 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
July, 24, 2006
Friday July 16 John Baggett and his twin five year old daughters seen me off at around 11:00am. About a
mile up the river channel six CBS called and wanted to do an interview. I paddled back and met with
them and then it was back on the water. The wind was at my back until I turned the bend to the opening
of Peoria lake and then the wind was against me. I felt tired and decided to set up camp around 3:00pm
and ended up falling asleep by four. The night before I stayed up late getting in some last minute surfing.
As the sun was setting I awoke for a few minutes and went back to sleep.
Saturday July 17 turned out to be a great day. The water was flat for the most part. Met a lot of people
who boated up to me and asked me about my canoe trip. Most of the people had seen the news story
and were aware of why I was paddling. I was offered cold, beer, water and pop by several people. After
the third beer I began taking water. I felt really well after the night of sleep and paddled deep into the
night until I finally found a place to camp. July 17 was also the five year anniversary of my first canoe
trip for MS. It was July, 17, 2001 I left Millersburg, in route for New Orleans. 1,800 miles and 92 days
later I began planning for this trip.
Sunday and Monday were very hot days. Sunday the heat index reached 106. It could have been worse
if I was the guy standing on the highway spinning a stop slow sign around. Instead I was the guy
surrounded by water who took full advantage of it. Most of the day was spent pushing my canoe
upstream in shoulder deep water. Did not make great time, but stayed cool. Sunday night was a
nightmare. I was unable to find a place to set up my tent camp so I slept in my canoe which was bad
because the mosquitoes were out thick and it was two hot to be covered up in my canoe and under a
sleeping bag. I took the lesser of the two evils which was the mosquitoes. A simple bed sheet would have
made life easier, but so would an air conditioned room, refrigerator and the list could on…
July 18 Tuesday I paddled through starved rock lock. This has to be the most scenic spot on the Illinois
river. There is a nice state park along the shore which has lots to do.
Wednesday I stopped to get out of the rain in the town of Ottawa and ended up staying under a bridge
until Friday. It was not so much of a planned stop, but the rain was coming down and I did not feel like
paddling in the rain. Most times I do enjoy paddling in the rain, but that is because I don’t have the
choice to stay dry. The rain came down in sheets and I was nice and comfortable in my dry sleeping bag.
The weekend brought out tons of boats. It reminded me of Florida in the summer. I was unaware there
were that many boats in the state of Illinois it was a constant wake all day. A boat stopped to admire my
deer antlers Art, Steve and Vicki were out getting ready to water skiing and invited me to ride along. I
beached my canoe and swam out to the boat and spent the next hour zooming up and down the river in a
fast boat. Of course any boat seems fast when you spend most of the day paddling three miles an hour.
The current had really picked up on the water from all the rain and it sort of reminded me in a very small
way of the Mississippi river.
Sunday July 23 I camped just north of the town of Morris. Monday morning as I was packing up my tent
I met a hiker. He informed me the town was not that far from the water and he was right. The town is
shielded very well from the river, but is close. I am updating this from the local library. There is a save a
lot food store close to the river. Also got to do an interview with the local paper. The reporter Mike said
he could pick me up at the library and I described myself and told him I was tall. Six-four is not tall
compared to Mike who stands 7 feet. I really liked mike and we talked for quite some time.
I will be leaving later tonight for my arrival to Chicago. In case I don’t update before then I did a pre
recorded interview for Field & Stream Radio, the largest outdoor radio show in the world, reaches over 3
million listeners each week. You can click here to see a list of radio stations if your interested. It will be
broadcast Sunday July, 30
Friday July 16 John Baggett and his twin five year old daughters seen me off at around 11:00am. About a
mile up the river channel six CBS called and wanted to do an interview. I paddled back and met with
them and then it was back on the water. The wind was at my back until I turned the bend to the opening
of Peoria lake and then the wind was against me. I felt tired and decided to set up camp around 3:00pm
and ended up falling asleep by four. The night before I stayed up late getting in some last minute surfing.
As the sun was setting I awoke for a few minutes and went back to sleep.
Saturday July 17 turned out to be a great day. The water was flat for the most part. Met a lot of people
who boated up to me and asked me about my canoe trip. Most of the people had seen the news story
and were aware of why I was paddling. I was offered cold, beer, water and pop by several people. After
the third beer I began taking water. I felt really well after the night of sleep and paddled deep into the
night until I finally found a place to camp. July 17 was also the five year anniversary of my first canoe
trip for MS. It was July, 17, 2001 I left Millersburg, in route for New Orleans. 1,800 miles and 92 days
later I began planning for this trip.
Sunday and Monday were very hot days. Sunday the heat index reached 106. It could have been worse
if I was the guy standing on the highway spinning a stop slow sign around. Instead I was the guy
surrounded by water who took full advantage of it. Most of the day was spent pushing my canoe
upstream in shoulder deep water. Did not make great time, but stayed cool. Sunday night was a
nightmare. I was unable to find a place to set up my tent camp so I slept in my canoe which was bad
because the mosquitoes were out thick and it was two hot to be covered up in my canoe and under a
sleeping bag. I took the lesser of the two evils which was the mosquitoes. A simple bed sheet would have
made life easier, but so would an air conditioned room, refrigerator and the list could on…
July 18 Tuesday I paddled through starved rock lock. This has to be the most scenic spot on the Illinois
river. There is a nice state park along the shore which has lots to do.
Wednesday I stopped to get out of the rain in the town of Ottawa and ended up staying under a bridge
until Friday. It was not so much of a planned stop, but the rain was coming down and I did not feel like
paddling in the rain. Most times I do enjoy paddling in the rain, but that is because I don’t have the
choice to stay dry. The rain came down in sheets and I was nice and comfortable in my dry sleeping bag.
The weekend brought out tons of boats. It reminded me of Florida in the summer. I was unaware there
were that many boats in the state of Illinois it was a constant wake all day. A boat stopped to admire my
deer antlers Art, Steve and Vicki were out getting ready to water skiing and invited me to ride along. I
beached my canoe and swam out to the boat and spent the next hour zooming up and down the river in a
fast boat. Of course any boat seems fast when you spend most of the day paddling three miles an hour.
The current had really picked up on the water from all the rain and it sort of reminded me in a very small
way of the Mississippi river.
Sunday July 23 I camped just north of the town of Morris. Monday morning as I was packing up my tent
I met a hiker. He informed me the town was not that far from the water and he was right. The town is
shielded very well from the river, but is close. I am updating this from the local library. There is a save a
lot food store close to the river. Also got to do an interview with the local paper. The reporter Mike said
he could pick me up at the library and I described myself and told him I was tall. Six-four is not tall
compared to Mike who stands 7 feet. I really liked mike and we talked for quite some time.
I will be leaving later tonight for my arrival to Chicago. In case I don’t update before then I did a pre
recorded interview for Field & Stream Radio, the largest outdoor radio show in the world, reaches over 3
million listeners each week. You can click here to see a list of radio stations if your interested. It will be
broadcast Sunday July, 30