Paddle With Us

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. 

While Karen enjoys showing off our new bent paddles that are supposed to carry us faster and further on the river, I spent the evening packing the few things I will take in the canoe into this tiny bag. In less than 24 hours we will meet in Cincinnati and drive to Perry County, Indiana, where we will put in the river on Sunday morning in Rome, Indiana.

I happened upon this article last night and it captures some of the excitement that Karen and I feel when we meet new people on the river…at marinas or restaurants…or when we learn something interesting about the local region.  Click here to read some stories about the mile marker stops along the Ohio River.