Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Day 38: S 10/20- Davenport Dave

We made it through lock 14 first thing in the morning. We paddled through the quad cities making good time on the mostly sunny day. Once we got through lock 15 we decided to stop at the Davenport Municipal Park to walk in to a Save A Lot to resupply. The park was really nice and the parking lot full of sponsored fishing boats scouting the area for a tournament coming soon.
As we crossed the road away from the park, the clean sidewalks, beautiful shrubbery, and benches every fifty feet was instantly replaced by a path grooved in the dirt, littered with trash, and a chain link fence to the side. We had found the low income side of Davenport. This hypothesis gained more and more evidence the closer we got to Save A Lot. Our very worn and weathered appearance fit right in.
When we returned to the canoe, we refilled water and decided to make some lunch. While eating our PBnJs , we had the pleasure of meeting fellow adventurer Dave. He was temporarily extending the dock for the fishing tournament. We chatted and he told us about when he thru hiked the Appalachian Trail, went down the boundary waters, and lived in Colombia. We exchanged stories, chatted about gear, and he gave us some tips for the AT.
When we parted ways, we made our way through some more barge territory and camped at toward the end of it on a great sandy beach of the refuge. A mile before camp we noticed one of the barges was leaking liquid in a pretty good stream. A tug was crossing in front of us and was
About to grab a different barge when he too saw the leak. He darted back across the river in front of us to
go and get a closer look. I wonder what he did to fix it and what was leaking? We would see him again the next morning.

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