Paddling By

Jonathan flipped his kayak while playing in the currents from the wing dam. all is well and we only lost two cans of food. we are huddled in our tent anticipating rain.

We are in Caruthersville, MO for the night. We met the local attorney who offered us showers and a steak dinner and ultimately a place to sleep.

34 miles plus a 20 mile bonus from a one mile portage puts us past New Madrid. Andrew discovered the annoying biting flies take off backwards upping our kills.

Michael’s first day: spray skirts on, we are going surfing. Strong headwinds and up to 5-6 foot swells. Found a nice beach on an island to camp.

Dustin left yesterday & Michael arrived today. Meanwhile, Cairo grew on us as we met more of the people. Also met father/son duo biking from LA to Jersey.

Cairo, IL the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi. It meant freedom for Jim in Huck Finn. Unfortunately, he passed it in a fog. Fortunately, we did not.

96 miles in two days… not bad at all. 96 miles never hurt nobody. The cars still roam the streets of Cairo, IL, but the town itself looks deserted.

With the help of the Mississippi we put in a solid 45ish miles and made it through Cape Giardeau.

>From spiders scurrying across the surface of the river attempting to board our kayaks to worker ants with big heads, insects dominated our conversation today.

While napping, Andrew and Dustin had a ridiculous awakening from a barge. The historic city of Ste. Genivieve was quite pleasant.