moonlit skinny dip in the river. Swarms of mosquitos decided to join us. Kind of takes the fun out of it! We've noticed that the night time barge traffic has increased quite a lot and other than the racoons having a violent fight outside our tent, had a good night. ... by dz 0 Day 35 / September 9, 2007 10-SEP-2007 21:26:00 What a great day! We found the river current. Today started with a hot and humid morning, and soon it was 86 degrees and 87% humidity. We passed another milestone just outside Keokuk as we passed into Missouri. We locked through #20 in Canton, MO and stopped at the Army Corps campground just below #20. Our next stop was in LaGrange, Missouri for a cold drink. We should have bought stock in Gatoraid before we left. We continued on to Quincy, Illinois and lock #21. The wildlife has changed again. We no longer see vultures, eagles or pelicans - just crows. We were in prime jumping carp area above the lock. They were bumping the bottoms of our boats as we neared the lock, a really strange sensation. There are also plenty of pleasure boaters all around us but we didn't mind because we were traveling with the current at a wonderful 7 MPH. We paddled straight into Hannibal, MO - Home of Mark Twain. The river is narrower here and faster with wing dams along the river edge that give the kayaks a nice little push. We parked our boats at the public marina and went to town. We had dinner at the Mark Twain Dinnette and thought we might stay in the Mark Twain Motel across the street! It was closed though so we settled for the Clements Hotel. Its all the same I guess. We enjoyed a wonderful whirlpool and hot shower. We traveled 46 1/2 miles today - our best yet. We are very pleased with our progress so far. We continue to see large amounts of debris in the river - ranging from refrigerators to coolers to trees and lawnchairs. We are planning on taking part of tomorrow to enjoy this interesting town and rest up our aches and pains. We now have the most unique sun tans in town - dark brown thighs and pure white legs from the knee down! ... by dz 0 Day 36/ September 10, 2007 13-SEP-2007 20:38:00 We walked into town this morning for groceries. After the first few blocks near the water, Hannibal began to look like most other small Mississippi towns, that is, somewhat poor and depressed. We had to walk several miles to find a grocery store, therefore, we didn't get onto the water until noon. The north wind picked up during the day and made paddling difficult. We traveled 26 miles to Louisiana, MO where we stopped to see Kevin Dempsey, proprietor of the 'Midwest Sea Kayak Touring Co.' We must have looked tired because Kevin immediately offered his house as safe harbor for the night. He has a unique place - his business and home are housed inside two old municipal water treatment tanks. One tank has a pool that he uses for kayak lessons. The other tank is his warehouse and home. We enjoyed the run of Kevins house which was especially nice during the night as intense thunderstorms rumbled through the area. Before the rain began, we had an opportunity to walk to WalMart for supplies. The town of Louisiana was established in 1818 by riverboat captains. They built huge, magnificant buildings that still stand today. Joe especially appreciated the hard work and architecture that went into building these mansions. We had a very nice evening out of the rain and thank you again Kevin for the wonderful hospitality. ... by dz 0 Day 37/ September 11, 2007 - 1,000 miles 13-SEP-2007 21:52:00 We got an early start today. We passed through lock #24 at the small town of Clarksville, MO. For those of you counting, we missed a lock. Lock #23 was planned by the Army Corps of Engineering but never built. Below the dam we took a break at a riverside cafe. It quite possibly has the worlds best apple pie. That slice of warm pie, along with a big scoop of cinnamon ice cream and a cup of hot coffee made all the aches and pains of the trip go away. Unfortunately while we were having our apple pie treat, the lock operators decided to flush the lock. They open both the upper and lower lock gates and let the force of the river water sweep the debris collected along the walls of the lock out into the river. For the next four or five miles we were amongst the trees, chairs, coolers, barrels and other debris washed out of the lock. It wasn't particularily fun. We reached a wonderful milestone at marker #263. Joe and I stopped on a sandbar for a kiss! This marker represents mile number 1,000 since we started this trip over five weeks ago. 1,000 miles - can you believe it? We stopped at Hamberg Ferry, MO and chatted with a local guy who cruised up in his golf cart that had a cooler filled with cold Bud Light. A couple beers loosened us up a bit. We continued on, looking for a campsite. The river is beginning to look much like it does up north, only supersized. It has the same tree lined shores and sand bar islands only bigger and wider. We happened on to a sand bar and began to think we were hallucinating. This sandbar has palm trees on it!. It is called Gilligans Island and someone created several palm trees out of poles and cardboard. The river traffic thought we were quite a picture, our tent, our laundry hanging on a line strung between the palms and a pelican sitting at the top of one of the palms. We had a fun 34 miles today. ... by dz 0 Day 38/ September 12, 2007 13-SEP-2007 22:22:00 We left our palm tree paradise and headed to lock #25. We are about 20 miles from Grafton, IL. There are plenty of sandbars, boaters and marinas on this stretch of river. One chute near Grafton has 6 marinas alone. We stopped at one and had a cold pop, a snack and enjoyed the sights. The Illinois River