Saturday, May 06, 2006

The Mystic Mississippi River Cruise ‘N Ride - (The 3rd 24 hours)
(For those of you who cannot dream, I’m making this imaginary trip up. Come on along in August and we’ll do it for real!)

The Fantasy

The captain and crew got the BBQ going and we feasted on the pork chops and roast potatoes along with some local corn on the cob and a salad. (Why does food always taste better when it’s cooked outdoors?)

After eating, I did a round of the riders with the video camera to get everyone’s impression of the trip so far and more personal background from everyone. (It will be fun editing these tapes when I get back. Some of these people are characters!)

A few of us stayed up late telling tales of our travels. (It’s funny how so many near catastrophes make the best stories.)

Sometime after midnight, we called it a day.

The next morning, most of us had pancakes and sausages for breakfast before heading out. Three of the couples decided to split up for the day. The spouses wanted to relax on the boat while the riders were going to blast south as far as they could go. I opted to stay with the other 2 bikes and we would also head south but not quite as far (or as fast) as the others.

We rode along the river all day although; sometimes you couldn’t see it as the road ran along the bluffs. We stopped for a late lunch at Davenport, Iowa where we crossed over to the other side of the river and headed north again up Highway 84. (The other group went as far as Fort Madison on the Missouri border before turning around!)

At Cassville, we stopped for ice cream and cold drinks before we made our final push to Harpers Ferry (on the Iowa side of the river) where we were to meet the boat for the night. We got there around 5:30, only to find no boat! I called the captain and apparently the locks were really busy today, so it took them longer than expected through them. They thought they’d be another hour and a half, so we left word at the marina for the other group and headed for R.V.’s Family Tavern (which was air conditioned)!

The other group staggered in an hour later and man were they thirsty! I’m glad I didn’t go that far. They soon cooled off however and we all returned to the boat around 7:00 when the captain called and said they had arrived. Some of us went for a swim off the end of the boat. (They have a slide there.) The rest just settled under the shade of the upper deck bar.

We decided it was too hot to cook so we all walked up to Harper’s Café & Motel and tried some country cuisine around 8:30.

Tomorrow is our last day so we all hit the sack early.

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