Day 71 Mississippi River - T for Tennessee
Nov. 1, 2017
As I write this, I'm lying in my tent, which is pitched on a small patch of ground that looked flat enough when setting up. Once I lied down after a solid afternoon and evening, however, I have found out that it's definitely not flat. A fairly steep angled slope should make the night interesting. I've also squashed two small spiders and removed one ear worm/centipede from the tent floor. It ain't all glamorous living on the loose.
The day began with rain. Expecting the weather, I had set up a taught tarp to avoid having to pack a went tent. Around 8am I got up and walked outside to find low hanging clouds moving quickly across the sky. As I reentered the tent and began to pack up my sleeping bag and blanket the rain picked up again. The next three hours consisted of me lying in bed dozing in and out of sleep to the sound of rain tapping the tarp overhead, telling myself to just get up and get on with it. I cooked breakfast and made coffee under the tarp.
By the time I pushed off into the river the rain had lightened into a mist. Shortly after, I turned around and found one of the most vivid rainbows I have ever seen. The low arching colors ended on one side exactly where I had camped, and had just left minutes ago. I took it as a good sign, and it made me think of my Grandpa Quint and Grandma Shirley. Quint loved rainbows, and my Grandma had recently reminded me of that fact.
Around midday I worked past the Kentucky/ Tennessee border. Another state down. Thick, low hanging clouds covered the sky. Despite having no sun it was fairly warm relative to the last week or so. I paddled in a long sleeve top and rain pants.
As I passed New Madrid, MO a massive vessel coasted by. The Delta Mariner. By far the biggest ship I have seen yet. Upon some research, I have learned that the Delta Mariner is a ship owned and operated by a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. According to Wikipedia, "Her primary role is transporting components for the ULA Atlas V and Delta IV rockets from the manufacturer, located in Decatur, Alabama, to launch facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California." Essentially this boat carries massive rockets that are used by the US Air Force and NASA to ship things into space. Wild stuff.
As dusk set in I found camp, pitched my tarp and (slanted) tent, made dinner and called it a night. The plan tomorrow is to wake up early and try to bust out some miles in hopes of getting closer to Memphis.
Another day down on the Mighty Miss.
Enjoy my grizzled face in the video. 71 days on the river is the best beauty sleep I've had! 😎