Miami Departure

Wednesday 8-25-10 3am

Once I get underway again the little light at Miami quickly disappeared in the distance as I crossed under the bridge. It was just me and Amos (my sandbag ballast) out on the river under the early morning moonlight.

Even if we are alone we know we really are not alone:

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God [is] with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9

I did eventually catch up with a few others who were out on the river during the early morning hours but like last year it was hard for me to go at the same pace they were going so soon I pulled away from them. I did notice someone had pulled up to the river bank and built a campfire somewhere along this stretch of river and it looked awfully inviting compared to the coolness out on the water.

After a couple of hours I realized that I hadn’t hand any real food since the hot dog back at Waverly and with the chill and dampness of the early morning air it was actually too cool to be comfortable. It seems to always cool off as the sun creeps up in the early morning and this morning was no exception. I put the following post on my facebook page: tired, cold, hungry….appreciate prayers….keep praying…..proceeding on.

I knew some of my brothers in Christ would be checking on my progress and would respond to my request and as the sun rose above the eastern horizon so did my spirits. It’s great to be on the river at sunrise.

With a burst of energy with the new day and the better view of the river and channel markers progress improved and before I could think too much about it I could see the new bridge over the Missouri River at Glasgow. I also noticed a kayak beached on a pile of debris up against one of the bridge pilings. I thought it strange and when I landed at the checkpoint I ask one of the officials how the kayak ended up there and he told me a lady got dumped out when her kayak got tangled up with the debris.

At is turned out what could have been a very bad crash had a good ending. You can read “Goldfishgoddess” account here:
http://rivermiles.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1283050380

If it would have been me that took that spill I’m not sure I would have been as clear headed as she was. Reading of her account of the incident will help me should I ever find myself in a similar circumstance.

I arrived at Glasgow at 8:40 am just 10 minutes behind schedule. Glasgow is a milestone in this marathon canoe race because most of those who drop out will do so before Glasgow. Glasgow is 141 miles from the start which leaves 199 miles to the final check point at the Lewis and Clark boathouse in St. Charles.

With the help of one of the check point volunteers’ I carried my canoe up out of the way and unpacked my tent and gear. I found a shady spot in the park, set up my tent and crawled in for a nap before Dianna and Matt’s expected arrival at about noon. I didn’t know it yet but my plan, which was going very smooth up to this point, was just beginning to fall apart.