joins the Mississippi here and a car ferry operates here. This area looks like a suburb of St. Louis and we know we are getting closer because the airplane traffic has increased a lot. We are also beginning to see levees along the river - a sign that flooding is a common event. We want to get close to Alton tonight so we can push through St. Louis in one day. We stopped at an island across from Portage Des Sioux to ask two boaters if they knew of a nearby place to camp. One guy was a Bunny Bread salesman - the other sold Wonder Bread. These bread peddlers must have felt sorry for us because they abandoned their island to us - roaring campfire and all! We called Don and Paula Ingerson and met them in Portage Des Sioux. They have been holding one of our food packages - one of several we sent out in August. We now have a new supply of about 60# of dried meals. The river ahead becomes more barren and we are stocking up for a long push. Joe will leave tomorrow riding low with about 70# of food in his boat. We hope to get to Alton tomorrow and friday - St. Louis here we come! ... by dz 0 Day 39/ September 13, 2007 17-SEP-2007 18:23:00 Today was a day for jumping carp (ick) and grumpy Lockmasters. We traveled to Alton today to get ready for our St. Louis push on Friday. As we traveled in the shallow waters, we were assaulted by stinky, slimmy, jumping carp! Joe, thinking this was a great photo opportunity, had me paddle back and forth in the shallows while he tried to get a picture of a slimmy carp smacking me in the head! After two hit me in the back and one in the face, I stopped being so nice. We don't have a picture of one hitting me but I have the slimmy bruises to prove it. We locked through our last lock, #26. This lock was opened in 1990 and is called the Melvin Price Lock and Dam, named after an influential Illinois Congressman. It replaces a much older dam further north. The Lockmaster seemed a bit confused as we tried to communicate our position and intentions to him. The Melvin Price Lock has two locks - he eventually sent us to the Illinois side lock, the one with a huge pile of debris in front of the gate! Maybe he couldn't see us because of all the junk in front of the gate. Us and all the tree trunks, refrigerators and other debris were lock through in a very turbulent drop. We found a campsite behind the lock area in the grass and mud. We traveled only 16 miles today and had a cold, 40 degree night. Tomorrow St. Louis. ... by dz 0 Day 42/ September 16, 2007. I yam what I yam. 17-SEP-2007 22:06:00 We left Crystal City early and stopped in Chester, IL for a break and to get water. We started hiking up to town when we were offered a ride by Jake Lambert, a Chester resident. He gave us a nice tour of Chester including the 6' tall bronze statue of Popeye the Sailor in the Segar Memorial park. Chester was the home town of Elzie Segar, the creator of Popeye. Most of his charactors were modeled after real residents of Chester. We purchased water at Wal-Mart (I think Olive was the greeter!) and Jake dropped us off back at the river. We found a campsite next to a railroad track in Wittenberg, MO. Wittenberg is a historic town, know for its lumber operations. A boat club of mostly Perry Lumbermill employees was havng a party next door so we joined in. They burned maple lumber in their campfire - much to Joe's chagrin. We traveled 38 miles today and the warm campfire and the nice people we met made for a memorable evening. ... by dz 0 Day 40/ September 14, 2007 17-SEP-2007 21:07:00 Todays the day. We got up early and headed out. We had three obstacles ahead of us: the turbulent water resulting from the joining of the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers at St. Louis; selecting the best route (either the bypass canal around the city or straight through town), and the difficulty of paddling a kayak through the middle of a major metropolitan city. The first obstacle wasn't as bad as expected. The current was fast but we have experienced worse. The next problem was deciding which route to take. We chose to take the main river through town; however, that route contains the Chain of Rocks - a well known rapids. Joe stopped upstream and scouted downriver. He didn't see anything that worried him so we proceeded on. All of a sudden we found the true Chain of Rocks. There was about a 4 foot drop and white water. Now, had we not been carrying about 80# of gear in 17' kayaks, it might have been fun to go through them but at the last minute we decided to portage around them. It was a lot of work slugging through the mud but it was the safest thing to do. We continued on past the Arch amid some serious barge traffic. Barges are larger here - below the locks. Some of the empty barge rafts were pushing 3' wakes! We were in very turbulent water for about 2 hours but by mid day we were past the most congested areas of St. Louis. We found that if we stayed to the Illinois side of the river the current was about 7 mph and we were making good time. We traveled about 40 miles today, ending in Kimmswick, MO. We camped on the lawn in front of Hoppe's Marina. We must really look bad - people at the marine gave Joe a couple bottles of Bud and I got chocolate ice cream! One of these days we need to get a haircut. We had a good day today. Tonight will be cold - about 38 degrees. I think we will sleep well. ....by dz 0 Day 41/ September 15, 2007 17-SEP-2007 21:41:00 This is the last boating weekend of the season for most river boat clubs. Almost every marina/boat club was having an 'end of season' celebration this weekend on the river. Midmorning we stopped to share donuts and coffee with a great bunch of celebrating boaters. They had some great stories of some of the