Warm and Unworried

Our inspiration

Another hello to all my co-workers

Three generations of crazy

Oh what a glorious day. We pretended to be turtles sunning themselves on a log. High atop our floating palace we snacked and napped and cooled ourselves in the mighty Mississippi. This was the first occasion that swimming was a means to beat the heat. Oh what a glorious day. We floated aimlessly and most unconcerned; fore the river is a hard place to become lost. Its entirety, including all things caught in its current, is bound for the same destination.

Locking Through

16 more locks to go

Day 18, 14 Miles - 4 miles above Guttenberg to Cassville

It was a good campsite. It was a bad campsite. Cassville sits right on the country’s busiest section of railroad. The Burlington Northern hauls everything I suppose, trains of coal and metal pipe many feet in diameter. Grains and ore are southbound for the coast and then onto freighters headed for Asia or Europe. The northbound trains haul metal goods. We docked a few hundred feet away but we might as well been on top the track. All night long we were pounded with vibrations, blasted awake by earth shattering horns every 20 minutes, and now have permanent damage to our hearing. The funny bit is, we new all the while we were in for a rowdy night. We just laughed about it with our fingers plugged into our ears. You see, the river side park was perfect in all other ways; stately manicured, bathroom facilities, electricity and picnic tables. It was serene and idyllic for 20 minutes at a time. Then we would hear that unmistakable rumble, turn to one another, grin and count train cars as the conductor blared the horn a dozen times from one end of town to the other. In the morning when the grass was still wet Hank, one of the town’s more curious, came to visit and told us, “40 trains roll thru here day and night, don’t stop neither.” I nodded in full agreement, said “wow,” and was thinking no shit Sherlock.

Day 17, 17 Miles - Prairie du Chien to Frenchtown Lake

A "corn storage" facility below Clayton

The Mississippi Queen wants to say hello to everyone at work.

Old Man River

The People of Priarie are unabashedly nice. The amount of favors we received were innumerable and the hospitality immeasurable. Thank you to everyone, especially Tim Mason, Willie and Nellies's bait shop, Mike and Lory of Valley Fish & Cheese and Winneshiek Marina. It took us a few hours longer to get out of town than we expected but the current is moving so fast that we drifted 17 miles in 4 hours. My parents love it and Marvin just exclaims "I can't believe this boat," or "solid comfort." Im so glad that they are here and that the sun is shining. We have tied up to shore and are enjoying the rosy colors of sunset dancing on the bluffs opposite us. I'm excited for them to lock through tomorrow. The experience is uniquely fun, however all the dams are underwater and the locks aren't having to fill and release water, so we'll just go in and then out. I hope the flood water continues to fall and the dams open up downstream so I can stay on schedule. 

Comments

I love the the comments you have sent. Please keep posting them. They add an interactive aspect to blogging that I really enjoy.

It was brought to my attention that there is a little confusion on how to complete the process. Here is how it works: first, click on the red underlined word 'Comment' at the end of each blog. Second, write your comment. OK, thats the easy part. Now, before you can 'publish your comment' you have to choose an identity. There are three choices, I recommend the second option, 'Name/URL.' Type your name and then you will be able to publish. If you want to keep it anonymous than that option exists too.

I reply to the questions, so check the 'comments' again after a day or two for a response.

Thanks,

Justus

Day 16 - Pikes Peak

The View from Pikes Peak

Day 15 - Lay Over P.D.C. - Father's Day

Tim - Abandon all despair ye who enter here

Recommended reading

Father's Day

M/V Driftless

My parents and Grandpa Marvin joined me this evening. We dined on Prairie du Chien's famous Pete's burgers with some fellow house boaters on their boat, The Driftless. I got to be honest, dinner was more like meatloaf on a bun than a hamburger. They were tasty, but could have been even tastier with some fixin's, of course that could just be an acquired taste I picked up living in the south. Marvin is an entertainer at heart and would make friends with a light post if it could talk, so he didn't waste any time meeting our neighbors, Tim, Sara and Eva, who live nearby in Mcgregor but spend a good deal of time on The Driftless. They invited us in and Tim (who turns out is very well known and respected in town) told us of life growing up in Prairie. He shared child hood antics and local history with us. He's as much a river man as anyone I've met and a hell of a nice guy. He is a bearish man and by appearance someone you wouldn't want to cross. Both he and his wife have worked in correctional facilities and by the sounds of it, have a family full of law enforcement officers. I couldn't help but wonder if that made getting a date for their daughter a little more difficult. The company was grand and the stories pursued into the night. It was a great fathers-day and an amazing introduction for The Big Getter's new crew.

Day 15 - Lay Over P.D.C. - There Aren't too Many of us Crazies Left

Mark invited me to come along in his V-hull 14 footer for the afternoon and I was delighted. The boat ramps here in P.D.C. are all submerged so we headed for Mcgregor on the Iowa side of the river. Jumping wakes, surfing waves and cutting doughnuts so tight that the gunwales are almost submerged is what he is all about. Fishing doesn't interest him and I guess most of the folks up in these parts just don't understand that. "Gas is a bargain!" he says, "compared to what it will be in a couple of years, so I try to burn as much as possible right now." He's got a dry sense of humor and we got along great. Down stream a few miles we came across an old man in a tiny boat with a tent on top. I assumed he'd been out fishing for the weekend and lived somewhere close by. "Where are you going?" I ask him as we get close. "Home" he says in a weathered voice. "Well, how long you been out fishing?" I say. The old-timer rasps, "couple of weeks now." I sure wasn't expecting that answer so I asked him where his home was. "East Texas" he said. Well, that got my attention and we immediately started swapping stories. I told him of the Big Getter and he told me of building a catamaran and sailing it around the world. As he motored off Mark and I were admiring his spirit, ability and I commented on his age when I thought he was out of ear shot. Evidently his ears work just as well as the rest of his body because he yelled back, "You don't find many like you either." I got a good chuckle out of that and then he really made me laugh when he said, "There aren't too many of us crazies left!"

Day 14 - Lay Over in Prairie Du Chien

  
 
 
 

Im in Prairie du Chien right now and enjoying the Rendezvous festival that happens to be here this weekend. It's a recreation of an annual event that took place a hundred plus years ago when the indians of all tribes and settlers would set down there spears and guns and gather here on the eastern bank of the Mississippi to trade wears. It's a weird mix; kind of a massive flea market intertwined with fair ground activities and food, a massive anachronistic dose of costumes, tents, weapons and native american food. There is also a hint of a greatful dead parking lot scene. Does that make sense? Oh yeah it has a real active Mid-Western hospitality element too. There are black smiths and loom weavers, leather tanners and entertainers. I have found every food-on-a-stick possible and some that don't seem so possible. The locals are out in full force and many out-of-towners too. Most of the business employees are dressed up, I bought a coffee from a girl donned in raw hide, and bought a burger from a yankee soldier. Settlers are busy doing there everyday deeds while listening to their ipods and sipping cold cokes. Its been a wonderful lay over day.

Put-in Sequence