Sandwiched between John and Beth Sullivan and Jake Tavakoli and Julie Haskell. Jake is giving me bunny ears, and Julie has a vice grip on his fingers to keep him from giving her bunny ears.
The wind was on my back today (the best!) and I was able to sail with my umbrella for a little while. I got a message from Jake, Julie, and John, inviting me to join them at John and Beth's house for the evening. Coming into La Crosse, I passed a group of ladies who were swimming and drinking--they coordinated their calls to yell at me at the same time, "HEY, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" "All the way to the Gulf!" "COME DRINK WITH US!" I thanked them, but I was excited to meet my fellow paddlers and I didn't want to keep my hosts for the evening waiting.
Jake, Julie and John met me on bicycles at the edge of La Crosse, nearby the Hiawatha statue. They forwarded me over to the Marina, a couple miles down the coast, where John met me with his car. I grabbed some dirty laundry and my overnight stuff, tied my boat to J & J's canoe, and headed in to La Crosse. John is a retired water quality specialist that used to work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is his water quality data collection that I'm repeating. So it was super exciting for me to meet him in person and nerd out about my YSI sonde and the results I've seen so far. I was able to ask him some questions, and he mentioned that he was really curious how quickly the conductivity changes down in Louisiana. That is, salt water intrusion upstream--how soon does it start? He said he didn't measure conductivity often enough to pinpoint where the change occurs, so I said I'd try to increase my testing frequency down there to try and get an answer for him.
At the house, I was able to shower, and then spent the evening re-doing my resume. Beth was a delight, humming her ukulele songs and baking us fresh zucchini bread to take with us the next morning (!). We all took a little jaunt up to the bluff for sunset (I'm sensing a theme. I like this view-from-bluff-at-sunset theme). Jake took a panorama and we ran around him and ended up in the photo 3 times, haha. THANK YOU John and Beth for such a lovely respite!
Jake, Julie and John met me on bicycles at the edge of La Crosse, nearby the Hiawatha statue. They forwarded me over to the Marina, a couple miles down the coast, where John met me with his car. I grabbed some dirty laundry and my overnight stuff, tied my boat to J & J's canoe, and headed in to La Crosse. John is a retired water quality specialist that used to work with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It is his water quality data collection that I'm repeating. So it was super exciting for me to meet him in person and nerd out about my YSI sonde and the results I've seen so far. I was able to ask him some questions, and he mentioned that he was really curious how quickly the conductivity changes down in Louisiana. That is, salt water intrusion upstream--how soon does it start? He said he didn't measure conductivity often enough to pinpoint where the change occurs, so I said I'd try to increase my testing frequency down there to try and get an answer for him.
At the house, I was able to shower, and then spent the evening re-doing my resume. Beth was a delight, humming her ukulele songs and baking us fresh zucchini bread to take with us the next morning (!). We all took a little jaunt up to the bluff for sunset (I'm sensing a theme. I like this view-from-bluff-at-sunset theme). Jake took a panorama and we ran around him and ended up in the photo 3 times, haha. THANK YOU John and Beth for such a lovely respite!
American Queen paddle boat passes me by first thing this morning.
A couple little toads sought cover from the wind storm under my tent last night. So cute!
Dragonfly hatched out of this larval encasement
Arriving in La Crosse (Photo by John Sullivan)
Arriving in La Crosse (Photo by John Sullivan)
Barge being emptied in La Crosse
Goldenrod and black eyed susans up at the bluff
Panorama by Jake
Julie, Jake and I
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