October 21, 2021
Thursday
Comfort Inn, Le Claire, IA
RM 497
845 miles completed
I paddled about 18 miles today.
It was a cold dreary day…cloudy all day. The wind was strong and in my face. I wondered about Terry, who was about ten miles behind facing the same wind but over a large body of open water between him and dam 13.
I put on my wet suit pants and hip boots, two layers of thermals, a raincoat, a waterproof parka with a hood, and waterproof gloves. I taped the handles of my paddle for better grip with the new gloves. Put on the kayak skirt.
I paddled in a heavy mist with occasional rain. Three foot waves washed over the boat. I stayed close to the West shore to get relief from the West wind. Midday the river turned and the wind turned and things got better. By late afternoon there was hardly any wind.
As I was passing Princeton a man yelled at me from his dock. His name is Dan Dawson. He asked if I needed anything. I told him I couldn’t think of a thing. I paddled over to his dock and we talked briefly. He told me about The Riverview Roadhouse in Le Claire, about five miles away, and about the public boat landing. We exchanged phone numbers and he offered help if I needed anything for the next 50 miles. His wife has a broken leg so he can’t leave her for long at a time. Dan is adventurous. He is a retired fireman. He and his wife did the “Great Loop”. I have been thinking about doing that in a houseboat.
I left my kayak at the public boat dock and walked to The Roadhouse.
I met Randy Harris and he bought me a beer.
Terri is the bartender at The Riverview Roadhouse. She has nice curls.
Dinner was a burger, fries, onion rings, and a Diet Coke.
I had two more beers besides the one Randy bought.
After dinner I got Dan Dawson to take me to a hotel with a promise to take me back to my kayak at 9:00 in the morning.
I cleaned up and got dry and warm.
Strava didn’t report the distance right on this one, but you can calculate it from the time and speed…6.5 miles.
Incredible.