Day 10 on the Mississippi River

August 31, 2021

Tuesday

Angels are looking after us. We left Barry Lyons house at 8:30. Janet Rith met us at Bemidji with lunch and maps showing River Angels and campsites. Ron and Judy Vroom invited us to stay at there house on the other side of Lake Bemidji. I knew there are a lot of Angels willing to help paddlers, but I had no idea what a network there is. Janet and Ron were following our progress on my SPOT tracker, and communicating with each other. When we approached Ron’s and Judy’s house they were waiting for us on the boat dock.

The helped us unload and transport our gear to their house. They provided showers, laundry, and refreshments. Then Ron took us to Walmart and waited in his car while we replenished our supplies. Back at their home we were put up in their Airstream, converted to a bunkhouse/ice fishing shanty.

Then we had a wonderful dinner, prepared by Judy.

We learned about ice carousels. Ron and his friends actually cut a 40 foot circle on the ice and put a trolling motor on it to make it rotate. The the had a winter solstice party on it with a Christmas tree.

We are invited back for breakfast before we head out in the morning.