Checking in

Just checking in:

Just came down the river from the St. Louis, Mo area. I was actually breaking ice for the 1st time since April 1990. The ice was a refrozen masses of Brash and Pancake ice.

I recently celebrated the birth of my 2nd granddaughter.

We just completed some repairs and updates on our camper.

Congratulations!

I was fortunate enough to have a gap in my work travel schedule just as the big cold snap hit. No problems with our power, heat, or pipes but we had neighbors and friends with all of these issues.

Sounds like a great time going down the river. I love rivers! One of my bucket list items was to paddle (canoe) down the length of the Mississippi River. It is very unlikely to happen at this point in life, but I can still dream!

Ken K.

If you ever embark on that journey, talk to me well beforehand so I can tell you some things about radios, avoiding gettingrun over, etc.

I lived in Dubuque, Iowa for my high school years. We'd take a canoe out on the Mississippi on occasion - exploring the back channels. To paddle across we'd find an area with a decent north-south view to watch for barges and paddle like mad to get across as fast as we could.

We did get swamped once by a barge - they are powerful massive beasts! We turned into the waves, but the water came right over the bow. Luckily we were close to the west shore.

I was also lucky enough to spend a day on a U of WI research boat on the Mississippi - even going through a lock (a big deal for me).

Later I spent a year involved in a Army Corps of Engineers research project on the Missouri River. Wow, what a difference. Super fast flow and very little (no?) commercial traffic. Lots of fun though. One evening while taking samples we came across a family on a boat whose engine had died. They were just floating downstream. We towed them to a place on the shore where they could get help. Keep in mind this was well before cell phones came along.

Ken K.