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Friday, May 26, was our last day on the river for 2017. We have had a great week. Because we were in Evansville during the worst weather day, we were able to enjoy an accidentally well-timed break as described in a previous post. We thought that was the end of weather delays.

Just when the weather forecast suggested that we would have calm waters on Friday, it changed according to the finicky nature of weather along the Ohio River. It promised in the morning to kick up a good wind of up to 16 miles an hour by mid morning. Unfortunately, it did not disappoint us. Fortunately, the current was still flowing well as they have been releasing water from the dams upriver to control the water from spring rains. If we had not had the current on Friday, we would have quit early in the day as we had to a few years ago.

But we persevered against wind and saw that we were making good progress, though slower than previous days. It was still hard. Karen steers the boat and feels the winds challenges more than I. I just keep paddling and she calls out for me to change sides as the wind pushes the stern this way for that. It is mentally exhausting as well as physically exhausting. And having wind constantly in one’s face just gets annoying after a few hours!

So we were happy to discover a narrow channel between the shore of an island and the banks of the river. It was calm in there and we hoped to rest for a few hours on the shore. However, the banks of that slower water were so muddy that we couldn’t get out of the canoe. I tried a couple of times, once sinking in to above my ankles and wondering if my shoes would come out with my feet…or if my feet would even come out! So, we just pulled close to shore, ate some food, laid back on our reclined canoe seats and waited. The wind was not going to abate. I could not imagine sitting in the channel in the canoe for the 4-6 hours it might take for the wind to lessen. And the bugs, which eat me while ignoring Karen, were annoying. I insisted that we try to make a go of it, slow and easy.

We paddled out of the channel and were hit with the wind again. It was ok for a while because we were still moving but the waves got higher and higher. One or two of them brought images of “The Perfect Storm” to mind as I, sitting in the bow, saw the water come over, and then the bow plunge into the next valley of a 2-3 foot wave. I was quick to say, “we are heading to shore and getting on shore one way or the other!”

Thankfully, we were able to get to an area that was still muddy but not impossible. The flies start biting, the wind was still kicking, and the sun was high and hot so we decided to pitch out tent and hole up there until we felt confident we could manage another five miles to Uniontown, KY. We napped, watched the river pass by, checking they weather report, looked at maps, pretended we were in a sweat lodge, and eventually decided the wind had died enough to head out again.

The wind had abated some but it was still strong. The huge waves were gone but the gustiness of it was still very irritating so those last five miles on the river were the least enjoyable and we had little hope from the map that Uniontown would provide much of a camping experience for us. There was a ramp and that was all we knew.

Little did we know as we paddled those last hard miles that the sweetest hospitality still awaited us. We pulled into the lagoon behind the ramp, saw one of the many herons we see along the way, and landed on a beach of little note seeing nothing but a barge loading dock and the omnipresent flood dike between us and we knew not what. Within moments, we had a new friend and guardian angel, Brian. He pulled up in his black truck and asked where we were coming from. Long story, short, he drove us up into town and left us at Hannah’s Place, the local restaurant. By the time we left Uniontown the next afternoon, we had spent about six hours in total at Hannah’s, meeting all shifts of waitstaff! Anyway, that evening we washed up in the restroom and got dinner and then learned that Brian had already paid for our meal. Several times in the next twelve hours, he checked in on us, alerted the local police officer that we were camping on the lagoon (Police Officer Jeffrey was also at the restaurant later so we got to meet him as well!), and when we were packing up to be ready for Mitch to fetch us and take us back to Rome, Indiana, Brian stopped one more time and said he had a gift for us each and presented us each with a small Indian arrowhead to remember our stay there. He grew up there and has wandered the fields looking for arrowheads for years. What a sweet reminder of what turned out to be one of our best overnight stays.

We had arrived weary and ready to end our trip with no particular note. We left energized, cared for, and grateful, once again, for the surprises and the kind people we have met on our journey.

Yesterday we took a break in Mount Vernon, Kentucky, where we walked around the park and found public restrooms. This is one of our more serious games: seeing how often we can use public bathrooms or portapotties. We did well on this trip! But I digress….
We headed back to the canoe. An older woman stopped us and said she was down at the river with her almost 92-year-old mother and the mother was interested in our story. So we decided to go up and tell them both what we have been up to. The mother thanked us for telling our story and, in her words wished us “a good journey.”

We were both struck by her use of these words. Usually when we tell people about our trips, we get varied responses. Sometimes people say “have a safe journey.” Sometimes people say “be safe.” Sometimes people say “that sounds like such fun.” Sometimes people say “I don’t think I could ever do that.”
But June used different and distinct words. She said “have a good journey.” It struck me that because she was almost 92 she had a good sense of life’s journeys and she didn’t have to worry about us or warn us to stay safe. She just wanted us to have a good journey. And that is exactly what we are having.
And to top it off, we had dinner last night at Hannah’s Place in Uniontown, Kentucky, where we ended our trip this year. We also had breakfast this morning here. In fact, we are here for a third time having a Pepsi waiting for Mitch, our ride back to Karen’s car, to arrive. On the wall of the bathroom here we found this small mural (photo attached).&! I It was just perfect.