crazy people who have traveled the river over the years. I wonder what stories they will tell of us? The river is beautiful here. There are towering limestone bluffs and dense trees on the Missouri side. The Illinois side is flat and sandy. This area is very pretty and reminded us of Wisconsin Dells. We have started noticing cement plants lining the shore and very large barges. Another difference is the wing dams - they are larger and higher. We have learned to be careful at the end of them because the water tends to whirlpool - drawing the boat into it. We stopped at Beaver Island and it is getting cold and windy. We traveled 41 miles today and are now about 8 miles past Crystal City. ...by dz 0 Day 43/ September 17, 2007 20-SEP-2007 18:54:00 We spent the day in a haze. The air is filled with smoke from burning fields. Apparently, after the crops are harvested, the fields are burnt, leaving the air heavy with smoke. It is hot again today but the smoke filtered the sun making it bearable. We experienced our first '29' barge. We passed the empty northbound raft of 29 barges and endured the huge wake it left. We had to use our bilge pumps to get the water out of our boats. We stopped at historic Cape Girardeau for lunch. This town is surrounded by a huge levee with a large door that is closed to prevent flooding in the town. The walls are richly decorated with murals depicting the town history. Cape Girardeau served as the headquarters for General U.S. Grant during the war and is now a lively College town. We filled up our water bottles and enjoyed ice cream before heading back to the river. Barge traffic is increasing and their wakes, along with the south wind, made for hard paddling. We stopped at a campground in Thebes, IL and discovered that it had no toilet facilities! We saved the $15 and found a nice sandbar further down stream. We traveled 39 1/2 miles today. ... by dz 0 Day 44/ September 18, 2007 20-SEP-2007 19:25:00 Today is laundry day! For the first time in several weeks, we stayed put. We enjoyed a nice day off from paddling, did our laundry on the rocks of our island, and ate a nice hot lunch. We spent the day thinking about our journey and all the people and places we have visited in the last 7+ weeks. We are amazed and thrilled that all of you are sharing and experiencing our journey. We miss our family and all of you and thought about you today. ... by dz 0 Day 45/ September 19, 2007 20-SEP-2007 19:35:00 We traveled 46 miles today and saw nothing for 42 of them, no towns, no landings, no people. It is hazy again and we were in heavy barge traffic. The Ohio River joins the Mississippi River at Cairo, IL. The Ohio is jammed with barges - they are parked everywhere! The river is changing once again. It is about 1/2 mile wide and meanders in every direction. In fact, many times we were actually traveling north. These horseshoes are more common the further south we travel. We camped on a sandbar at the mouth of the Ohio river. The Ohio is bright blue but disappears quickly into the muddy brown Mississippi. Joe marked the water level before bed and discovered that the water dropped about 1 foot overnight. We have about 800 miles to travel yet and today marked another milestone. We switched from the northern Mississippi navigation maps to the southern navigation maps. We hope to have smooth paddling ahead. ... by dz 0 Day 46/ September 20, 2007 21-SEP-2007 21:28:00 Everything smelled bad at our Cairo campsite. During the night, four barges anchored across the river from us and the exhaust from their idling diesel engines filled the air. The wonderful sulfur odor from a local papermill floated on the night breezes and on top of that, there was a dead cow behind our tent! It seems that Joe knew about it but didn't want to tell me because he thought I would insist we move to a different campsite. Man was he right. I was glad when we left in the morning. As we traveled, we searched for places to get water. We started the day with filtered river water and were not anxious to make a habit out of that. We stopped at a pavilion in Columbus, KY filled up our water bottles and walked into town for lunch. We enjoyed a hamburger steak and fried squash at the gas station/grocery-store/tavern/restaurant. It happened to be break time at the Ingram Barge Repair company next door and the place was hopping. The river feels different the further south we go. The terrain is hilly with deep ravines full of vines and thick foliage. One side of the river is sand, the other side is lined with reinforced concrete. The jumping carp are getting bigger too - in the range of 15 pounds. The sky is smokey again and at times burnt corn husks float through the air. Some sandbars stretch for miles and it feels very lonely and desolate, like being on the moon. We camped about 20 miles upriver from New Madrid, MO after paddling 43 miles. ... by dz 0 Day 47/ September 21, 2007 21-SEP-2007 22:05:00 It was hot today with temperatures near 90 degrees. The River meanders between 3 states and we crossed from Kentucky to Tennessee to Missouri and back several times today. The Mississippi makes a large loop at New Madrid, MO which is where we stopped for lunch. The Army Corps of Engineers rebuilt the waterfront and created a very nice park. After climbing the large steps over the levee, we began walking into town. We stopped at a house for directions. Howard, a retired Nuclear Engineer, happened to be painting his house. He offered us a ride into town where we bought water and lunch supplies. As it turned out, Howard has canoed the BWCA many times and is an avid deer hunter. We enjoyed sharing his stories. We didn't get back on the river until 2:00 and paddled until after 6:00 tonight. We