Day 45 Mississippi River
I woke up to a thick cloud covered sky. The plan for the day was to paddle and camp a few miles above Cordova, IL. My Aunt had put me in contact with Sandy G. who lived in Cordova and had offered to put me up tomorrow evening.
After a quick breakfast I pushed off from my sandbar and started my way South. The forecast called for thunderstorms and wind for much of the next two days. As I paddled the low hanging clouds brought a fine mist. Enough to warrant rain gear, but thankfully not enough to completely soak me.
After a few hours on the water I realized I was closer to Cordova than originally anticipated. I gave Sandy a call and told her of my location. Turns out I was only about a half hour or so away from her place. She told me how to locate her house, just after mile marker 508.3. Look for the wooden structure on river right with a flagpole flying an American and Illinois Flag.
With the weather starting to turn for the worse I pulled up to Sandy's landing out of the fog and noticed the Illinois flag right away. As I floated near the steps leading up to her property, Sandy waved enthusiastically and began waking down the flight of stairs toward the river, a hooded grey sweatshirt protecting her hair from the mist.
One of the first things Sandy mentioned was that she had worked with a Gertrude Collins in her first two years while teaching at Sycamore high school. Gertrude, my grandma. From there we realized a long list of distant connections. Sandy had taught at Sycamore (the town directly next to DeKalb, IL- my hometown) for 34 years. She and also spent time in Geno, where my Moms side of the family is from. The funny part is that our connection, my Aunt Sue, had never even met Sandy before! As it turns out, Sue is friends with Sandy's sister in law, and as the two got talking one thing led to another, and now I was out of the storms and enjoying some dry space with a new friend.
After unloading the boat Sandy showed me to my my room. The bunkhouse, as she called it, was a separate guest house. A small apartment attached to a large storage/garage building that hosted a boat, all kinds of tools and various equipment. Perfect.
I set out my tarps and tent to dry in the garage and moseyed over next door to Sandy's house, where she was cooking up bacon for BLTs. The view from Sandy's living room was amazing. Large windows covered the entirety of the western wall, creating a gorgeous overlook of the Mississippi.
After lunch I retreated back to the bunkhouse. The plan was to spend the afternoon knocking off some items on my todo list; patch up a few holes in my tent and tarp, patch my sleeping pad and get up to speed on my Facebook posts which I had fallen behind on. My mistake, however, was starting my todo list with a seat on the bed. This of course gave way to a long nap and some reading rather than fixing and writing.
Around 5:30 I walked back to Sandy's having competed none of what I set out to do, yet still content with my nap in a real bed. As it turns out, in addition to stopping for the bad weather, it was good that I arrived a day early as Sandy's River Road neighbors were having a 60th birthday party that evening. The two of us hopped in the car and drove the short distance down the road to a large storage building that had been cleared out and replaced with tables and chairs. It was great to meet many of Sandy's neighbors and enjoy the evening. A buffet table included pulled pork and homemade ice cream. Conversations ran the gamut from stories of my adventure, to sports (the Cubs Nationals NLDS game was on in the background) to astronomy.
As the night dwindled on, Sandy and I were some of the last to leave. We drove back to her place and watched a bit of TV before calling it a night.
A great day with surprise connections. Thankful for the hospitality of river folk once again, and for being off the water in tough weather conditions. Tomorrow should be a great day, with plans of family visiting. All is good on the Miss.