|
Approximate Location May 23
|
Weather
Weather for Memphis, TN
Today. Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. North winds
10 to 15 mph.
Tonight. Partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast
winds 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday. Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. East winds
around 5 mph
|
|
Friday, May 23, 2003
Posted for Dana, by Mary:
Clark & Bob arrived at the Ashport, Tennessee, boat
ramp at 7:20am. It's a really nice pull-out, but it caught the
paddlers on the wrong side of the river with Bob sleeping. Clark
had almost paddled by when he finally spotted the orange flag
that was being waved. Clark tried to upriver ferry. (That's
where he turns the canoe around to paddle across the river upstream,
slightly past where he wants to go, and then the current carries
them back downriver as they paddle to the landing spot.) Someone
in the support crew hollered that it would sure be nice if someone
else could help Clark. To which Bob (still in his sleeping position)
responded, "I don't want to change what works!" Bob finally relented.
He sat up and with some maneuvering managed to turn around in
his seat. Together they finished the upriver ferry.
I don't recall reading yet about how they sleep. In Clark's
case, he is in the stern (the rear) of the canoe. He has to
slip his feet further down under the tarp which covers the middle
portion of the canoe until he's in a laying-down position.
Bob, in the bow (the front) gets into the canoe as if he's going
to sit backwards. Then he slides his feet toward the middle
of the canoe until he's laying down. So he's actually laying
down backwards when compared to the direction in which they're
paddling. Clark "simply" has to pull his feet back and sit
up. But Bob has to prove how nimble he is in order to get back
into a paddling position. There's more to their sleeping positions
than that, but those are the basics.
Angie and Mike (Bob's daughter and son) arrived in the middle
of the night. Glad to have them back already! The second Kruger
Cruiser was pulled off the vehicle, and Janet and Mike are paddling
with Bob & Clark for 16 or 20 miles. The paddlers (all four
of them) left at 7:50am.
Ashport is at river mile 796, which means they were 59 river
miles from the Highway 40 bridge in Memphis. That should put
them in Memphis in mid- to late-afternoon!
Go Team Hope!!!
posted by Mary at 11:03 AM
___________________________________________
Clark is calling from mile river 768 at the DeVall Boat Ramp
in Tennessee ... things are well... they cooked last night
.... I see by the latest update/stats page that they are 453
miles ahead of the record.... and about 40 miles north of
Memphis, Tennesse. Clark said all is well....this was about
11AM CST
posted by Mary at 11:07 AM
___________________________________________
From Dana Hanson, after Stan Hanson called her about 11 AM CST:
Bob and Clark stopped at river mile 768 for all of 15 minutes.
On the water again by 11:10am. Their next planned stop -- which
at this rate will be in only 4 or 5 hours -- is a really nice
campground in West Memphis, Arkansas. According to Stan, the
Mississippi River "is really cooking with current like we haven't
seen before - not a cloud in the sky, it's cool, and the wind
is behind us!" All makes for fantastic paddling weather. As
a result, they actually averaged 10mph on this last 28-mile stretch
of river. When they left here, Bob was ready to bed down, and
Clark would be paddling by himself.
They are trying to get a coast guard escort thru New Orleans.
With the flooded conditions and the extra heavy dose of barges,
they believe the extra precaution would be beneficial.
And they received quite a surprise when they learned that the
very same fireboat from Plaquemines Parish that escorted the teams
south of Venice, Louisiana, during the 2001 race will escort Team
Hope from Venice the last ten miles to Mile Zero!
posted by Mary at 12:38 PM
___________________________________________
Dana just called me to try to figure a way to
get our family down to the finish line (it just won't work right
now.... ) when she was called by Stan - Stan said Janet Bradford
ran over something and punctured either her gas line or the gas
tank and gas is spewing out of her van. No fire, but 911 has been
called and I'm sure fire trucks are on the way.
No one is injured.....
At this point the other 2 vehicles and respective crew will
go on to meet the paddlers down in Memphis Tennessee, and I
will let folks know any further information as we get it.
As Dana said - thank heaven for 911! Like I said in an earlier
post, a primary reason we could do this World Record Attempt
to benefit those with Rett syndrome and Leukodystrophy is because
we are the United States - and the Emergency Response crews
are incredible!
posted by Mary at 12:42 PM
___________________________________________
A better update on the road crew emergency, from Dana Hanson....
