Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Day 1 Stillwater, MN to Pepin City, WI

What a great day we had--it was everything I had hoped our first day would be.  We got up early and Kris, Katy, and Amy & Karen all came to see us off.  Erin dropped Kris off and stayed for a few minutes, but she had to leave to get ready for school.  Sarah wanted to come but she's working early mornings at the gas station these days.  Shortly after 7 Joe and Phil disconnected the electric and water and brought up the lines securing Paradise to the dock.  We all hugged and kissed and the girls got off.  As we pulled out of the slip, all four girls stood on the dock singing the "So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye" song from the Sound of Music.


The railroad swing bridge was closed at Hudson so we waited a few minutes for it to open, then as we continued through the Narrows we saw a familiar figure standing under the I-94 bridge.  Apparently, Kris has separation issues!
We couldn't have ordered any better weather to start out.  As we cruised, I pointed out landmarks to Phil,  it was his first time ever on the St. Croix River.  We got to Prescott around 10:30; we had to request an opening of the vehicle bridge but we just made it under the railroad bridge.  We're seeing some fall colors along the way, but also a lot of green.  I suspect we are outrunning the colors.

We got to Lock and Dam #3 around 11:30 and after a short wait, Phil had his first experience with locking through.
Joe and Phil switched off piloting Paradise all day and I worked on organzing our food supplies.  Phil politely asked if there was anything he could do to help and I immediately talked him into helping me by marking the tops of cans and moving stuff around for me--Tom Sawyer's got nothing on me.  It's amazing how much food and other items we can get into the storage seating that Karl Berndt built for us.  By early afternoon, all that was left of all of the food I had bought were the empty boxes and bags.  Now we have to figure out how to get rid of those!
We cruised past Pepin City and the Harbor View Cafe, and despite my pleas, Joe said we couldn't stop there for dinner because the harbor is too small.  So we anchored within sight of it about 5 pm and had boxed mac and cheese and salads.  We have a lovely spot, and the trains are coming by on a regular basis blowing their horns--a sound that Joe could do without.
I have to quit for now.  I'll try to take better notes in the coming days.

1 comment:

  1. still sorry i couldn't make it grandma and grandpa. love you both!! stay safe.

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