August 2, 2010. Massey Marina to Bellevue, IA. 18 miles.

The photo above shows Mary Jo, Barry and Pete. Mary Jo and Barry acted as landing chairs for the first 2 nights on the river, and Pete and Mary Jo are our medical experts on this trip, both having completed wilderness EMT courses. Mary Jo also leads us in stretching exercises each morning, a very helpful thing to do!

This was a cloudy day, which is rather a good thing on the river. There is so little shade after all... We started out around 9 AM, and spent much of the day off the main channel of the Mississippi River in a slough (pronounced slew). We saw several bald eagles and a group of pelicans: overall a very good day. We got back on the big river near the end of the day and passed through lock number 12 just before exiting at Bellevue.

There were men on tractors to take us up to the city park where we camped for the night. Not only did they take us up there initially, but they stayed around and took us back down to the boats and to town for dinner. The Rumble had arranged for a pizza buffet for dinner... those of you who know me (or remember that fateful pizza buffet that sent me to the hospital in New Mexico in 2008) know already that I passed on the buffet. Bill and I ordered sandwiches and drinks separately, but it was fun to be in a crowded restaurant and know everyone there!

There was quite a bar party later that night, but we passed on that too.

I tried to blog, but the only place in town that had wireless Internet closed at 5 PM. The pharmacy closed at 5:30, and the ice cream store was not open on Mondays and Tuesdays. I guess we are spoiled living where stores are all open late.... The hardware store was open, and we purchased a sponge, an umbrella (it was raining hard and we'd left our ponchos in the boat) and a new toothbrush. I had inadvertently brushed my teeth with zinc oxide yesterday morning! That will teach me to reach for the toothpaste without my reading glasses.

We saw this sign on the street and were confused at first. It means that the trains don't blow their whistles in town, which is a welcome change for us. The thing about camping on the river is that the train tracks run along the riverside too.... not much soundproofing sleeping in a tent... this is the first night with no train whistles.