set up camp on a sandbar about 20 miles from New Madrid. We traveled 40 miles today for a trip total of 1,344 miles. Tomorrow is a milestone of a different kind. It is Joe's 50th. birthday! Maybe a special breakfast, hmmm ..... by dz 0 Day 48/ September 22, 2007 26-SEP-2007 20:26:00 It's hot and humid today - a miserable day to be in the sun. We travelled 34 miles today and are exhausted. We passed through many tight corners as the river snakes south. The water level is about 6' below normal and barges are required to travel single file, with southbound barges having the right of way. At one point in the river there were 4 northbound barges waiting to navigate around a corner after a southbound barge cleared the bend. With all the twists and turns in the river, there were lots of barges waiting along the shore. We passed through Caruthersville, MO and stopped for lunch. There is a gambling boat/casino docked here with a bridge connected to a hotel and restaurant. We ate lunch at 'Corky's BBQ' and headed back to the river to find a sandbar campsite. Our visit to Caruthersville was uneventful, or so we thought. We went to sleep not knowing that things were occurring back at Corky's BBQ that would affect us latter on. ... by dz 0 Day49, September 23, 2007 26-SEP-2007 20:53:00 Today was an unremarkable day. It was hot and humid again. There were no towns or places to stop in the entire 38 miles we traveled today. We decided to increase the amount of water we are carrying to 5 gallons. That 40 pounds of water is cheap insurance against dehydration. There are many tight turns in the river - some are at least 4 miles long. All the barge traffic is northbound. We camped about 11 miles north of Osceola, AK on a sandbar, our first Arkansas campsite. ... by dz 0 Day 50/ September 24, 2007 26-SEP-2007 21:03:00 We stopped in Osceola at a grain elevator to refill our water jugs. There was a nice boat ramp and park provided by the 'Bunge' grain elevator located there on the river. We got a tour of the elevator which stored rice, soybeans and sorghum, much of it from the small farms in the area. There are beautiful sand bluffs and large cotton fields along this part of the river. Many areas of the bank are covered with Kudzu - a highly aggressive viney plant that grows as much as 12 inches per day, in ideal conditions as much as 60' per year! It was introduced to the US in 1876 for erosion control and is a member of the pea family. It covers and smoothers everything in its path - including trees. It is an amazing sight. We once again stayed on a sandbar after traveling 43 miles today. We are preparing to enter Memphis tomorrow which is about 20 miles downriver. ... by dz 0 Day 51/ September 25, 2007 26-SEP-2007 21:34:00 We planned a short day today and quickly paddled the 20 miles into Memphis. We docked at the marina and took a tram to Mud Island where a wonderful Mississippi River Museum is located. An exact duplicate of the entire Mississippi River is etched into the floor of the museum for a distance of about 1 mile! All the towns, lakes and bends in the river are reproduced in intricate detail. Water is flowing through the river and is very intriguing, especially the portion downstream from Memphis. We enjoyed retracing many of the bends and twists we encountered in real life just weeks ago. We took the tram to the hotel and prepared to get a room. That is where we discovered that not all people are trustworthy. Our credit card for the room was denied. After several phone calls it became apparent that our credit card number had been stolen and used by someone in Caruthersville, likely the waitress at Corky's BBQ. We felt sick. Fortunately we were able to cancel the card and the charges against it. We have a backup debit card but now we are without the convenience of a credit card. We experienced a sad lesson about trust and honesty. We have come to love and appreciate even more all the friends who have helped us on our journey. After clearing up the credit card fiasco, we did laundry and traveled further into town. The river front is alive with activity. Old fashioned trolley cars and horse drawn buggys crowd the roads. Joe stopped for a haircut at a quaint barbershop. His beard, like the Kudzu, had covered his face and his lips were no longer visable! We will travel through Memphis in one day, much like we did in St. Louis. Today was a very emotional day and we are tired. We will be sleeping late tomorrow. ... by dz 0 Day 52/ September 26 30-SEP-2007 19:53:00 We stayed in Memphis today and had a blast! We took the trolley to the end of the line and walked to a sporting goods store - Outdoors Inc. Joe bought a new air mattress, sponge, and white gas - things we dearly needed. We chatted with Greg Barton, a kayaker who worked there, and got the low down on the river below Memphis. His experience will be a big help as we continue southward. We stopped at a Thai restaurant for lunch and ended up on Beale street. Beale street is where Elvis, Isaac Hayes and many other influential musicians played in their early years. Places to sit and listen to music were everywhere. While there, we took a tour of the 'Rock and Soul' museum and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. The town seems to be full of Irish pubs and rib joints! We ate dinner at a local landmark, Hueys, and finished off our visit there by shooting toothpicks into the ceiling with soda straws. Everyone does it. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped at a concert in a nearby park. While there, we bumped into the barber that rescued Joe's face from his beard. We talked and laughed and enjoyed the evening with some great guys. Music is everywhere in Memphis. We awoke to a loud thunderstorm at midnight, gunshots at 1:30 and fireworks at 2:30. This is a really interesting town. We had a great day - one that refreshed our spirits and soul. We are ready for a big day tomorrow. ... by dz 0 Day 53/ September 27, 2007 30-SEP-2007 20:21:00 We were ready for a big day - we had good intentions anyway. It didn't happen that way. We needed to take the walkway to Mud Island, cross over to the Marina, load our boats and be on our way. At 8 AM we lugged our packs to the walkway at Mud Island ready to start our day. We found a locked gate across the entrance to the walkway. The gate doesn't open until 10 AM! We sat there for over an hour, our big day getting smaller. We finally got to our kayaks where we met up with Ralph and Patricia, folks from North Carolina who are staying on a 40' boat in the harbor. We enjoyed their company and made arrangements to meet them further downstream. We left Memphis at noon and paddled 26 miles before settling on a sandbar. There was a lot of debris in the river from the previous night's rain. Much to our surprise, it only took about 20 minutes to get through Memphis on the river. There was a beautiful sunset that night, and we fell asleep to the soft, soothing 'hoots' of owls. It was a fitting end to the Memphis leg of our journey. ... by dz 0 Day 54/ September 28, 2007 30-SEP-2007 20:57:00 We started out early today. Rounding a bend, we saw what appeared to be a castle. Thinking it was a casino we pulled in, hoping to refill our water bottles. As it turned out, it was a Mississippi River museum called the River Park Museum at Tunica. Since it had free addmission, we went in. This is a fabulous museum containing information that none of the other museums cover. It chronicles the floods that so dearly affected the lives of people living along the river. It was rich in history of the Civil war when Ironclads roamed the waters. Steamboats were a big part of the lives of the river people and the resulting fires were legendary. We learned about snag boats - a very important part of the river history. Snag boats cleared the river of tree stumps, tree snags and sunk debris, making them a vital part of Mississippi navigation history. The museum gave airboat rides and we were tempted to see what was beyond the river. But we didn't. We traveled about 15 miles farther and camped on another sandbar. We are seeing fewer people but more ducks, geese, and deer. Bugs are getting fewer - hurray! It was in the 80's today and expected to be in the low 50's tonight. We traveled about 29 1/2 miles today and called it a day at 6:00 PM tonight. . ... by dz 0 Day 55/ September 29, 2007 30-SEP-2007 21:27:00 It was hot today - the upper 80's. We needed to get water and lunch supplies so we waded through the mud to get ashore at Helena, AK. Helena is a starkly poor, economically depressed town. There was nothing more than a series of housing projects, one just like the other. We finally found water and hit the river again. The water level is still about 6' below normal and barges are traveling single file. The wing dams are out of the water and the ends are treacherous because of the whirlpools. Wildlife has returned to the river with deer, beaver and birds. It seems like deja vu as I am getting blisters, just like when we started. We traveled 40 1/2 miles today and camped on a sandbar about 23 miles south of Helena, AK. ... by dz 0 Day 56/ September 30, 2007 04-OCT-2007 19:47:00 It was windy and nasty on the river today. Wind gusts were 15 to 20 MPH and paddling was tough. We traveled 30 miles today which wasn't bad considering the amount of tows on the river and the winds. For the first time we saw small cabins along the shore. They were built on top of the levees. We set up camp on a sandbar (where else!) and built a large campfire. We were hoping to meet up with Ralph and Patricia (from Memphis) tonight but didn't cross paths. Maybe we'll see them tomorrow. ... by dz 0 Day 57/ October 1, 2007 04-OCT-2007 20:09:00 We were up early - ready to start paddling. As we were packing up our gear, Ralph and Patricia rounded the bend in their boat. They had spent the night on the other side of the same sandbar we were staying on! They offered to give us a lift to Greenville. We thought long and hard - well not really. It was either paddle against the wind all day or ride in luxury on a 48' Hatteras boat. We chose the easy life. We tied the kayaks to the swim platform, grabbed an easy chair and headed down the river. Things went OK until Ralph opened up the twin 350 ci diesel engines. Our kayaks were promptly sucked underwater in the prop wash! We unloaded all our gear from the holds, pumped them out and stowed them alongside the rails. Now we were ready for traveling. This magnificent boat had 5 levels, twin heads with showers, satellite TV and all the comforts of home. Joe drove for awhile and now is hoplessly in love with the boating life - one that doesn't include a paddle. We traveled 5 miles down a chute in Greenville and docked at the marina there. A fellow boater named Winfield, who happens to be a carpenter, took me to town for groceries while Joe and Ralph filled the boat with fuel and themselves with beer. We had shrimp for supper and talked and laughed late into the night. We had the vee berth in the bow of the boat and slept like babies. We traveled the easiest 68 miles of the trip today. ... by dz 0 Day 58/ October 2, 2007 04-OCT-2007 20:42:00 As nice as it was on the boat, we have to finish what we started. We hit the river early after saying goodbye to two very kind and generous friends. We truely enjoyed our time with Ralph and Patricia. We had about 14 miles of wide and flat river ahead of us. The current was nonexistent. Barge