It was hard to leave our warm and dry hotel room to head back on the river. The forecast was for winds up to 14 miles an hour. But once up, we had our gear packed in no time and a hotel shuttle returned us to the marina. We took down the wet tent, chatted with our host, Katie, and learned that her father had dug out the marina 54 years ago. All in the family. She graciously agreed to take photos of us as we headed out. The day quickly became one of our favorites. The current helped against the wind and the wind itself was not too difficult. We were on the river at about 8:50. We paddled a total of 26 miles, many more than we had even hoped for. The day brought some other pleasant and interesting surprises. A fish jumped over the boat right on Karen’s lap. The wind was at our back enough to sail for a while. And we were treated to some cookies and scones by the woman who owns The Cake Stand in Henderson,  KY. The day ended with the discovery of a cute island campsite. We looked forward to a campfire and s’mores as well as cooking a hot dinner and the turnips and beets we had bought a couple of days earlier from an organic farmer who pulled them right out of the soil for us. We were disappointed to discover that the lighter had gotten wet and would not work. Karen did have a magnesium striking stone with her and amazingly was able, after a couple of attempts, to keep a small fire going. We built it up and enjoyed all of the above including not one but two s’mores. We felt we had earned them! A beautiful sunset was the icing on the cake.

 

Last year we took a break from the river in the middle of the week because it was really hot. This year we found ourselves taking a break in the middle of the week because it is cold and rainy. We were not expecting the cold part of that. So last night we paddled into a marina in Evansville, Indiana, and we were able to pull our canoe up onto their docs under cover. They allowed us to use their bathrooms including a shower which was a wonderful gift. And then we set up our tent up on the grassy knoll behind the metal shipping container. About 4 AM this morning the rain started and it’s now 8:30 PM and it is still raining. We were surprised early this morning to find a friend of a friend in the driveway of the marina. He offered to take us into Evansville and treat us to breakfast. We ate at Penny Lane Café and then Gary drove us to the visitor center which is in they called building shaped like a pagoda. We went up on the roof and looked at wet views of the Ohio River. And we met another couple from Texas and visited with them for a while. Gary then took over to the Evansville others stadium which is also the stadium that was used for filming A League of Their Own. By the time we had driven around Evansville and made the stops it was time for lunch so we went to a local German restaurant. Gary returned us to a campsite and we spent the next couple of hours learning about and touring the LST 135 which is permanently docked Right next to where we were camping. We learned about this interesting World War II vessel and the history of Evansville in the making of hundreds of LSTs.

Since much of the tour of the boat was outside, we were cold and wet by the time we were done and decided that wisdom demanded that we spend the night in a warm hotel. The tour guide from the ship and his wife volunteered to drive us from the ship over to the hotel in downtown Evansville where we are now hunkered down for the evening with our laundry and wet camp gear draped all over the place.
We consider days like this part of the adventure and, as usual, we found interesting people with interesting stories…and also offering us hospitality! We are grateful for all the days we have on this river and with its people.

We completed 23 miles today for a total of 90 in three days. We are pooped! We are camped tonight next to a storage container at a marina with music from the bar to lull us to sleep. Here are a few photos of the day, including lunch in Newburgh, IN, where there is an old lock house; a small channel we canoed on off the shipping lane of the river (we actually had two opportunities to do that today); a view of the river where it looks like a lake; an old log cabin and a beautiful gabled house overlooking the river; and of course, our humble home. We continue to marvel at the kindness of strangers…we are here in the marina as a gift from the owner. Tomorrow promises lots of rain so we plan to explore Evansville and possibly stay here another night. While the campsite is unusual, we have access to a bathroom and shower! Yay!

1000 miles since 2001. To commemorate this auspicious occasion, we made a short video. Enjoy!​

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We have just completed a little over 30 miles on the river today. That’s second to the most number of miles that we have done on the river in one day. It was a cool day with a little bit of a breeze on and off but we made great time and mostly the water was very calm. We enjoyed a little break in Rockport, Indiana, a little town where we walked to get ice cream and coffee and some fresh fruit at the grocery store.As usual we have met some wonderful people along the river and have had interesting conversations. We talked to one fisherman, an old guy, who had lived all of his life in Rockport and he told us about how they used to get the shells off the bottom of the river and use them to make buttons in the factories in Rockport. One man we spoke with yesterday said that everyone has a story. We have certainly discovered that to be true as we talk to people along the river. Today because we pushed on a little farther it was getting later into the afternoon and evening before we found a place to stay. We were starting to head across the river from Owensboro, Kentucky, when we saw what looked like a little marina on our side of the river. We decided to take the chance and paddle down and discovered a yet-to-be-open-for-the-season club and a bunch of guys enjoying the late afternoon together. We learned that we had landed at the Redneck Boat Club. Their description, not ours. In talking to Billy Joe, one of the guys at the boat club, we learned his definition of redneck. For him a redneck is the opposite of a gentleman. This definition we had ever heard. They all appear to be gentlemen and most of them have now gone home and we feel very safe in our temporary home. Pictures below.

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A view of where we have come from  and where we are going. I love the panoramic view! What you can’t see if s the power plant just out of view to the left. 

We left this morning atound 6:30 from our site at a new friend’s rv garage. The waters are calm so far thorough I feel a wind picking up. We will see if we can do another 11 in three hours!

I also had to photo these cool tree roots!

After a somewhat sleepless and raining night under the shelter in Rome, Indiana, we headed out onto the river around 7:15. I will elaborate at a later date but we had a wonderful day on the river in spite of a rainstorm and some pretty strong headwinds at times. We saw some great wildlife including a bald eagle and turtles, heron and vultures. But the very best part of the day was the people we met who were, as usual, very helpful. One couple found us a place to stay down the river in Tell City, Indiana. Yes, named after William Tell as there were many Swiss immigrants in the area. So right now we’re sleeping in a tent outside a block building right inside the flood walls of tile city. And we have cold running water and a toilet and electricity which is always very exciting. We expect to be sore tomorrow morning as we paddled 26 miles today which was a lot for a first day going against the headwinds. Here are some photos of our day.