Day 36

Day 36
Having not been within a half mile of the railroad tracks I slept better than I have in a week last night. I listen to the weather report on the VHF radio each night and knew the wind would pick up to 15 plus mph after lunch so i was up paddling early. The pool above Lock and Dam 13 is the largest on the river and I took the gentleman from last nights advice and stuck to the west bank out of the center of the large pool. I made great time and covered the 22 miles to the lock in just over 6 hours. I felt lucky to have beat the winds but as soon as the gates opened it was blowing 20 mph. My tired arms struggled to make the boat ramp a mile down river. I meet two guys test driving a Prowler duck boat at the ramp. I told them they were a popular boat down south and they told me they are built here in Lyons IA. We chatted a few minutes and they offered to take me town to get a bite to eat after they finished. In short order I was at the Lyons Tap a local watering hole. I went through what is becoming my heat of the day routine, a cold local draft beer, fried cheese curds and working on the blog. As I was sitting there I realized how badly my clothes smelled. I am a bit of a hygiene snob when I hike or paddle. I take a bath every night, use deodorant, clean my ears and put on something clean to sleep in. What I call basic field sanitation. Now normally I have two sets of day clothes and you can keep them pretty clean if you use clean water, direct sunlight and little wood smoke, each having anti bacterial and anti microbial properties. But on the river I discovered you can not use the water because all the dissolved dirt and organic matter gets into the fibers. I have hung things up for the rain storms to wash clean but for the last week we have had a heat wave and no rain. So I smell bad. I found a cheap hotel a few miles down river and decide to get a room and do laundry. I paddle down a side channel toward the hotel only to discovery it is a industrial canal with barges, tugs and factories lining the banks. I know the hotel is just behind that factory but cant get there. I find a small creek coming from town and paddle my way up behind all types of businesses. Reaching a major bridge and I climb up the bank and can see the hotel half a mile away. I paddle back downstream and lock the boat to a tree, taking everything I need in a back pack. I walked the half mile to the hotel and when I enter the lobby I get the I smell you homeless look. I hate that look, its why I try to stay clean. The paddle in my hand helps me sell my story and I head to the room. I plan to order pizza, start laundry and take a shower.