We almost capsized for America today. The USA vs Germany World Cup game was on at 11:00. That meant we had to make it to the Quad Cities area by then and find a place to watch the game. As we locked through lock #14 we asked a worker where a good place to go was. He gave us a few suggestions that were before lock #15. They were only 10 miles apart. We paddled up to a casino marina, but it was closed. After looking at our phones we found a bunch of riverside restaurants on the other side of the river so we pushed off and started paddling across. The current was much faster than we had noticed. As we made our way across we were being pushed too far down river, towards a weird rocky area that looked like it was just under the high water. When we realized we weren't going to get where we wanted we tried to cut through this area. Bad decision. The water was basically falling off some underwater embankment. It was basically a one foot waterfall. It was even making a surfable wave, which we hit and got surfed by. To our right was a large boulder which we were getting carried towards broadside. I kept yelling at Anders to paddle harder (not that he wasn't already) and I paddled hard as well while keeping us square to the wave. For a second I didn't think we were going to make it past the boulder. We both put our heads down, put everything we had into a few strokes and then looked to our right. The boulder was gone. I looked to my left and there it was, no longer a danger to us. There was, however, still danger present. There was one more large wave we had to navigate to get out of the rapid section and get back into the main channel. At this point I still had a tiny glimmer of hope we would make it through to the other side. As we paddled hard against the current and the wave, I finally relented. The current was much too strong and there was no way we were going to paddle up stream there. I told Anders to stop paddling then made sure we stayed square to the wave we were in and let it push us backwards into the main channel. It was the dumbest thing we have tried to do on this entire trip. Also, the most patriotic. Also, very exhilarating.
We decided to make it through lock #15 and then find a place to watch the game. As we locked through we again asked for suggestions on where to watch it. A man who was also a fan and almost called in sick to work in order to catch the game told us of a marina that was very near plenty of bars and restaurants. We went to that marina, tied up our canoe, and asked a man who was fishing what his suggestion would be. He said the Blue Cat Brew Pub. So we went there. It was very hard to not get a beer at a brew pub. I think this will be the last time we stop at a place with good beer when we are planning to be back on the water. The food was great though, I got a Reuben and Anders got a burger. And even though the USA lost 1-0 we advanced to the next round. USA!
We got back in the boat after our two hour patriotic break and set back out. We stopped at a site 18 miles outside of Muscatine and contemplated staying there. As it was only 3:00 though, Anders convinced me to paddle onward to Muscatine. We would be staying with our friends Ben and Sam for the weekend.
On our way there, we hit a storm. Lots of rain and some lightning. We jumped off the water and waited out the storm under the porch of a very welcoming woman and her mother. We chatted with them. Anders did most of the talking. He's good at that. The two women made sure that we knew the water was high. Yes, ladies, we know. We get told that every single day. We can also see it from the number of houses and islands that are halfway under water.
While being locked through lock #16 the lock worker told us that the dam might be closing soon due to high water and that, if that happens, we should just, "paddle like hell and shoot right under the dam." Really? He insisted it was the best option. I don't believe him. That seems incredibly dangerous and he seems like the type to mess with people for the hell of it. Also, I'm fairly certain there's a fine for doing that. Some research needs to be done. I'm thinking I would rather just portage though if the dams do close.
We made it Ben and Sam's around 7:30. Here we will stay until Sunday.
The blog is finally up to date! Woohoo!
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
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