Monday, May 25, 2015
Happy Memorial Day
Weather conditions:
High – 81
Low – 69
One of the pluses of our camping spot in Reynolds Park at Caruthersville was our accessibility to a port-a-pot at the nearby Bunge plant. Last night, between storms, John took advantage of the break and went to use the aforementioned port-a-pot. He couldn’t believe his eyes – there laying on its side was the port-a-pot. Enough said! (See Instagram for photo.)
After a stormy night, we were awake by 5:00 (Our alarm was set for 5:30.) Even though today was a non-paddle day, we had our alarm set because we had a date at 7:00 with Robert and Patricia Moore to go to their house to take a shower and do laundry. We gathered our items to launder, which took three minutes, (Remember we have only three sets of clothes.) and relaxed till the Moore’s arrived.
Robert is a brother to our friend Tom (Thomas as he us known in the south.) Moore. Before today, we had never met Robert and Patricia, but now we call them friends. The first stop on our date was Arby’s for some breakfast and coffee. This Arby’s was attached to a truck stop. I tell you this because when we walked in the door, we heard, “Please proceed to the showers.” Do they have smell sensors on the door?
After eating our breakfast, we were on our way to shower and do laundry! How excited we were! (and I’m sure Robert and Patricia were too) We arrived at the Moore’s beautiful country home and went straight to the restroom (We didn’t pass GO. We didn’t collect $200.) to take a shower. After our bodies were clean, it was time to clean our clothing, during which time, we enjoyed getting to know our friend Thomas’ brother and wife.
I think Patricia has ESP because she made cookies! John commented the other day he was hungry (had a hankerin’) for cookies. (See Instagram for photo.) In addition to the cookies, we feasted on ribs, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, tomato basil mozzarella salad, garlic bread, tenderloin, and strawberry pretzel salad. (I don’t think I forgot anything.) What a feast!
Bodies and clothing clean, electronics charged, and stomachs fed, we enjoyed the opportunity to relax with our new friends before we traveled back to our boats. Upon arriving “home”, we were greeted with the sight of two styrofoam coffee cups and a white bag outside our tent. (See Instagram for photo.) Upon investigation, we found a nice note from Steve Thrasher, “Thrash”, whom we met yesterday. He had stopped by with coffee at 8:15 this morning. Even hours later, drinking the coffee with the cookies Patricia sent home with us was a treat! Not long after we had finished the last crumb and swallowed the last drop, Thrash walked up with his dog, and we were able to properly thank him.
As we were sitting on the park bench relaxing, we met several people walking and driving by. The first person we met was Karen, who is training to walk the Machu Picchu Trail in Peru, at which time she will be seventy! Go for it Karen! Soon after Karen continued on her walk, a truck pulled up carrying David and Nancy. (See Instagram for photo.) David had lived in Chillicothe, Ohio, which is not far from where we live. We talked with them several minutes. New friends.
As David and Nancy were driving away, we noticed Rebecca, our waitress from The Roundhouse Restaurant yesterday, sitting on a bench. (See Instagram for photo.) We chatted for quite a while. Yesterday she was just our waitress, today she is our friend. While we were speaking with her, Jefferson, whom we met yesterday, sat on a nearby bench and said hi. We know people!
After we finished socializing, we pulled spaghetti from our dinner bag, added water, and boiled. Bring on the Parmesan cheese and croutons, because everything is better with cheese and croutons. However, we did skip dessert tonight because we ate a bag of cookies for pete’s sake. (Who is Pete?)
A walk to the casino to use the restroom, since the port-a-pot didn’t fair so well in the storm, then to bed. Tomorrow is a n.a.t. (No Alarm Tuesday), since the post office doesn’t open until 9:00. I wonder if we will see any of our new friends tomorrow. I love this part of the trip!
Thanks for following our adventure. For photos and videos of the events mentioned in this daily journal, check us out on Instagram @ separateboats.
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