The Days Ahead

The towns on the rest of the river now become more than a day's paddle apart,so finding somewhere to stop along the way may become more difficult. With the river so high there are not as many exposed sand bars although I was relieved to see there have still been a few. The other thing to look for on the charts is boat ramps but often they don't have any grass, just gravel. Finally, the many grain silos along the way offer possibilities but they are often protected by rock walls so there is nowhere to land. I had my worst night yet at Cape Girardeau recently. I missed the gap in the flood wall the signified the entrance to the boat harbour I was looking for. The town was completely surrounded by concrete flood walls. I came across what was a small flooded road that ran down to the river with two grain silos on what looked to be flat grassy land. On closer inspection it was basically gravel and  concrete. There was a two storey office building with stairs leading to an upstairs wooden deck. I decided the deck would do and that I would just sleep out in the open air. I didn't sleep a wink. First there was the heat,then the mosquitoes,then the noise of frogs and other critters in the surrounding flood waters,passing barge tows and the occasional train. The wooden deck was the least of it (as some of you know I don't use an air mattress or thermarest-Charlie can vouch that I have even been known to use a log of wood for my pillow). Needless to say I slept well the next night even if the high grass concealed great ruts in the ground when it was flattend by my lying on it