NOW I CAN TALK ABOUT IT!!!!

This was a delightful place where we dined Sunday night in Bulington, IA.  We were still very happy to get started on our journey Monday morning.  I am unsure if you can see, but the water is very calm.  It didn't take much time for the wind to pick up, and blowing from the South, it gave us a very uncomfortable ride.

Deb, Gene, Rick and I spent most of the day INSIDE the cabin as the water kept splashing up over the front of the boat.  As you can see by the life jacket, although they are smiling, it was a little tense for all of us.
When we realized that the little motor just wasn't getting us anywhere; we got both the motors going.  This helped slightly, but the waves put tremendous pressure on the mountings of the small motor.  It is important that we not lose this motor into the river!

We did pretty good until we got to Fort Madison and had to wait for them to open the railroad bridge.  We had to wait for two trains and a tow to go through before we slowly made our way through the opening.  We have no doubt that anyone waiting to cross the bridge, cursed silently (loudly) about how long it was taking the houseboat to get past the bridge!  Once on the other side, we took a short break and pulled into a marina for a sandwich.  I'm thinking this was about 2:00. The time we actually thought we'd be in Montrose!
While eating our sandwich and trying to summon up our courage, we met our friendly canoeist. He was giving it up for the day.  Luckily, we had a place to spend the night (if we could make it) but he was looking for a place to camp.  Ft. Madison doesn't have much for riverfront facilities so we are unsure what he chose to do. 
We got back on the boat with hopes of a better second part of the trip.  HA, HA.  The water just seemed angry at all of us.  The sun didn't seem to be bright, even thought it was nearly 90 degrees.  We had to keep many windows closed due to the blowing water.  All my nice, clean windows look like crap!  Oh, well, we were all safe and that was what was important.

Wishing we were on a nice, big boat like this one parked in Ft. Madison, we continued with an optimistic attitude.  Then came a spot where the river takes a major turn around the Nauvoo. Like some type of miracle, the river calmed. Now, some of you may know Nauvoo has a sacred Mormon temple, so we are unsure if this had any influence on the day's events or not.  All we know is the water began to CALM.

We were greeted by the Breitenstein's on their dock.  It was so gracious of them to let us keep our boat there for a few days so we could do laundry, do some shopping, and take a short visit to see family. 

And now it is Friday and we should be back on the water.  As we already know, plans are just meant to change.  The boat needed to be moved because the Breitensteins are putting in a seawall, which is really cool but not good for having a houseboat tied up to the dock.  Luckily there is a community dock they are letting us use only a few yards from their home.  Rick decided he needed to do more motor reinforcement, following our Monday adventure, and the construction is taking longer than usual due to the rain, etc.  I am so glad he has his friend Gene to help him with this project.  This also gives Deb and I extra time to catch up and do wedding talks as we both have girls getting married this winter.
Tonight?  We were supposed to be heading to Quincy but it looks like it will wait until morning.  We had hoped to meet another friend, Brandon, in the Keokuk area, but he's too good of a coach and has a team in regional/sectional play on Saturday, so we will miss him. GO PONTIAC!

Proabably a nice dinner with the Kapps (and soon to be Brandenbergers) tonight and an early departure in the morning.  I am planning to travel outside the boat, like Gene is in this picture, most of the day. 

Have a great weekend, everyone.