traffic was heavy and we paddled hard under a cloudy sky. About 11:00 the clouds broke and it became hot - somewhere in the 90's. Fortunately we picked up the current and we made our 40 miles by 4:30. We bathed, relaxed and slept well in the cool night air. ... by dz 0 Day 59/ October 3, 2007 04-OCT-2007 21:31:00 It is nasty hot today. Not much was going on on the river. Barge traffic was heavy in the morning but quiet in the afternoon. We had a good current so we completed our 40 1/2 miles by 4:30. There is not much sign of wildlife - they must be hiding in the shade. We are on a sandbar about 20 miles north of Vicksburg. It's going to be hot again tomorrow so we need a good nights rest. .... by dz 0 Day 60/ October 4, 2007 08-OCT-2007 20:11:00 We came around a bend as we paddled into Vicksburg right into a solid wall of barges. Barges were everywhere - at least 25 in all, anchored all across the river. We wove our way through them and onto shore at the Ameristar Casino. We certainly thought it was odd but it wasn't until later in the trip that we learned that a barge had struck a bridge abutment and broke apart. Loose barges were floating all across the harbor at Vicksburg and we were kayaking through them! We got out of our boats at shore and discovered another first on this journey. Quicksand. We sunk thigh deep into smelly, greasy, gooey mud. Well wasn't that nice! Since we were out of water, we had to go into the casino. We cleaned up as best we could and entered. Aside from the smell, we were quite wet and ratty looking. We had intended to just fill our water bottles and leave but the buffet at the casino sure looked good. We pointed out our sad condition to the hostess and she assurred us that it wasn't a problem. She then ushered us to the table with plastic covered seats. The buffet was teriffic and we filled up our water bags in the restrooms. Oddly enough, no one noticed us. Gamblers certainly have a one track mind. We continued on and camped about 18 miles south of Vicksburg on a wet, sandy, and buggy beach. We traveled 41 miles on a very hot and humid day. We are in the southern climate now. ... by dz 0 Day 61/ October 5, 2007 08-OCT-2007 20:35:00 We traveled 38 miles today on another hot and humid day.This morning we passed the revetment repair boats of the Army Corps of Engineering. Revetments are concrete blocks strung together with steel cables that are placed along the shore. They absorb the energy of incoming water and waves. The revetments minimize the effect of the barge wakes and keep erosion to a minimum. The Army Corps is charged with maintaining all the revetments on the river. In order to do so, they have developed a self contained floating barge city. There can be up to 350 people living and working on this barge. The tow used to push this city is one of the largest on the Mississippi river and is aptly named 'The Mississippi'. It is 5 stories tall and 2 to 3 times bigger than any other tows we have seen so far. We had learned about the revetment repair operations at the museum we stopped at in Tunica and were thrilled to see it in real life. Little did we know that we would have another very different encounter with this massive operation later in our voyage. We continued past the Grand Gulf nuclear facility and into a chute at Port Gibson. Port Gibson is the starting point for the Natchez race that we will be participating in next weekend. There will be around 70 boats of every type starting the race, all from the same mud choked channel north of Nachez. That will certainly be interesting. We finished our day about 19 miles north of Natchez in a nice cozy alcove off the river. It was perfect until we discovered that the cove acted like a ampitheater, magnifying the sounds of the barges on the river. Oh well, we're staying here. We called Kieth Benoist, the race organizer and made arrangements to meet him and his wife Melissa in Natchez tomorrow. We filtered river water to fill our water bags. This heat and humidity is oppressive and our fluid intake is more than we are carrying onboard with us. We'll get fresh water in Natchez tomorrow. ... by dz 0 Day 62/ October 6, 2007 08-OCT-2007 21:22:00 We got an early start. We will be meeting Keith and Melissa at noon today at the boat landing in Natchez. We had to paddle around a lot of congestion in the harbor. Three barges had sunk after hitting a bridge and they were attempting to raise them. Keith and Melissa gave us a tour of Natchez where we saw huge Civil War era mansions surrounded by beautiful gardens and massive Spanish Oak trees. Natchez is a beautiful town with much to see. We visited an area outside town that Keith was familiar with and he pointed out the canal - the one with the alligators in it! I am beginning to rethink my participation in the race next Saturday. Alligators don't sound like fun. When we returned to the harbor, we were met by a reporter for 'The Natchez Democrat' which is the local newspaper. They interviewed Keith, Joe, and myself for an article about the upcoming Natchez race. After returning to the water, we traveled another 8 miles and set up camp in the middle of a swarm of Asian Beetles. These are the Ladybuglike beetles that bite. We went 27 miles today and plan to stay in the tent tonight. We will return to Natchez someday and visit the many historical places in this beautiful town. ... by dz 0 Day 63/ October 7, 2007 08-OCT-2007 21:55:00 We awoke to a hot and humid day again today. We always look for wildlife as we paddle and we noticed a flock of turkey vultures and eagles circling over a section of the river. We paddled closer and found that they were feasting on carp that had become trapped by falling water levels. Finally those jumping carp