Day 64: 11/9/06
Driftwood dominated the river on our last day. We felt a bit like Frogger, trying to get to where we needed to go with logs rushing by. Sometimes tree trunks longer than our canoe would shoot past, adding another obstacle to be aware of. 
We each strike a pose as the New Madrid levee and landing appear on the horizon. We didn't make it to New Orleans, but we did make it to New Madrid (pronounced MAAAD-rid). Would we be able to find a way to New Orleans eventually? We had faith in our fellow man (and woman).
We step out of our canoe and leave the river behind. It was strange to feel the creaking in our bones while standing and know it would be the last time for a while.
Four of our heroes pose with us in New Madrid. Those pictured are (from left) Curt, Evelynn, Mary, and Bud. The first four people we met in New Madrid took care of all of our problems. Funny how the world works sometimes... Curt and Evelynn were walking around the levee and promised us a ride to Sikeston, MO (where we could rent a car) if we could find a place to store our gear. Bud (an 85 year-old army vet) called the New Madrid towboat captain and asked him if we could store stuff at his house. Bud also gave us a ride to the captain's house. The captain's wife, Mary showed us where to hide our things! Thanks guys!! 
On our way to Sikeston, we pass a cotton gin and shipping plant.
The great beard-off is officially over as we decide to clean up a bit for our re-entrance into civilization. Joe is disappointed to find only 15 species of insects in his beard, nowhere near Bob Marley's record of 28. Maybe next time.
posted by Joe & Ben Palmquist @ 7:24 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I am a student at UW-La Crosse and was told about your voyage from a professor of mine. I just wanted to say Congrats! A friend of mine went last March for Spring Break to help out in New Orleans. Her pics are quite comparable to yours of all of the houses. Wow, amazing! A tornado hit my hometown my senior year in HS and it was bad, but we didn't have the mud and water damage to even compare to Katrina's damage. Just curious as to what influenced you to make this amazing trip? Was it just an idea you guys thought of or was there some sort of motivation behind it? I could see going to work/help in New Orleans, but attempting to canoe all the way there is incredible with all of the traffic our mighty Mississippi gets. Living in La Crosse, we don't see much of the barges you talked about, but my family has driven to Mississppi and I noticed how much busier it is the further South we travelled. I just have to say you are blessed to have something like this under your belts!
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