They are on Quito Road, south of Drummond, TN, but north
of Millington, TN. Janet has driven over something with her
van and punctured either the gas line or the gas tank. As
luck would have it, she has a full tank of gas. Gas is spewing
all over the place! They called 911 and assume that a fire
truck is on its way because of the gas spill. Phone calls
were made frantically back and forth between Stan, Desiree
in New Orleans, and myself here in St. Louis. Eventually
it came to light that Angie has a AAA card and Janet's State
Farm policy will cover the damage.
As of when Stan and I hung up, half the support crew is going
to stay with Janet, and the other half is heading on to the
West Memphis campground to meet the paddlers. Pray all goes
well and repairs are made quickly.
We'll let you know how this emergency ends, hopefully before
the evening is over.
posted by Mary at 1:20 PM
__________________________________________
Hello to all,
I have not blogged for a while due to being on the road and in a
training class. I received a call from the Team Hope Road crew (Andrew)
this morning. Andrew's very scratchy cell phone voice said....."Clark
wants to know when the river will crest at Memphis, TN?" I then
went onto the web and got the river forecast and emailed it to Andrew
along with the website address so he can check it everyday (www.riverwatch.noaa.gov).
I tried his cell phone but got only voice mail. The bottom line
is that the biggest crest already passed Memphis. They are basically
riding the wave so to speak. Does anyone have an update on injuries
or lack thereof?
thanks
Kenton Spading
posted by Kenton at 2:24 PM
___________________________________________
Janet Bradford is calling now ....told me she has gotten
car towed to a garage, and they are waiting for the EPA to come clean
up the gas.... she said she had paddled with Bob and Clark today some
with her son Mike... prior to the gas spewing incident... they are
all very busy on the road crew.... she said she is doing ok now....
She said her son is staying with her and the rest of the crew has
gone onward.... She was asking about Amanda and Noah and the phone
went dead - a constant issue with the phone connections and the road
crew.... Sounds like everyone is ok, and her car will be fixed soon....
more later....
posted by Mary at 2:25 PM
___________________________________________
Much has happened in the last few hours. Suffice it to say that
all are well, and that Bob & Clark are more than 460 miles ahead
of World Record pace. I'll add a new Blog entry with all the details
of our busy day later when I get the chance.
The paddlers just arrived at Mud Island in Memphis, TN.
--AMG
posted by Andrew M. Gribble at 3:05 PM
___________________________________________
The crew discovered that Tom Sawyer Campground in West Memphis,
Arkansas, was flooded. They had to stay upriver quite a ways in
Memphis, TN. They found a really nice takeout at Mud Island City
Park. They are located close to where I-55 crosses the river.
The paddlers arrived at 3pm and will be leaving soon. Their next
planned meeting spot is Tunica, Mississippi.
As for the emergency earlier today, county sheriffs, fire truck,
and the "environmental guys" (we don't think EPA, but similar) showed
up to take care of the gas spill. Stan believes that the Bradfords
had to pay around $2,000 to have the spill cleaned up, but think that
the insurance will cover it. (Everybody -- don't let your gas tank
or lines rupture! It's expensive....) Janet's van was towed and is
in the shop. The gas tank was ruptured and has been removed. Right
now they are waiting for a new tank to be delivered this afternoon.
They should be on the road by 5pm.
They are now 465 miles ahead of world record pace.
And check this out -- they are within 3 hours of the mad-man schedule!!!
posted by Mary at 3:42 PM
___________________________________________
Clark just called from the water - he is talking on the phone while
Bob is paddling - again! What a good sport Bob is.... sounds like
they are moving fast and doing well..... Clark said, "Oh, there is
a river boat full of people here looking at me and I'm talking on
the phone, I better go...." Sounds like they are around Memphis now...
was a little hard to tell in that quick phone call.
___________________________________________
I told Clark that Connie Coughlin (from Memphis Tennessee) had tried
to come out to see Team Hope, but just didn't have enough notice from
the team. Connie's daughter, Dani, had Rett syndrome. Connie has been
a staunch supporter and advocate for many Rett families for many tireless
years. Connie is also "the" person who introduced me to "getting the
word out about Rett" through website work and is one of the moderators
of a special email listserve for Rett families - clubrett (yahoogroups.com).
