Day 19 on the Mississippi River

September 9, 2022

Thursday

RM 1182

160 miles completed

We started and ended the day with our new friends, Sandy and Jeff Bromenschenkel.

We got up early and got up around 6:00. We were in the bunkhouse at Sandy’s and Jeff’s house. We started packing our gear and doing the morning routine. We were mostly finished in time for breakfast at 7:30. Sandy and Jeff fixed breakfast for us. We ate on the picnic table.

Their house burned last year and they are rebuilding. Meanwhile they are living in campers. It seems they sleep in a camping trailer and cook in a pop up camper. Sandy made pancakes, eggs, and sausage, and brought it out to the picnic table. They served homemade maple syrup that Jeff made. He actually tapped the trees and boiled it down.

We paddled 19 miles today. The last ten miles we paddled without getting out to take a break…there was no place to get out. The sides of the River was tall grass and deep water with mud bottom. I had to pee really bad. I paddled my kayak alongside Terry’s canoe and borrowed the cut off milk jug he uses to bail water from his boat. I rinsed it real well in river water but he still didn’t want it back. We ate our lunch in the boats. We just stopped paddling and drifted.

When we got to the dam portage spot we put the portage wheels on and pulled our boats to our campsite, site number 10 at the Pokegama dam campground.

After dinner, Sandy and Jeff drove over to deliver my wetsuit that Pat mailed to me, at Sandy’s and Jeff’s address. They stayed and visited with us until it got cold. Then we went to bed. They are really great folks.

Goodnight Rachel.

Sweet dreams.

I love you,

GPL