Day 28

Day 28
Last night we had strong storms until after 2 AM. While we did not get much rain the winds with the storm were strongest I have felt outside of a hurricane. The 40 mph winds did the best they could to crush my tent. I spent most of the night sitting in my tent bracing the poles of my tent from the inside to keep them from snapping. After the stormed passed I was able to get some sleep before it was time to get up and get back on the water. Shawn and I both felt pretty beat up mentally and physically from the storm but headed out onto the water with an eye on the sky for the storms that were supposed to start up again later in the day. After covering less than 5 miles we noticed the sky filling with storm clouds and pulled into a campground to seek cover. Most of the storms were passing just north of us and after charging batteries in the park pavilion and restocking on water. Before paddling out Shawn expressed what I had been feeling for days, a more than a little beat down. We took separate routes through the maze of flooded islands meeting up again on the edge of a several mile pool of open water. We could see the smoke stack from a plant located next to the next lock and dam and made it our aiming point. Out on the open water the wind was blowing from both the west and east creating lines of waves crashing into one another. Shawn was able to push through and across the thrashing waters. Near the half way point I became unable to move towards the direction I wanted to go. Realizing I had to make change of direction I was forced to paddle towards the far shore giving up hard fought for forward progress. When I reached the far shore I was forced to paddle into a couple feet of the bank to make the smallest headway.  Several times waves pushed me onto the rocks forcing me to get out and drag the boat back into the water. I pulled off the river and into a small ditch leading into the ton of Genoa WI. I looked around and couldn't find Shawn anywhere. I texted him and he replied he had already gone through the lock and was waiting downstream. I told him I was getting a room and a hot meal in town. Shawn had been talking about making the Iowa state line for several days and said he was going to push on.
Genoa is a small village of 300 people, I walked over to the Great River Inn and entered the office. There was a note directing visitors to hit redial on the office phone and someone would help you. I used the phone and a gentleman answered, took my credit card info, and then directed me to a drawer behind the desk to get my key. The hotel was older but the room was clean and I was pleased with what my $45 got me. I took a quick shower and walked to the Tuna Bar located on the front of the building housing the hotel. There were a dozen locals drinking at the bar, the bar tender quickly got me a beer and a shot of Jim Beam. I was again pleased with the $4.25 price of a round. After a few minutes a lady named Gwen introduced herself to me and asked who I was and what brought me to town. I told her about my adventure and she told me about managing a dairy operation. After introductions she introduced me to the rest of the locals and I soon felt like I was back home at Martin's, my watering hole back in Mississippi. The bartender and his wife talked with me about a trip they made to Jackson and the pleasant time they had there. I talked with Don a local farmer about hunting and meet Marty the local one liner king. I wondered in and out talking and chatting with family and friends and finally relaxing. It hit me suddenly how hard I been pushing myself to paddle the miles and not stopping to enjoy the off river world I was passing through. The is a saying on the Appalachian Trail, Last one to Katahdin wins! Katahdin is the northern terminus is the trail. At some point every hiker gets caught up in the "miles". How many miles did i hike today? How many mile have I hiked this week? What is the most miles you've hiked in one day? How many more miles to Katahdin? If your only goal is to finish then it is ok I guess but otherwise it is an easy trap to fall into. I had done it several times on my hike  and I had fallen into it again on the river. paddle! paddle! miles! miles! I have to get to some arbitrary point on the map by some equally unimportant day. I had a healthy laugh when I realized my folly. I returned to the hotel office and booked my room for another day. When I returned to the Tuna I announced to my new friends I was going to hang around the village for at least a another day. Don announced his approval and bought a round for everyone. A bit later I was chatting with the bartender, telling him my one problem, I needed to get to a Wal-Mart to get some things. He offered the services of Marty sitting down the bar from me. Marty, with a small amount of peer pressure, agreed to take me to Wal-Mart tomorrow at 10. Discussion was then raised by someone about the sandbar party that takes place around the 4th of July. I wormed my way into the conversation and found out a group of locals throw a big river party, cooking pigs in the ground, bringing in a full band, huge water slide and more. Sounds like something I will try and make it possible. Not paddling with another person or group gives me the ultimate freedom. So when wind blows, or get tired or bored I am going to stop to fish, read, nap,visit town, make a friend. It's going to hell on those "miles" but the Gulf of Mexico isn't going anywhere.