Oct 5, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Caruthersville, Missouri September 27, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: September 26 started off with such promise and optimism. Then, it turned bad. Then, it quickly turned worse. I left New Madrid at noon, bound for Caruthersville, Missouri. Everything was calm and...
Sep 27, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
New Madrid, Missouri September 26, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: September 25 was a tough day on the River. The strong headwinds erased the benefit of the weak current. Two hours out of Hickman, the rain started. No problem, I can paddle in the rain. Then, a...
Sep 25, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Hickman, Kentucky September 25, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: Every day brings a new adventure and a reaffirmation of the essential goodness of humanity. Phil drove me to Fort Defiance Park where I was able to see the confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi...
Sep 25, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Bell City, Missouri September 24, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: I launched from Cape Girardeau at 10am into a swift current with the wind at my back. It was my best River day of the trip. Eight and one-half hours later, I arrived in Cairo, Illinois. This was a...
Sep 23, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Cape Girardeau, Missouri September 22, 2019Dear Family & Friends: Phil Brinson lives in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Tom Kettering, Rick Dryer and I met Phil decades ago while river rafting on the Colorado River. We bonded immediately and became close friends. Cape...
Sep 23, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Cape Girardeau, Missouri September 22, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 58 miles downstream from my tent camp near Chester, Illinois, was my next destination, but it wasn’t easy getting there. About 30 miles downstream, the cable connecting my...
Sep 19, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Across the River from Chester, Illinois September 19, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: Today was a huge day for me. Because of the fast current, I was able to average 7.5 mph and covered 50 miles from Kimmswick, Missouri to an island in Missouri across from Chester,...
Sep 19, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Hoppies Marina Kimmswick, Missouri September 18, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: Before departing St. Louis on September 18, I visited the famous courthouse where the Dred Scott case began. Dred Scott was a slave who sued for freedom for himself and his wife, Harriet,...
Sep 18, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
St. Louis, Missouri September 17, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: On September 15, I paddled 16 miles to Alton Illinois. After securing my canoe at the local marina, I checked into a hotel. I had a great dinner at Fast Eddie’s Bar & Grille, a venue recommended by...
Sep 17, 2019 | Mississippi River Trip |
Grafton, Illinois September 14, 2019 Dear Family & Friends: September 12 was a melancholy day on the River as I traveled from my tent camp just South of Hamburg, Illinois to an RV trailer park in Golden Eagle, Missouri. What put me in a funk was the devastation...
