Day 97 on the Mississippi river

Day 97

September 11, 2022

Sunday

LRM 583

1712 miles completed

I paddled 33 miles today.

Today’s post is about people I met on the river today.

Today I had to get water. I had already started on my last gallon. My hope was to spend the night in Rosedale, get water, and recharge my batteries. Rosedale was 26 miles away. No problem getting to Rosedale. But, I had no idea how I was going to get from the river to town and what to do with my kayak.

When I got within 2 miles of Rosedale I saw two young men fishing. I pulled over and started talking to one of the men. I told him I needed water. He said he could take me to the store. I asked about the safety of my kayak and gear. He said nobody’s going to bother your gear here. We are on private property that belongs to a hunting club. He took me to the Piggly Wiggly and I got 4 gallons of water.

The two men are Christo Nel and Shaun Reinecke. They have a friend named Fourie, and I can’t remember his first name.

The three men have been best friends for 14 years. they are from Cape Town South Africa. They come here in April and work on a large corporate farm. They live together in a large house on the farm. They go home in November. This is the second year they’ve done this. They think they will do it again next year. This was their day off and they were fishing. They got the use of a large farm truck with four-wheel-drive. Christo  almost got stuck on the beach but the four wheel drive came through for him. They also have the use of a couple of four wheelers (ATV’s).

We had a really nice time visiting. We exchange phone numbers so I can give them my blog link. We took selfies.

When I left they took pictures of me leaving. They plan to text the pictures to me. After I had paddled a quarter of a mile out into the river I heard what I thought was a chainsaw in the distance behind me. I looked in my rearview mirror to see if I could tell what it was and I couldn’t. Then the drone came around in front of me and I could see it. So I smiled and waved and took off my hat and waved again.

When I got down around Rosedale I met a group of people on a pontoon boat. They pulled along side to ask me how far I had come. They seem very impressed. They gave me beer and chips. I declined a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I can’t eat sugar. We exchanged our phone numbers.

They are Randy Jr Bolden, Hope Bolden, Faith Ann Bolden, Brody Bolden, Jacob Webb, Katelyn  Webb, Jace Webb.

Not long after I had a small inboard pull along side. They also ask how far I had come and how far was I going. They offered water and food but I told them I had everything I needed. I gave them my phone number so they could text me and give me their names and number. The poor service I have not received any text yet. So I don’t know the names.

Seven miles past Rosedale I found a sandbar and stopped to camp on the Arkansas side.