Happiness is Dry Underpants

Our tent inside Fort Snelling

Every part of me is wet here at Harriet Island after paddling in the rain for two hours.

Everybody is wet.

By afternoon the sun came out.

Lotus in bloom.

The other thing I forgot to mention about the first day of paddling was being so close to the airport.  Here the Minnesota River is in a deep gorge.  You can see the gorge clearly from Highway 35W.  The deep valley, cut by the glacial river Warren is miles across.  From the river, all we can see are the tall trees lining the banks.  So when a plane comes off the runway at the international airport, we can't see it coming and we can't really hear it coming either.  As I paddled, planes would suddenly appear  low and just above the trees and blast us with their jet engine noises and scare me half to death.  The planes were too big and too loud to be that sudden. 

On Saturday night we went to bed in our tent listening to the Roe Family singers.  Rain started coming down and that was also a pleasant sound to put us to sleep.  In the morning, rain fell again.  I started hearing planes taking off so I knew it must be 5 or 6 in the morning.  I waited for the rain to let up but it never did.  We had to get up and pack up in the pouring rain.  I've packed up wet tents before but not like this. When we got it folded and picked it up to put it in the tent bag about 3 quarts of water poured out.  What a mess!  I got a little bummed out to think I had to paddle in the rain.  We thought about calling it quits.  We decided to soldier on.  Offspring #2 volunteered to push out boats and I was glad she was there because after I sat down in my kayak I realized I forgot my paddle. She got it for me and off we went, paddling in the pouring rain.  I had my raincoat on but I got wet.  Every part of me was wet.  By the time I paddled to the Highway 35E bridge I realized that paddling in the rain isn't really all that bad.  Sure my underpants were wet and I was sitting in a puddle.  But the rain was clean and the rain was warm.  I paddled through clouds of mist sitting on top of the water.  The paddling seemed easier today.  Maybe the  weight of the extra water in my boat was helpful.  It was still raining when we got to Harriet Island.  I stopped to use the bathroom.  With wet underpants, I felt like I had already gone.  When we left Harriet Island 15 minutes later the rain had stopped. We paddled almost all the way to the Highway 494 bridge before we stopped for lunch.  We could take off our raincoats, apply sunscreen, and start wearing sun hats again.  My sunhat was totally soaked and it felt comfortably cool on my head.   We ran into more barge traffic.  I wasn't expecting this.  I thought barges had Sundays off.  One barge full of gravel cut from the east side to the west side of the river right behind us.  I could see it hurry to get across before the next set of kayaks and canoes came by.  That was scary.  Later, way down the river, I saw a large white boat pushing three barges.  At first I thought it was a mirage.  Then I thought it was real but stationary.  As we got closer I saw it was moving.  Gulp. Three barges are really going to make some waves for me.  As it came even closer I saw it was three sets of three barges.  A total of nine barges was heading upriver.  We pulled to the far right to stay as far away from this monstrosity as we could.  The nine barges displaced so much water that it created a bathtub effect.  Water was flowing and splashing every which way.  I was trying to avoid a dead tree to my right when suddenly a wave sucked me sideways into the tree.  I admit I screamed a little.  The safety boat was only 20 feet away and they looked up. I got myself out of the tree and assured them I was fine.  The same thing happened to my friend.  She got pulled into the dead tree too.  But we were fine. A little danger always makes for a better trip.  Pleasure boats created waves too.  I can't understand why some people race their big boats full speed up and down the river.  Why are they in such a hurry?  Can't they see the problems they create for us paddlers?  One guy in a speedboat was speeding dangerously close to us.  The river is wide.  He could use the other side.  I gestured to him.  And no, I didn't give him the finger.  I raised my arms beseechingly, palms up, just like my sixth grade teacher, Sister Mary John did when she would say, "Listen my people!"  So what did this reckless speeder do in response to my gesture?  He gunned the engine even faster.  I didn't think he could go faster.  After our final rest stop at Lions Park in Cottage Grove, we had the luxury of paddling a quiet back channel.  No barges or speeding boats come in here.  It's a beautiful section of the river with limestone cliffs and thick forest.  I can imagine Tarzan and Jane in here.  I saw a green heron land in a tree ahead of me and I stared at it in amazement as I slowly and silently floated by.  He was beautiful.  The lotus were blooming but the water must have gone down because the leaves and flowers were high above the water line.  When I got to the end of the trip I was greeted like an athlete.  A seven piece brass band was playing.  A woman rang a cow bell just for me.  Another woman helped me out.  Two women lifted my kayak and poured several gallons of water out.  One of them took a sponge and wiped some of the mud out.  The volunteers of this event are what makes it great.  They are so appreciative of our efforts and so friendly and so helpful.  The volunteers are why I want to do it again next year. The first thing I did when I got home was put on dry underpants - such a luxury!  (Photo credits to my friend Eleta)