Day 112 on the Mississippi River

Day 112

September 29, 2022

Thursday

LRM 226

2069 miles completed

31 miles today.

I started paddling at 8:50. I paddled steadily all day with only two short stops. The wind didn’t really hurt me today. Sometimes it even helped. The stories about Baton Rouge were not good. It actually turned out to be more scary than I thought it would be. There were hundreds of barges parked in the river I don’t like to go between park barges in the shore but they were out in the middle. And you can’t always tell if they’re moving or if they’re stopped. I announced my presence on the radio and went ahead, hoping someone heard me. I had to paddle along docked ocean going vessels. All the while the wind was coming from behind and the waves were rough. All the ships were making waves so waves came from all directions.

Looking south from my campsite, I can see parked barges and tugs on both sides of the river and a moving barge coming up in between. Three more miles that I will be finished with Baton Rouge.

I found a River Angel in Baton Rouge. It’s my daughter Tracey Young. She lives in Ponchatoula, 45 minutes away. I gave her a grocery list and she delivered. I met her on top of the levee so I could show her the way to my campsite. We drove a quarter of a mile or so on a makeshift sandy road. Then we had to leave her car and walk about a half mile through a field, then along the beach, carrying the food, three gallons of water, and enough beer for our beach party.

We put more wood on the fire. We drank beer and smoked a cigar. We talked about our failures and about our successes and about our wonderful family. We talked about Mary Ann and Glen. I hated to see the evening end. I walked Tracey back to her car. When I got back to my campsite I checked Tracey‘s location. She was already back to the I-12/I-10 split. I checked on her again a little later and she was safely home.