Sharon J. Riley
  • About
  • Published
  • Research
  • On the Air
  • Contact

Kevin's birthday at the Purple Cow

11/30/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
We had no special plans for Kevin’s birthday.

We walked in to the Purple Cow in the middle of the afternoon, discouraged by strong head winds. It’s a purple shack on the side of the river, raised up high on stilts for when the water’s high. We thought we’d stop in for a drink in honour of Kevin’s birthday – then we figured we’d continue on paddling into the night.

As we open the door, we’re greeted by three grey mustaches that turn from their beers at the bar to look at us. We take a seat at the bar, me in my filthy yellow rain pants and Kevin in his plaid shirt. We take in the ambiance – a cooler with beers in it at the end of the counter, signed dollar bills taped all over the walls, and lots of fishing and hunting swag.



Read More
0 Comments

Top 10 things about canoeing in the winter

11/26/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
10. Our food never rots (it freezes).

9. The locals are impressed. (ok, maybe they think we’re crazy)

8. Low water means the canoe will never drift away if not tied town.

7. When it doesn’t freeze at night, we remark how warm it is.



Read More
0 Comments

American Thanksgiving at Margo's

11/23/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture
It will never cease to amaze me how much can happen if you let it. We’re staying in a studio apartment in Davenport, Iowa through the generosity of Dustin, another warmshowers.org host. He’s a printer – he makes the big signs on buses and t-shirts and giant sticks of gum the size of you.

He does all sorts of things. His apartment is above a newspaper publisher in an old brick building downtown. His apartment is his office, and a museum of creativity – Mississippi driftwood and bike pieces made into art. He’s working on a side project right now – making giant lollipops for an upcoming Christmas event. Big styrofoam balls and brightly coloured foil lay on the floor.



Read More
1 Comment

Charming towns and starry nights

11/16/2012

0 Comments

 
Hope we didn’t scare anyone (ie our mums) with the last post – it’s not all terror and danger. We’ve paddled to some of the most charming American towns one can imagine; the kind with men on ladders fixing red painted shutters, women unraveling holiday garlands for storefront decorations, lots of smiles and hellos, and church rummage sales with absolutely amazing sweaters and earrings, etc for about fifty cents each.


Read More
0 Comments

So, you might be asking yourself... why?

11/12/2012

0 Comments

 
Yesterday night it was t-shirt weather. Record highs for the day were set in the area at midnight. It was recorded to have reached 66 degrees (19 Celsius for us Canadian-folk).

It’s the early evening, dark already, and we’re in a lock. We’re sharing it with one other boat, a sailboat, and other than the wind the only sound is the clanging of its mast. Combined with the orange glow of the lampposts, it sets a foreboding atmosphere. Something’s coming. We watch in silence as the dark water sinks lower and lower, the concrete walls growing taller around us. The lockmaster comes to check on our ropes – “you guys have any lights at all? Are ya camping soon?”


Read More
0 Comments

It's election day in America!

11/7/2012

0 Comments

 
Aside from a few people in the food coop proudly sporting little “I voted” stickers on their lapels, you’d barely know it. There’s the occasional “tonight’s gonna be interesting, eh?” but for the most part the Americans we’ve been talking to have kept pretty quiet about it. Maybe they roll their eyes or heave a sigh. There’s not a lot of buzz.

Unless of course you turn on the radio (or worse – the television), which is a non-stop parade of political propaganda. My favourite radio ad goes something like this:


Read More
0 Comments

    Archives

    January 2014
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    Illinois
    Iowa
    Kentucky
    Louisiana
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    Missouri
    Tennessee
    Wisconsin

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.