Recently I've been listening in on podcasts set up by bigger universities and lectures on coursework I plan on implementing into my studies. Current podcast, Thermal and Statistical Physics. Lesson 6
We have landed ourselves in Iowa and it has been the least pleasant of the trip thus far for me. The claim of "Minnesota Nice" certainly left quite unfortunately in a very quick manner.
Quotes to remember from this portion of the trip
"You're all dumb as *#%^%"
"You're all gonna die"
And the one that brought my fave to my palm and my head down in dismay
"Dilution is the solution to pollution"
Maybe Oregon is getting to me and I'm just becoming a hippie but when I see people who live, thrive, and depend on such a vast and necessary river as the Mississippi and treat it's life giving force in such a way that will only continue to destroy its beauty I begin to think that we deserve what's being thrown at us as humanity.
This river and its many estuaries, boundary waters, flood plains, and vast array of fortunes is certainly a gift to us and could be life sustaining if not for the many ways in which we destroy it daily.
"The care of rivers is not a question of rivers, but of the human heart"
-Tanaka Shozo
August 13, 2016
We being the three leftover paddlers Nate, Dan, myself and Samson, finally reached where we all originally flew into
Minneapolis!
Crazy to think the place we flew into on seperate flights, drove 3 hours north to Lobos Cabins, and doesn't nearly a month of wear and tear has finally been such an achievement for us all.
I noticed small changes in my body including slight weight loss, posture, and paddle form. This drove me to want to push it further and on top of daily stretching I have attempted to initiate yoga and skipping rope back into a daily routine ( which has turned into a every few day routine admittedly).
We passed our first Barge!
Being one of the biggest and most dangerous aspects of this trip aside from the water this was quite a sight to see! The wake they put off is astounding and creates ocean like waves for us to paddle through that then hit the edges of the river and bounce back at us as lateral and unstablizing waves for their second time around. Believe it or not some of these waves create such depth that you can't see over the next one. Sometimes they have as much space between them as an entire house would fit and sometimes they are in such repitition that the boat can't recover from the first one before the second crashes over the bow.
We weighed my boat, dog and gear and realized that not only do I carry the most weight due to mostly improper planning and also having to care for a dog( food and medical) as well as having he dog that I am actually at the weight capacity of this boat!!! That's huge and plays a huge role in the boats stability.
This has made me hit most the waves I come across from the side with great hip control as the standard is to go directly into them or perpendicular I am lined up parallel.
We also saw the first dead dog
A little terrier that had been in the water Lon enough to bloat but not quite long enough to "pop"
@"Dead bodies on the shoreline and river beds of Iraq"@
----
AUG 14
A beautiful night lead into a better day,
To be sure a "sailors delight".
We hit our first lock and dam on this day, the first of approx 27!
We have all been looking forward to this for some time
Samson decided to rip my tent today... But not like the untrained service animal from the beginning of this trip. He waited for the command to enter and snagged his claw on the mesh. This was my first tent repair and I got to see firsthand just how useful Leuko tape can really be (sorry no photo)
Though a great place to paddle through and a major excitement when I called the wife on skype in the boat to attempt to show her what I was seeing we had to push on as there weren't as many places to park a canoe as you might expect...
We stopped in Hasting for lunch at the local American Legion which is probably the most established and best located post of any of the post-military clubs I've ever seen.
I got to mail my muck boots, water filter (as after Minneapolis the water is so polluted not even boiling and then filtering is recommended which is really sad to say and hear), and a few books home.
To some degree I now call myself an idiot
But I must be inasane as I keep repeating the key words in this phrase
WEAR SUNBLOCK
I burnt my lips nose and cheeks pretty bad
I don't remember if I've ever burnt my lips before or at least not to this degree smiling though infrequent hurts and it has been a good reminder to wear sunblock indeed.
But alas I usually do not bother and instead wear the awesome buffs sent to us over my face and what can I say it's probably showing the better side of my fave while I'm wearing it ;p
The ever pounding army of bugs have finally started dyin down and what a relief it's been for nights and for my canine companion traveling with us.
According to the DNR
2 batches a month of mosquitos usually hatch
This year
4 batches PER DAY
YEAH THATS ALOT OF MOSQUITOS
With 100 miles left to get to Lacrosse, WI We took a lunch at mile marker 802.1 and let me say it's much quicker to eat while we float down the river together rafted up. Stopping countless times throughout the day not only holds up pace but kills morale and makes every day longer when up here it seems the days only gets hotter after noon hits. Yep that's the Midwest for ya. YOU BETCHA....
we got put up in an amazing room by treasure island resort and casino and although their theme music on the phone is horrible this place has a kickin atmosphere even if you only come for the $10 buffet which is amazing for a place in the middle of nowhere.
We went bowling and Nate had his first hand of blackjack played at a Casino.
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