TRAVEL-LOG-BLOG
TravelLog-Blog-2
It has been a lovely trip. I last left you with the (short) tale of the first few days, the fact that we took the Upper Pigeon in our hard boats and were promoted to intermediate level paddlers. I didn’t give details. So, for you paddling hair-heads out there, the next paras are for you. For those who think you might like to see the world from water level, you can join in too.
The Pigeon River is dam controlled, meaning that, on certain days of the week, there is a release of water through the dam, and *big* river water, (1000 CSF give or take) with Class IIs, IIIs and IV rapids. When the dam goes off there is still water, running this drought-y summer at 133 CFS (cubic feet per second). However… There is a lot of rock. A *lot of rock.* And only a little water. You have to pick your lines of run carefully. To go left or right, means a nasty swim at best, bruises and blood at worst.
I was so tight and tense and charged that I was smiling like a Madonna… Yeah, I know. Most people feeling terror get a look that says terror. Not me. I look like I’m having a religious experience. Or on dope. Or meditating. Anyway….
We made it through the entire run without coming out of our boats until the very bottom of the very last rapid. I came out and had to swim. Sigh… Okay, I give myself excuses. If I hadn’t been tired, I might have recovered. I was so excited about making it out alive that I was too late with the hip snap that would have saved me (by snapping the kayak back upright before the curl of water rolled me over). But all that are just excuses. I still went over. Next time…
Weird things is, Dave, the guide/instructor who took us down the Upper, thought I was totally chill. Not so. But when I told him I was anything but chill, he argued with me! He said I was ready for the Upper in high water! Insisted I was *totally chill!* It’s that dang Madonna smile I get when I’m facing danger… I will run the Upper again, but at low water, before even thinking about it in high water. Oh - no shots of me in kayak gear from the Upper. I was too shell-shocked.
Okay - enough about kayaking for a bit. Wednesday, we spent the day taking pictures (yes, I took pics. I’ll see if hubby will upload them somewhere some-when soon) of the town of Hartford, Tenn. And the guides and instructors. All this kayaking stuff and pics is for the Feb. 09 release of Rapid Descent, (a thriller set on/in whitewater) by Gwen Hunter, my AKA. Strictly from a writer standpoint, I needed to run the Upper because I set a rock rescue on a rapid and it was the wrong rapid. I had it on the Rooster Tail rapid and had to move it to top of the Lost Guide Rapid. There are tales about the Lost Guide. Tradition. And a rock that would make it work.
We left Hartford before dusk and hit the road north, to Knoxville (where we gassed up) and then headed on to Cookville, Tenn. We spent the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot next to the county fairgrounds where cattle mooed and kicked stalls all night. (Romantic no?)
Thursday….Hmmm. Thursday we traveled all day through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois, crossing over the Cumberland River, the Tennessee River, the Ohio River, and the Mississippi River, ending up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I took pics of lovely scenery out the RV windows. These were *big honking rivers, man! A lot of trip was flat and rolling hills of corn.
Corn, corn everywhere and not an ear to eat. See how bio fuel has us starving in the streets… Yeah, I know, bio-fuel will save us someday, but for now, it isn’t cost efficient and is making the world’s people starve. IMHO. Of course, it is helping the nation’s farmers and I am happy about that. Okay - political comments put away for the day.
I did a book store stop in a B&N in Cape Girardeau, signed a few books, visited with a new fan who happened to be on site and crashed on the RV couch for a rest with a jewelry catalogue. (The big yearly 1,000 page Fire Mountain Gems book came before we left home! Whoowhoowhoo!) And the hubby got a pic of me looking like a writer rather than a river rat. Makeup and jewelry and everything!
Friday we parked in a Wal-Mart and caught up on business. (Starting to see a trend of Wal-Marts and RVers? The company has a lot of problems (not giving benefits to employees is a biggie to me. Oops there I go with political stuff again.) but they do welcome overnight campers and truckers. One can’t always find a campground and when the need to sleep hits. Another romantic spot …not… Hubby/Rod/Ren got pics of the parking lot. I’m not sure why. I started this blog.
Carolina used to be green, back before the drought. Now it is sorta brownish-green. Breen, maybe. This part of the country has gotten all our rain, darn it! This place is un-freaking-believable green! Wonderful scenery in South Missouri
And the St Francis River was running at medium level. Oh my…stories to tell. Later.