 2003 World Record Set: 18 days, 4 hours, 51 minutes! |
The
Mississippi River Challenge for
- May 10, 2003 6 AM to May 28, 10:51 AM 2003- A 2,348 Mile Marathon to Support a Marathon of Research! |
 Bob Bradford, forward position, Clark Eid, in the back, approaching L & D 24 |
May 17, Saturday
|
Approximate
Location
May 17
|
The road crew
was spoiled by the Bryant family when the former arrived in Guttenberg,
Iowa Friday evening. [Bruce Bryant recently bought his first kayak,
and learned about the Mississippi Challenge while searching for
paddling info on the Internet.] The crew was treated to spaghetti,
seven-layer salad and French bread. For dessert, there were brownies,
and of course, those yummy chocolate rice crispy bars we seem to
be given at every stop (and which the crew can't seem to get enough
of!). Most of us
took showers, and AMG partook of the hottub on the deck at the Bryants'
house. We expect the paddlers to go through Lock #10 (about a mile
downstream from our current location) between 3 and 4 AM. --AMG ____________________________________
Angie
Phelps writes:
Went to Lansing,
IA (population about 250) to do laundry for the paddlers and crew
on Friday. It was like a journey back in time. There was a Dime
Store (called a "Mercantile") which was the length of three storefronts.
The wooden floors were so old they were no longer level. The aisles
consisted of stacked cardboard boxes and were only about a foot
wide. Cheese in the local IGA was $2.50/pound, and when I checked
out, someone actually carried my groceries to the car! I wish
I would have remembered to take a few pictures, and hope to return
there some day. ____________________________________ Paddlers
arrived at boat ramp below Lock/Dam #10 in Guttenberg, IA at about
4 AM. They had some food (courtesy of the Bryant family), and
are now settling down for four hour's rest before heading south
towards Dubuque.
--AMG ____________________________________ I sure got
a good laugh this morning reading the blog here, it seems that
the rice krispie bars Andrew is talking about have become a trademark
'snack' for Team Hope. I made them for the headwaters and they
went over so well I made another batch for our meeting in Palisade.
I was talking to Danita Baker (Rett Mom to twins) who was meeting
them in Little Falls Tues evening and she told me she was ordering
pizza, but was bringing rice krispie bars. I stopped her right
there and asked "what kind?" When she told me, I realized it was
the same ones I had brought, I told her that they would love it.
Now, I see Bruce Bryant included them with his meal in Iowa, too
funny. Well, I think
I will put the recipe here just in case anyone else is going to
be meeting up with Team Hope, I think they will be expecting some
from now on :-). Krispy Bars:
cook 1 cup karo syrup and 1 cup sugar until it bubbles, take off
of stove and add 1 1/2 cup peanut butter. Mix in 5 to 6 cups rice
krispies and smooth out into 9x13 pan. Melt 1 cup butterscotch
chips and 1 cup choc chips for frosting. I wonder
what Bob and Clark will think when they eventually read this and
know we were discussing recipes while they are breaking the world
record haha :-) Tammy Hanson
____________________________________ Bob
just taped a radio interview for station KDTH in Dubuque. The
interview will hopefully make the station's noon news report. The paddlers
are just getting ready to leave Guttenberg, IA.
--AMG ____________________________________ I was looking
all late afternoon and into the evening last night for the progress
of TEAM HOPE and the automatic tracking was not working. So glad
to see the team well down the river this morning. TEAM HOPE is
just doing a fantastic job! I'm always looking on the web to see
their position and their overall mileage. As of this morning they
are averaging over 100 miles a day. I sometimes have trouble driving
100 miles yet alone paddling it! It seems if I don't get my "location"
fix every few minutes I start having withdrawals and begin to
pace around my house or office cube. I have discovered it doesn't
matter how many times I hit the refresh button, if the autotracking
isn't working I can't will it to work! Andrew, tell
the paddlers we are thinking of them constantly and wishing them
the best. It also appears that Krispy Bars will be falling from
heaven for the remainder of the trip! -Tony I ____________________________________
Heard from
Stan and Clark today. Clark and Bob apparently had to actually
sleep for 4 hours at the same time early this morning.... Last
time I heard, they were in Dubuque, Iowa about 3 hours ago. ____________________________________
HIGH WATER
IS EXPECTED ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DOWNSTREAM FROM ...SPECIAL
NOTE FOR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER... THE MISSISSIPPI
RIVER IS EXPECTED TO RISE TO BETWEEN A FOOT BELOW ____________________________________
Tonight. Mostly
clear. Patchy fog developing late. Low in the lower 50s. East wind
5 to 10 mph. ____________________________________
Team Hope would
like to tip its hat to a young man at the RadioShack at Warren Plaza
in Dubuque, Iowa. Bill Pullen said Peter Dyrke is an honorably discharged
ET2 from the USS George Washington. Peter helped Bill put together--on
the spur of the moment--a battery pack and lighted compass for the
safety of the paddlers. Without Peter's help this job would have
been an almost insurmountable task working out of a back of a minivan.
The US Navy produces some fine technicians, of which Peter is one.
Many thanks again to RadioShack and Peter from Team Hope. Met Bob & Clark
below Lock & Dam #11 in Dubuque this afternoon, and fed them a lunch
of Subway sandwiches and ice cream (the latter a gift from the Dairy
Queen in Wabasha, Minnesota). Both paddlers were in great spirits,
having slept for four hours on shore in Guttenberg, IA, and having
made great time from Lock/Dam #10 to #11. I downloaded the data
from their on-board GPS, and noted the following: Between Lock/Dam
#9 (near Lynxville, IA) and Lock/Dam #10 (Guttenberg, IA), they
averaged 4.8 miles per hour. The road crew
is now waiting below the lock at Lock/Dam #12, where we expect Bob
& Clark to arrive sometime around 19h00.
--AMG ____________________________________ Strange
Things Happen in Strange Towns
We were in
the sleepy village of Anytown, USA (name changed) during our travels,
looking for a post office. We spotted a teenager walking a dog,
and asked her if she knew where the post office was. She thought
about it for a moment, then replied hesitantly "no, I'm not really
sure." We continued on and asked the next person we saw, about
a block later. She informed us that to get to the post office
we had to turn left at the next intersection, then left again,
and that the post office was on the left. Just as we were pulling
up in front of the post office and parking, we noticed the same
girl with a dog whom we had seen a few minutes earlier. She walked
down the sidewalk to a house directly across the street from the
post office, and went inside. I guess Hunter
S. Thompson was right: When the
going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
--AMG ____________________________________
Bob & Clark
left the boat ramp below L/D #12 shortly after 20h30. The road crew
will meet them around 01h00 in Sabula, Iowa.
--AMG ____________________________________ After what
obviously was a good paddling day, I received this email at 9:45pm
CDT:
|
