Day 50: Mount Chestnut and a quit paddle

I woke up to the sounds of waves rolling onto the beach I was sleeping on. There was a tug passing by kicking up the swells. I broke down and jumped into the kayak. I was off to Mount Chestnut to explore. I docked my kayak and walked up across the train tracks. I was all smiles to see a ski resort on the river. I took the chair lift up to the top. It was a 3 chair that was not the quickest chair lift in the world, but it was on the Mississippi River. I reached the top and there was a kid telling me how to get off the lift. I just smiled and went with it.
I headed up to the resort to find out some information about what all the mountain had to offer. They had an archery tournament going and had an alpine slide going this day. I walked over to the archery tournament. I asked an archer if I could shoot a couple pictures while he was shooting the arrows down the mountain. I lined my lens up to look right down the arrow before it was fired. I worked on my timing to attempt to capture an arrow in flight. It was a little more challenging than I thought. I was not able to catch any of those shots, but I was able to get some other good ones. I left the archery tournament and headed over to the alpine slide.
I picked up my sled and was ready to go. I jumped in line with my phone out for video and my SLR out to capture the ride on the way down. I put my phone on video mode and slid it in between my big toe and my sandal. The woman next to me asked if I had insurance on the phone. I told her, “Yes. My big toe was the insurance.” She laughed and shook her hear at me. I figured, I got this. I took off with my brakes lifted off the track. I was going for the rush and well, just the rush. I managed to photograph the ride all the way down while flying along. I reached the bottom and thanked them for the opportunity to ride.
There was a train coming as I was going back to my boat. I was not able to beat it so I stood there just watching it go by. I thought of all the train experiences I have encountered on this adventure and smiled. It came to a stop before all the cars had passed. I was looking at it. Under it or between it  was the choice I was debating. I opted to climb up and throughout the cars. It was easier and safer. As I did that, the train started moving again. I just jumped off it and made it to the boat. Chestnut Mountain was a fun experience. I was surprised that it was right on the river, but I was glad that it was.
I jumped back on the river. The boat traffic was light. I just put my head down and paddled today. It was a long and quiet day. It was not a bad thing as it was quite relaxing. I landed in Savannah, IL. It was a small river town. A guy helped me get my boat up on land as I decided I would be camping right off the boat ramp. It was right next to a train intersection which would mean a night of train horns, but that was ok. I asked about food locations in town. He suggested I check out Manny’s. It was a greasy pizza joint that also had mexican food. I was not in the mood to cook this evening, so pizza was the winner. I left everything and walked down to get a bite to eat. He was right. The pizza was a little greasy, but it was good. I was hungry and anything sounded good.
I spoke to a woman that had met some fellow travelers I met in Prairie Du Chien. She spoke about how she thought that the adventures that they and I were on was a cool one. I simply smiled as I am beginning to see that. On the way back to my kayak, I saw the local sheriff. I let them know who I was and where I was camping. I don’t think you are allowed to camp on the landing, but they said I was good and they would keep an eye out over night for me. I made it back to my boat and set up camp as it was getting dark. I was beat from the day as I realized just how loud the train horns were where i was camping. I had to plug my ears each time they passed. I had a feeling I would be doing that all night. I was right. It made for a less than ideal night of sleeping. I had to smile though as each train passed, the ground would vibrate. It was the little joys. This is adventure.