Day 20 - 2013

After posting yesterday's blog, I came to the realization that even though I camped out last night on the Indiana side of the river, I was still in Kentucky. At that location the Kentucky state line includes all of the river, plus a little land on the opposite bank.

I got on the river this morning at 7:45.




The section of river after New Albany is heavy industrial with power plants and very large facilities that have river barge operations.




I passed this especially large towboat early in the morning. The captain came out of his pilot house and gave me a big wave. Because I've heard as much from other traveling kayakers, I suspect the towboat operators are radioing each other of my location.




Somebody got tired of their boat.




Horseshoe Casino.




My guidebook indicated.....and I found out for myself, that there isn't much along this part of the river. The river towns are much farther apart. This is the park of one town, West Point, Indiana. My kayak is on the bank close to the middle of the photo. If you double click on any of these photos, you should see a larger version.




West Point is located where the Salt River joins with the Ohio.




I thought this light pole with the flood stages of different years on it was impressive. That sign right below the lights, is the marker for the 1937 flood.




West Point was a cool little town that reminded me of Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show. This is the West Point Bank.




Here is a restaurant, gift shop and country music hall.




Here is the West Point City Hall and Police Station.




While at West Point, I went to the convenience store on the left. I had to take this photo, because in preparing for this trip I've been using Google Earth and it's ability to show you what things look like along major roads. I must have visited this site a dozen times before on Google Earth, so I knew exactly where to go and what this intersection was going to look like.



This is the West Point Museum. I needed to get water and convenience stores don't seem to carry gallons like grocery stores do. So I was walking around looking for a place to fill it up my empty water jug. I saw a United Methodist Church, so with me being a Methodist, I went to the back door where a painter was giving an estimate. I asked the lady there if I could fill my jug. She welcomed me into the kitchen and said, "sure". I gave her one of my cards and talked with her for a little while. Her name is Roselle. After I walked a block from the church, Roselle pulled up in a golf cart and offered to open the museum for me. I thanked her, but told her I had to keep moving on. On my way back to the kayak I helped a guy push his stalled motorcycle to get it started again.




I had another mid river encounter. This is Bonnie and Earl. Today was the first day they've had their boat out this year and they saw me going by. So, they did what I would have done and started asking questions. I gave them one of my cards and we talked a while. I shook Earl's hand and Bonnie offered me some water. They are part of what makes this kind of trip fun!




Several times I've mentioned the cards I'm passing out. This is what one looks like. It includes my website address so people can follow and write to me.




On the Kentucky side of the river I passed the Fort Knox Military Reserve. This is a restricted area, so it's not a place to camp. This is a military helicopter passing directly over me. Where I'm camped (past the reserve) I've had several more helicopters flying back and forth.




This is the Brandenburg Bridge, which connects Brandenburg, Kentucky with Morvin's Landing, Indiana. I camped about a mile downriver from this bridge, on the Kentucky side.




This is my campsite for tonight. It looks a little rough but it's level, has lots of wood for a fire and is isolated.