Three more days on the river puts us in the river town of Cape Girardeau, MO where we were looking forward to meeting Jeff & Polly Graves ( a couple of UND alumni). Due to an unfortunate family circumstance they had to leave town. Through conversation, we have come to learn that they put us up for the night in a hotel and left us in the good care of Tracey and Mark who will later this evening show us around town. Thank you Jeff & Polly we are sorry we missed you and hope all went well up North.
We do not have much to report as we have just arrived and have not scouted out the town yet. We'll have to give you a report of the town in the future.
What we can report is the river current has definitely picked up. We hit our first 51 mile day on Monday and yesterday we hit 48 miles, just shy of 100 miles in two days.
We got stuck in a sever thunderstorm yesterday which had 30-40 m.p.h. winds, large rain, and a lot of thunder/lightning. We saw it developing behind us and thought we were in for an afternoon rain storm. However, once we realized that the wind that had been blowing in our face had stopped (the calm before the storm) and the thunder started rumbling we knew we should get off the river. We pulled off onto a sand-bar and seconds after we got off the river the storm started with the high winds. We waited the storm out, being pelted with rain. At the end both of us were soaked,which actually felt pretty good as the temperatures before the storm were around 100 F, and the canoe had about 5 inches of water in it.
Take a look at the pictures as we have posted the latest bunch.
Life's the experience, try something new,
Eel & Platypus
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
July 14, St. Louis, MO
We are currently in the great city of St. Louis, MO. We arrived on Thursday with plans of staying two nights but the owners of the Huck Finn Hostel in Soulard, we are staying at, gave us an extra night free; so, we took it as a sign and opted to spread our stay one day longer.
Before I get on the subject of St. Louis let's talk about Alexandria, MO. Earlier in the month we met up with a gentlemen by the name of Scot Hall while getting supplies in Lansing, IA and exchanged contact info. He was travelling the river by motorboat and told us that as we get further South to stop in Alexandria, MO at a place called the Purple Cow. Well, that's exactly what we did. As we pulled into dock @ the Purple Cow we were welcomed by the owners Boon & Denise as well as Scot and his nephews. Scot treated us to dinner at the Cow and gave us a driving tour of Keokuk, IA including the Mormon city of Nauvoo, IL. After the tour we went back to the Cow and shared some river stories with the locals Charlie & Duck and listened to some river advice from Carver who had taken the trip by motor boat twice.
Scot, if you're reading this, seriously thanks for all your generosity and setting us up with all the right people. You made our stay in Alexandria very memorable.
After Alexandria we got back on the river and paddled to St. Louis. We are completely done with the Lock & Dams! The river once again has a strong current. We completed our first 4o mile day and have officially hit the half-way mark as just prior to arriving at St. Louis we hit the 1,160 mile marker. All exciting stuff.
St. Louis is an entertaining city. There is almost too much to do. Thursday night we went to a comedy club and saw a show. Friday we hit the zoo (free & rated top 5 in the country), Petrie hit the History Museum and a Napoleon exhibit. Saturday we went up in the Arch and saw a documentary on how it was made as well as visited the City Museum which is a mind-blowing/entertaining experience which I could have spent days exploring. At the City Museum there was a yo-yo competition going on, a huge cave to explore that lead you to a steel jungle gym, slides leading you to all different levels, an indoor skate park, fish tanks all over and an assortment of other random exhibits that all seemed to fit.
On a night out on the town we met up with two individuals that had the power to get us on top of the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis. Their names will remain anonymous for the time being, but thank you for the view!
This update would not be complete without a mention of an amazing family consisting of DeeDee, Joette, Carly, Gretchen, Allan, Kathy, and Rose who literally picked us off the streets and showed us a great time in the city. Happy Birthday Carly! To the rest of the family, thank you for the good time and sorry we missed out on the crepes. We will keep in touch. DeeDee, if you need a helicopter pilot for your wedding I would probably be able to arrange it.
Time's up, time to move South,
Check back soon as we will be able to post some more pictures in the very near future.
-Eel & Platypus
Before I get on the subject of St. Louis let's talk about Alexandria, MO. Earlier in the month we met up with a gentlemen by the name of Scot Hall while getting supplies in Lansing, IA and exchanged contact info. He was travelling the river by motorboat and told us that as we get further South to stop in Alexandria, MO at a place called the Purple Cow. Well, that's exactly what we did. As we pulled into dock @ the Purple Cow we were welcomed by the owners Boon & Denise as well as Scot and his nephews. Scot treated us to dinner at the Cow and gave us a driving tour of Keokuk, IA including the Mormon city of Nauvoo, IL. After the tour we went back to the Cow and shared some river stories with the locals Charlie & Duck and listened to some river advice from Carver who had taken the trip by motor boat twice.
Scot, if you're reading this, seriously thanks for all your generosity and setting us up with all the right people. You made our stay in Alexandria very memorable.
After Alexandria we got back on the river and paddled to St. Louis. We are completely done with the Lock & Dams! The river once again has a strong current. We completed our first 4o mile day and have officially hit the half-way mark as just prior to arriving at St. Louis we hit the 1,160 mile marker. All exciting stuff.
St. Louis is an entertaining city. There is almost too much to do. Thursday night we went to a comedy club and saw a show. Friday we hit the zoo (free & rated top 5 in the country), Petrie hit the History Museum and a Napoleon exhibit. Saturday we went up in the Arch and saw a documentary on how it was made as well as visited the City Museum which is a mind-blowing/entertaining experience which I could have spent days exploring. At the City Museum there was a yo-yo competition going on, a huge cave to explore that lead you to a steel jungle gym, slides leading you to all different levels, an indoor skate park, fish tanks all over and an assortment of other random exhibits that all seemed to fit.
On a night out on the town we met up with two individuals that had the power to get us on top of the Edward Jones Dome in downtown St. Louis. Their names will remain anonymous for the time being, but thank you for the view!
This update would not be complete without a mention of an amazing family consisting of DeeDee, Joette, Carly, Gretchen, Allan, Kathy, and Rose who literally picked us off the streets and showed us a great time in the city. Happy Birthday Carly! To the rest of the family, thank you for the good time and sorry we missed out on the crepes. We will keep in touch. DeeDee, if you need a helicopter pilot for your wedding I would probably be able to arrange it.
Time's up, time to move South,
Check back soon as we will be able to post some more pictures in the very near future.
-Eel & Platypus
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 5th, Fort Madison, IA
We are currently in Fort Madison, IA where we spent the 4th of July watching an amazing fireworks display. In approximately two days we will be out of Iowa and into Missouri. We are not sure we want to leave as the hospitality in Iowa has been amazing.
Our new friends in Burlington, IA: Larry, Lou, Chrissie, Johnny and the rest of the gang, thank you for showing us such a good time. (Apologies for mis-spelt names)
We took today off in an effort to relax, refuel, and re-stock on the essentials. The weather is getting hotter, and the humidity is rising as well. The good news is the current is supposed to pick up South of St. Louis which may just give us the 50 mile days we have been looking for.
Pass it on,
-The Eel & The Platypus
***New photos are up, take a look, let us know what you think!
Our new friends in Burlington, IA: Larry, Lou, Chrissie, Johnny and the rest of the gang, thank you for showing us such a good time. (Apologies for mis-spelt names)
We took today off in an effort to relax, refuel, and re-stock on the essentials. The weather is getting hotter, and the humidity is rising as well. The good news is the current is supposed to pick up South of St. Louis which may just give us the 50 mile days we have been looking for.
Pass it on,
-The Eel & The Platypus
***New photos are up, take a look, let us know what you think!
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