had met their match. Two deer, a doe and fawn, swam across the river not far from the eagles and vultures. It was a really long swim. We had traveled about 29 miles and since we were both sore and tired, we began looking for a campsite. We rounded a bend and to our surprise, we saw the Army Corps revetment barge. Since we were out of fresh water, we thought we would at least paddle over and see if they would fill our water bags. Man were we wrong. We paddled up to the huge barge and asked one of the people at the railing if we could get water. Never in our wildest imagination did we expect to receive the welcome we got! The crew of the barge welcomed us with open arms. Not only did they fill our water bags but our stomaches as well. They sent chicken dinners, frozen yogurt, canned goods, and other goodies over the rail. Soon the Captain of the barge met us and welcomed us aboard!. We were on the quarterboat that housed 317 people, was two stories high, and had 16 cooks! The tow boats housed 16 people and had 4 cooks each!. After a quick tour, the Captain invited us to dinner! He directed us to a sandbar just off the side of the barge as a campsite. We set up camp and prepared for dinner. We had a severe dress code to meet (sleeves on all shirts and no open toed shoes) so we donned our best clothes. When we were ready, I looked at Joe and he at me and laughed. Our wrinkled, baggy clothes hung on us. We have been on the river a long time. Nonetheless, we met the Captain at the gang plank at 5:00 and were escorted to the galley of the quarterboat, the William James. This boat is one of 4 that are part of the revetment floatilla. We were treated like royalty and enjoyed a fabulous steak dinner. After supper we toured the boat. This ship is amazing. It has an onboard water treatment plant that can treat over 100,000 gallons of river water into fresh water each day. I had wanted to see what it was like on a barge tow and never thought it possible. Our time on the revetment barge was amazing and likely will be the crowning point of our journey. We are at mile marker number 327 and our goal is mile marker number 235. After paddling over 2100 miles we now have only 92 miles to go. We retired to our tent with an incredible sense of well being. This has been an amazing adventure. ... by dz 0 Day 64/ October 8, 2007 12-OCT-2007 19:00:00 The night was just as interesting as the prior evening. We were camped on the sandbar alongside the quarterboats. The lights and their generators ran all night long, bathing our tiny island in light. At 6:00 AM we awoke to someone walking along the gangways and rails of the quarterboat ringing a large school bell with wild abandon! What a way to wake up! Breakfast is served between 5:00 and 7:00 am and you better not be late. We were invited for breakfast and we enjoyed an all-you-can eat buffet, courtesy of the US taxpayers. We loaded our plates with grits and eggs and sat at the table with the chief engineer of the revetment placement barge. He explained how the placement system worked and that there are only two placement systems like this in the world and the Army Corps owns both. This setup was the largest of the two. After breakfast we broke camp, packed up and got ready to leave. A lone fisherman came by and picked up his nets. He had only one small catfish in his catch. We paddled past the Lousiana State Penitentiary and stopped for a break. After 37 miles we once again set up camp on a sandbar. Sandbars on the river are getting hard to find. With the water being as low as it is, there are long stretches of mud and little sand. Just as we got the tent set up, a wind and rain storm blew in. In the blink of an eye, the tent uprooted itself and began a windblown tumble down the beach. It took every bit of speed Joe could muster to catch up with our wayward abode. We reset up and sat through a nasty 1 hour wind and rain storm. After the storm passed, we made supper and were enjoying a cup of tea while updating our journals when to our chagrin, the revetment barges came chugging down the river. They camped directly across from us! We listened to the droning of the generators again that night and the maniac bell ringer at 5:00 AM. Needless to say, we got an early start tuesday morning. ... by dz 0 Day 65/ October 9, 2007 12-OCT-2007 20:46:00 We paddled hard every inch of our 44 miles today. There was no river current at all and it was hot, hot, hot. We are out of water and filtering river water again. We took a 'shortcut' and paddled ourselves into the jumping carp again. At least 50 of these huge, slimy guys lept out of the water all around us. I won't miss them. We stopped on Profit Island for camp. It looked like an oasis. There was a table, chairs, a flag and a nice pile of coal for the fire all waiting for us here. We were glad to find this island because the banks are all either mud or revetment. We paddled past St. Francisville which is about 17 miles from our take out. We are near the end. ... by dz 0 Day 66/ October 10, 2007 - WE MADE IT, WE MADE IT, WE MADE IT! 12-OCT-2007 21:08:00 We had a nice cool night. We broke our last camp on the river and headed out at 7:30. We had planned to meet Keith and Melissa in Baton Rouge at 11:00 but had to paddle our last 17 miles of the trip first. As we entered Baton Rouge, the river was choked with barge and dock traffic. Refineries line the bank and barge repair facilities are everywhere. We saw our first 'salty' docked there. This is an ocean going container ship and is absolutely huge - especially alongside our kayaks. We stopped at the casino for a break and called Michael Beck, a fellow paddler. Michael is a construction engineer and is working on a new 12 story tall building