The Big River Show

Sometimes we move faster than Beauty because Interest has it’s foot on the gas. We zoom by a town because our needs for novelty have an itinerary to keep. We rush right by the relaxation we are seeking.

I’m not saying slow down and smell the roses. I’ll try not to dispense advice like that. I am saying that Bill and I are stuck at this slow pace and the roses smell great. I don’t always give myself the time to do these things but when I do I generally don’t regret it. This summer we are going to discover the small towns among other things.

We discovered Le Claire today like one might discover that they have “The Princess Bride” on VHS in their movie collection. It’s always been there but we don’t see it because we’re rushing right by it on our way to “Armageddon” or “Independence Day: ID4”.

I’m curious if any of you have been to Le Claire, Iowa… let us know in the comments. Any memories? Where were you going? Ever touch the Mississippi river?

Le Claire, by the way (if I remember correctly), means [from French] “The Claire.” So, there you go.

So Max left the boat yesterday to attend a wedding in Wisconsin… leaving the boat entirely in my care. I spent 24 hours by myself on the Evangeline, and gained a new appreciation for the power of teamwork.

It takes two of us to safely command the boat. When we lay or weigh anchor, its ideal to have one of us on the helm, and one handling the anchor. Today I had to do it alone, and at one point as I anchored in swift current, I nearly fell in. Had I fallen in, I would have furiously tried to swim back to the boat, as I drifted further away from it… stranding me in the middle of the greatest river in North America, alone.

So… I have to say… its good to have shipmates. Especially when you’re treading water.

In a time and a place where water is sweeping away towns, we’re getting a greater appreciation for the power of nature. Its going to a be a summer of watching the skies and reading the current. Because in our situation, they decide success or failure.

A few Haiku’s for our departure from Minnesota:

Hospitality?
You ai’nt seen nothing like it.
We’re Minnesotans.

The Land of waters.
Minnesota gives current
to carry us down

River rats find homes
in this state of many lakes.
We sadly depart.

Northern watershed
The vein of America
Begins pulsing here.

Some of you Big River fans have asked some pretty personal questions in the last few days: Where do you sleep? How do you eat? What do you do for fun? Max, how can you stand Bill when he whistles all day? And to you I answer– Most of the time that we’re on the river there is plenty to do. We still are making improvements to Evangeline’s systems (we just redid the whole electrical system yesterday). We are trying to stay fit, so one person drives while the other does sets of exercises. And I’m trying to learn this banjo while retaining a friendship with Bill, so I practice a less than I should to get good by New Orleans.

When we are docked in a town we try to line up interviews or we ask if there is a big story to hit, only downstream, of course. And we grocery shop and explore small towns and get haircuts, stuff you would never see an action star do. Between keeping ourselves supplied with night crawlers, beer, and electrical wire, there’s a lot to keep us busy. Oh yeah, and we have to keep our electronic gizmos charged, shoot, edit, upload, write, revise, and publish video and text blogs every day. That’s a thing too.