June 27
Position
N37.21157
W89.03172t
Breakfast was great at the casino as they had a buffet where the cooked an omelet for you, a buffet with all kinds of good stuff and some waffle machines, add all the coffee you want and we are close to heaven.
We got off to good start and as the sky looked dark we rigged the gear for rain and that it did. Around 12 it poured down on us. We pulled over into shore and stood under the protection of some trees. The storm did not last long and moved on just after 30 minutes. During that time you bet I was missing the hotel we left though.
We passed though several really busy facilities today moving coal, cement, sand and making electricity. The all had working tows at them but we did not disturb them, as I stayed between them and shore. The wind was behind most of the morning so we made good time. Several small tows passed with out barges in a rush and putting out a good wake so we had some surfing to do to stay upright.
Campsites are hard to find with the water so high so we had look hard at 3:00 after making more than 18 miles we found some bluffs with gravel at the bottom. Gravel is better than sand at draining water and a whole lot better than camping on mud so here we are. It is a prettty good campsite all told.
The wind picked up late in the day so I was woking pretty hard and was tried and ready to camp when we arrived. As soon as the tent was up the wind died and temperature went up. So the heat kind of got to me, now am sitting topless trying to cool off while working the Netbook and hoping it does not rain too soon. I am also hoping my shirt dries out before I enter the tent which I doubt will happen but maybe I will have enough water for breakfast made. Now Di is burning trash washed up onto shore.
Counts
7 buzzards (I think they are following us)
5 dead fish
3 jumping carp (nothing close)
1 raccoon
9 heron
2 homes washed away by the floods
1 trailer park
3 red run away buoys
6 tow racing around without barges
4 full barges 2 down stream
1 trailer park
Tea is done gone the sun and the campers off to bed.
Allan
Day 25
Position
Cairo IL
Dave's Favorite Hotel
Yes for those that followed Dave and me down the river on the Bikes the Belvedere Motel is still in Cairo and it is still the only Motel in town. It pretty bad the last time Dave and I stayed there and it still is pretty bad but hot shower and Air Conditioning is worth putting up with a lot. The last time we stayed some mice ate some of our food in our packs. This time the owner asked us if we had any dogs or pets, I almost said why would you care you have mice but I kept my mouth shut. When we enter the room there was a dead bug just inside the door. Lets hope there is no live ones in the hotel bed. Anyway it cool and dry so all is good. Here to any Motels along the way regardless how rundown.
Last night the showers started early and lasted a short period of time with doors zipped up. Dianne got warm so she got up and unzipped the doors and that cooled things off. One of the barges coming down the river must of noticed the glow of the fire place and light the tent up a surgery stage. So last night sleeping was up and down as conditions changed during the dark hours.
Up with the dawn and down the river we went after breakfast of eggs and potatoes. (Advice to Andy who is planning to take some of my food only use a little of the spice bag with the eggs they are much better that way, way too hot with the whole bag.) The day promised a lot of interesting stuff first was a lock. Again it was not there and we just paddled on down the river. Next was the construction site for the new lock and dam and there was a lot of activity there at least 5 tow boats moving cranes and digging equipment a couple of dredges and many worker moving around. We stayed just outside of the channel so we would interfere with movement or work. That seemed to work.
Next we came to Mound City and there was not a lot there. A barge got dropped off at the grain loading site. We got out of the canoe and hoped that we could get a restaurant but no joy in that plan so we cooke up a lunch and started off again.
We then paddled though the busy harbor of Cairo. Tons of movement and lots of stuff moving around. The flashing lights I had seen in the morning and wondered about turned out to be welders working on barges in dry dock, you can see a welding arc a long ways off on cloudy days.
Today the weather god smiled on us. We had lots of lighting and thunder all morning paddling just after breakfast and had to stop and rig the canoe for rain. But the thunder never got closer than a 20 count from from us and no rain fell on us, although we could see it all morning.
Another interesting thing that happened was the fish. Just after lunch we were passing a facility and Dianne got the willies when she saw all this fish mouths just above the water and as the canoe pasted them the would splash away leaving her wet, she was most upset but got though OK.
Once at Cairo we could see the motel but could not get out till 2 miles past it due to the levee wall along the river. Once at the ramp a nice family offered us ride up to the Motel and gave us some of the history and story of the town. Many thanks as it saved me a very long hike with the pack that I guess I have to do in the morning.
As we approached the rail bridge in Cairo a tow beeps us. So Dianne took up the radio and the skipper asked if could hold up for a few and move to the right as he had move close to shore to make the bridge. As the tow was 4 wide and 6 long it was big swing for him and did come close to shore. We held behind him and watched him clear the bridge with space to spare.
Count
5 blue herons
15 cranes working on the river
2 dredges
6 tows without any barges
4 loaded barges (one was 24 barges)
No comments:
Post a Comment