Day 16: world's greatest brothers (and one medium-light abstention)

On day 16 we woke up as early as "the boss" (elderly lady who seemed to run Hoppie's with her husband) said she would fill our gas tanks. This hour was 8 a.m. Although the husband had told us to ask his wife what time she could help us out, he showed up at 8:30 and filled up our increasingly numerous tanks of gas. This increase is due to (as we mentioned in Day 15) the fact that Hoppie's is the last gas selling marina for a long time. We've been told by many concerned Missourians and Illinoisans that it is very difficult to find gas on the stretch between Hoppie's and Memphis, which we were about to embark on. We also received a warning from the Hoppie's husband that the lower section of the Mississippi River would be strewn with branches and logs, like the ones we experienced in St. Louis (Day 15 blog), all the way to New Orleans. This is due to the absence of dams on the southern half of the river. This, combined with high water levels, made it very difficult to navigate. It made for the least physically smooth day of our trip so far as we wove in and out of the debris, also attempting to avoid the choppiest waves (high water levels and narrower sections of the river made the water rougher). It also happened to be our longest mileage attempt in a single day thus far. Highlights on the river include Clement starting to install a 12-volt outlet (powered by the boat battery), Clement lying down and stopping the installation process because he was seasick, and Clement finishing the outlet and providing the boat with a power source other than solar for the first time. 

Additionally, we stopped to refuel at a creepy, dilapidated dock that used to be a marina. The torn up cabin on the dock had writing in black paint all along the walls and ceiling. The writer(s) definitely achieved the effect they were going for.   

Another point of interest is that the high water levels carried many items that don't belong in a river, such as five soccer balls, a tire, a bike helmet, and last but not least a fake duck. The fake duck totally fooled us until about 40 feet after we passed it we realized it wasn't moving, and looped back to scoop it up. 

Our gas tanks neared empty around 7 p.m. and we docked in the town of Cape Girardeau (birth place of Rush Limbaugh) in order to walk to a gas station. As we walked down the street carrying gas cans, a friendly couple, Sam and Jana, approached us. They had seen us leave the dock with gas cans, and without our asking they had come to offer us directions to the nearest gas station and a ride back to the dock once the gas tanks were full. We were relieved, and accepted, as it was 95 degrees outside and the station was a mile away. Sam and Jana also gave us a tour of the town as they walked with us to the gas station. When we returned to the boat we all voted on whether we would continue on to Cairo, Illinois (60 miles away) that night or be done for the day, as we only had an hour of remaining daylight. I needed to be in Memphis on the 12th to apply for a passport and continuing on to Cairo would make this possible. It was essentially a vote as to whether I could stay on the boat or spend a day alone in Cape Girardeau, then take a 5 hour bus ride to Memphis where I would spend another day and night alone in a hostel. After a quick vote of 2 against Cairo (world's greatest brothers), 1 for it (me), and one medium-light abstention (Nick remained silent), we were off to bed.