Leanne and I were eager to leave this morning, ready to get back on the water and paddle.  We cleaned up the house, packed our things, and Cindy came to pick us up, take us to Walgreens for some more mucinex, and drop us off at our boats.  We packed up our boats (that took quite a while, with all our new groceries and the awkwardly high dock), but we eventually got loaded up and ready to go.  Just as I was paddling out, I spied a father/son canoeing toward the dock.  They (Josh and Don) are paddling from Prairie du Chien to Quincy and are pushing for 20 miles a day—quite a rate when you’re just starting out! We got just passed the bridge, where Cindy took a few photos of us leaving, when the sky burst into lightning and we were forced to pull over at the municipal dock and wait out the storm over at The Drake. 
 
After a couple hours, we got back on the water, but Leanne was feeling really crummy.  So we only made it 6 miles downstream before we pulled over at a landing for the afternoon.  Leanne set up her tent and zonked out.  I used the afternoon to catch up to phone time with my family and to write some postcards.  We plan to have a more kick-ass day tomorrow.  

​Cindy and Tom took us to breakfast at the Hungry Bear, a diner full of people, but lacking enough service.  The company was great, though, and I enjoyed a caramel malt  (mmmmm) while everyone waited for food.  Tom was called to work—there was some glitch in the utilities at the airport which was no bueno as Hilary Clinton was flying in later in the day.  (We’ve been in town when Bernie Sanders visited Muscatine Sept 4th and when Donald Trump visited Dubuque August 25th…I think all the presidential candidates are following us).  Cindy drove us around town, showing us the cool snake alley from 1894 and Mosquito Park overlooking the river, and then bought us some groceries!  I took a nap as Leanne worked on blogging, and we decided to leave the following morning.  Cindy and Tom treated us (AGAIN!  They totally spoiled us!) to a take-out Italian dinner.  In the morning, we were faced with threats of thunderstorms and flash flood warnings, and Leanne felt awful, so we opted to stay one more day.  Mostly, we lay around and watched TV.  In the afternoon, Cindy brought us bicycles and we went for a short ride to a park where we fooled around at the skate park, intimidated by the talented kids riding there, but not so much that we couldn’t show off our skillz. 

The short bike ride was a great way to move our legs, get outside for a bit, and remind ourselves how hot it was and that we were both recovering from being sick.  We returned to the cottage and rested for the rest of the evening.  I made some green beans and soup for Leanne and I; good Get-Well food.