Special thanks to Connie for thinking of us, as she and Dani have
remained in our heart for years.
posted by Mary at 3:54 PM
___________________________________________
National Weather Service for Tunica, Mississippi:
Tonight. Becoming partly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Northeast
winds 5 to 10 mph.
Saturday. Partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s. Northeast winds
5 to 10 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.
posted by Mary at 4:02 PM
___________________________________________
The crew arrived at Ashton, TN sometime early this morning, and
set about getting some rest. Around 04h00, Angie returned with brother
Mike, sister-in-law Denise, and their son Justin. At 04h30, Andrew
was awakened by Angie's car alarm, which mysteriously went off.
Since the remote control to turn off the alarm was in her pocket,
it took her a few seconds to turn off the alarm. [At least this
is the version of the story she is telling everyone; I have to wonder
if it wasn't intentional...]
Bob & Clark arrived around 07h20, and had a breakfast of cold cereal
mixed with bacon and fruit. They left around 07h56, along with Janet
and Mike in the spare Kruger Cruiser.
Both canoes flew downstream to Ed Duvall Boat Landing, where the
road crew had arrived only minutes before. Lunch was served, and
Bob & Clark left at 11h10.
The road crew departed for Memphis, TN, intending to meet the paddlers
at a campground in West Memphis (Arkansas). Coming around a corner,
the lead vehicle (Angie at the wheel, AMG navigating) spotted a
hunk of metal in the road, and easily cleared it in the SUV. Following
immediately behind, Janet was not so lucky. Making a conscious decision
not to swerve off the road to avoid it, she positioned it between
the tires and hoped for the best. A loud noise indicated that the
vehicle had come in contact with the debris, and she immediately
stopped to inspect the damage. A strong smell of gasoline persuaded
her to immediately get everyone out of the car. All of the fuel
in the recently-filled tank began to leak onto the road, and from
there into the ditch.
Angie called 911 on her cell phone, and when asked where she was,
read the lattitude and longitude coordinates displayed on Andrew's
computer screen, which showed their current location. Bill directed
traffic while waiting for the authorities to arrive.
The fire department showed up five to ten minutes later, uncoiled
a hose from their truck, and checked out the situation. Team Hope's
road crew busied themselves taking pictures of the scene. With the
fire department convinced that there was no imminent danger of a
fire, we were allowed to remove things the paddlers would need from
the car. I immediately rescued the orange flags which we use to
get their attention at meeting locations.
While most of the road crew continued on toward Memphis, Janet
and son Mike remained at the scene of the Great Mississippi Gas
Leak. Mike went with the car to a dealer to get a new fuel tank,
while Janet had to meet with a crew (HEPACO) who would clean up
the gas spill. Andrew called the Tom Sawyer Campground, and discovered
that they were closed on account of high water. After some quick
consulting with other crew members, the decision was made to meet
the paddlers on Mud Island in Memphis. We proceeded onto the island,
and found a great landing spot on the north end of the island.
At about the same time, Janet called the road crew on Mud Island
and told them that HEPACO said that she would have to pay for the
cleanup of the gasoline.
With the help of some tug captains, we were able to get the message
to Bob & Clark that the meeting place had been changed from West
Memphis to Mud Island, where the canoe arrived at about 14h50. Bob
& Clark were in great spirits, and ate a lunch consisting of cold
cut sandwiches and cucumber slices. Excited by the fact that they
were well over 400 miles ahead of World Record pace, they loaded
up their boat with supplies, and departed for Tunica, Mississippi
at 15h34.
Angie and Stan's vehicles left for Tunica shortly thereafter, and
en route received a call from Janet, who announced that all the
repairs on her car were done, and that they also were on their way
to Tunica.
All three road crew vehicles are now at the Mhoon Boat Ramp west
of Tunica, MS. Bob & Clark have just eaten a late supper of barbeque
chicken, and are now about to depart. At present, they are 493 miles
of the World Record.
--AMG
posted by Andrew M. Gribble at 10:25 PM
|