alongside the river. We met him online and wanted to let him know that we had made it. As we neared our takeout point, we were shocked to see that Michael had arranged to welcome us by having all his fellow workers at the top of his new building wave, shout and welcome us to Baton Rouge! It was an incredible welcome to the end of our adventure. We met Keith and Melissa, unloaded our boats and headed to the airport for a rental car. We drove back to Natchez quiet in our own thoughts. At the hotel in Natchez we laundered all of our clothes and gear. Everything had taken on a life and smell of their own. Keith said that the race start will be changed because Port Gibson is mudded in and there were rumors of an 11' and 10' alligator living in the area! Although our boats have taken a tremendous pounding, all of our gear has held up well. We finished with only 6 dehydrated meals remaining. This has been an amazing trip and all of our planning, preparations, and help from friends has made this an adventure of a lifetime. ... by dz 0 Day 67/ October 11, 2007 12-OCT-2007 21:44:00 We are all clean and pretty today. I got a haircut and Joe and I spent the morning helping build temporary walkways for the finish line in Natchez. The piers are needed because of the low water levels that have left the shore a sea of mud. We worked all morning in the mud and slop. In the afternoon we went clothes shopping. We needed some nicer clothes for sight seeing. We visited the beautiful antebellum homes that are the Natchez Trace. Tomorrow we plan to wash and wax the boats, move them to the staging site and prepare for the grand finale - the 2007 Phat Water Kayak Challenge. Tomorrow will be our last 42 miles on the Mississippi River. ... by dz 0 Day 68/ October 12, 2007 14-OCT-2007 11:12:00 We spent the day helping Keith and the committee with race preparations. I helped with registration and Joe with equipment repair. Last year there were about 50 participants, this year it nearly doubled to 89 registrants. Gear needed to be shuttled to the starting point in Port Gibson and last minute details worked out. Our experience at the Beargrease races gave us an appreciation for the work required to stage a race as large as this. We enjoyed meeting and greeting fellow kayakers from all over the United States. Tomorrow is going to be a long and exhausting day. ... by dz 0 Day 69/ October 13, 2007 14-OCT-2007 11:23:00 Today is the day for the Phat Water Kayak Challenge. We arose at 4:00 AM and boarded a school bus an hour later for the ride to Port Gibson. The bus, jammed with nervous participants and their gear, arrived about one hour later at the put-in point in Port Gibson. The town had mowed the shoreline grass and removed the brush to create a nice staging area. We nervously ate breakfast during the mandatory safety meeting prior to the race. Due to the low water level in the chute, the race would be starting on the river. We boarded our boats and proceeded onto the river, creating a floatilla of kayaks, the fastest racers in the front. We held onto each others boats and awaited the starting cannon. To our surprise, the Coast Guard had shut down all barge traffic on the river and the Army Corps had removed many of the navigation bouys lining the channels. At 8:30 AM, the cannon sounded, scaring the heck out of all of us. As we took off, we immediately realized that the rudder on my boat had become tangled with Joe's! Once untangled, we again took off down the river. There was little current, and we knew it was going to be a long, hard paddle. Race participants ranged from a three time olympic kakayer in an unlimited racing boat to 6 female friends from Florida in plastic boats. This is an important race and competition was intense. Joe and I started out strong and stayed in front of the pack but we have never raced in such a long race, 13 miles being our longest. This race would take over 4 hours to complete we didn't know what to expect at the end. I became sore several hours into the race and needed to get out and stretch. But I didn't. I kept paddling. We had to keep going. We had to finish this. Five hours and one minute later, Joe crossed the finish line, 10th. overall. Thirty minutes after him, I crossed the finish line, 19th. overall. We had completed the 42 1/2 mile race. The preliminary results have Joe finishing 2nd. in his class and me finishing 3rd. in my class. We tried hard and are proud and pleased with our efforts. The night ended with a party in Natchez after a long, long day. We will be driving to Baton Rouge on Monday and beginning our journey home soon after. ... by dz 0 Note from Dan Zellner 14-OCT-2007 12:05:00 As some of you know, I have been updating Joe and Anne's log for them. I have been the words of Anne. I likely have made many errors and misstatements. One thing I know I have not misstated is the tremendous gratitude and love they have for all of you who have followed, prayed for, and rooted for them on their trip. For Joe it has restored a sense of trust in others. For Anne it has reaffirmed a hope for the future. They knew you were all there for them in any way you could be. They pushed through the long, hot days knowing their friends were looking on, cheering them forward. I want to thank them for sharing this part of their life with me and wish them all the happiness and love they deserve. Dan Joe and Anne will be spending the next week traveling home so there will be no more updates until they get home. To view the two articles about them and the Phat Water Kayak Challenge, please go to www.natchezdemocrat.com and type 'zellner' in the search window. The articles about them are the last two listed. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0