Day 53 on the Mississippi River

October 13, 2021

Wednesday

Tent camping in Iowa

RM 668

674 miles completed

This was a zero day. Tuesday night the forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday was for high winds out of the south and rain, with thunderstorms in the afternoon. The wind speeds were forecast 20 mph with gusts to 40 mph, out of the South. We knew we wouldn’t be getting out in that.

We didn’t like the idea of sitting in our tents all day. In fact, my tent isn’t even big enough to sit up. So Terry made a lean to shelter out of a tarp. It made a place for us to sit out the rain and it kept the wind off of us. We kept a fire going in it all night and all day Wednesday, and we stayed dry and warm on a cold dreary day.

Even though we were dry and warm, it was discouraging and boring to not get any miles. We are constantly conscious of Winter’s pursuit of us down the river.

On a positive side, I got to rest my back and right shoulder that are giving me some pain.

We rested and ate all day. We took naps in the afternoon. By the end of the day the rain stopped and our gear dried out. The wind subsided late.