Wednesday, April 22, 2015
This morning we awoke to a beautiful morning, but wind, clouds, and highs in the mid 50’s made this our coldest day on the water.
Yesterday, John bought some Shoo Goo at Do-It-Best hardware to repair his boot (he snagged the neoprene on the end of a sharp tree root.). His “repair job” looked good this morning and should last. At CVS he purchased a block of memory foam (Looks a lot like a PILLOW!) to help lessen John’s recent sciatic nerve pain, which seemed to help.
After our daily ritual of eating breakfast, tearing down camp, packing the kayaks, taking off the wheels and then re-packing the back hatches, we were in the water for an 18-mile paddle to Covington to pick up our next food delivery at the post office. After 18 miles, we knew we would be ready to stop. Luckily, with the swollen rivers, we made good time – 18 miles in just over three hours.
While in Covington, we met an insurance man, Dave of Lafayette, at the gas station where LaNae stopped to use the restroom. He had just finished Huck Finn on audio books and was very excited and affirming about our trip echoing our mantra “you’re doing it!”
After meeting Dave, we headed to the post office to retrieve our nutrition for the next week. Super nice and helpful Beth at USPS had our week four package. While picking up our package, we called the city department to see if we could pitch a tent in their somewhat rough/run down/isolated riverside “park” . This was the first time we received “no” as the answer. I almost cried! This meant we had to get back on the river and paddle in the wind and cold another eight miles to stay under the highway 32 bridge. (Are we officially homeless?)
Before landing under the bridge, we had a record nine eagles sightings and two nests. Another interesting sighting was an old bus just sitting on the bank by the river. What caught my eye was that it was on the ground. Yesterday we saw another one, but it was on stilts. Hmmmm…….
As we were nearing our home for the evening, we passed a field that had the remnants of tall prairie grass from last year, I could hear hundreds (thousands?) of birds. This made me think…… Isn’t it something, birds used to just live in nature. Now we have to build special habitats for them. Hmmmm…….
Tonight after a meal of chili and cornbread (perfect for this cold evening) and strawberry shortcake, we retreated to our tent to escape the wind and cold. As I write, I hear fish jumping in the small creek beside the tent. I wonder if these are the same fish that jumped up at me as I was entering the creek earlier, causing me to squeal. This isn’t the first time I was surprised by a jumping (almost flying) fish. Starting in Attica, fish have been jumping at us in shallower water. (The jumping fish even caused John to squeal like a school girl) So glad I had my skirt on so they couldn’t jump in with me! Oooooooh!
Enough fish talk, it’s time to snuggle in to escape the cold! I wonder what tomorrow will bring!
Be First to Comment