Date: 2023-06-16
From: Riverside Campsite

To: Moulton Park/Quality Inn
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: few clouds

Today was a great day that was made less great because of piss poor planning by the company we bought the canoe from.After looking at a map last night, I realized that instead of 16 miles we actually only had 12 miles to go. So that made the start of the day even better, because it was a realistic possibility that we could be done by noon.So, we were on the water by 8am. The river was mostly cooperative, the only thing that was terrible was that it started to rain at about 9am and came down pretty hard for close to 2 hours. It was relatively warm out though, so I wasn't too uncomfortable even though I was soaking wet. And we once again made awesome time. We got to Moulton Park, which is where we were supposed to meet the canoe company so we could return it to them, at around 11:30am. So we did about 12 miles in under 4 hours.And this is where the day fell apart. We gave the company a 24 hour notice of when we would arrive at the pickup spot, like they asked us to. We then told them today when we were about 2 hours out (again, like they asked us to). Despite all this advanced notice, it took the guy over four hours after we docked to finally show up. Multiple times he texted about how close he was. He sent one text that just said he was getting closer. My immediate response wanted to be, well I sure as hell hope you aren't getting farther. He then texted about how he was 15 miles away. Then an hour later he texted that he was 10 minutes away tops, then we waited another 30 minutes and just to add insult to injury, at this time it started raining again. It had been perfectly sunny the entire four hours we had been waiting. He finally pulled up at about 4pm in a junk pickup truck, so we had to put all our stuff in the back... where it would still get wet from the rain, and he drove use to the hotel where we are staying tonight. While I won't go so far as saying that half a day was wasted, because we did get to relax in the sun while we waited, it was definitely hours that I would rather have spent doing something else.I did get some good news though. When I originally booked the hotel room, they only had availability for one night. Well, Pacer has some family coming to visit her tomorrow, so she we are taking a zero day. So, we were going to have to figure out where to stay tomorrow night. Well, I had put my name on a waiting list in case there was a last minute cancelation. About 2 hours after checking in, the receptionist called and said someone did cancel because of a Covid event. So, we now have the room booked for two nights like we originally wanted.Thus ends our aqua-blaze adventure. Overall I had a blast and I'm really glad we did it. It was not as leisurely as I was hoping and there were definitely extremely frustrating moments, but it was such a nice change of pace from hiking. My legs got to have a nice rest. I saw all kinds of wildlife. Herons, ducks, fish, egrets. We even saw a bald eagle today while it was raining which was cool. We also officially crossed the 1000 mile mark yesterday and made our own marker out of river rocks to celebrate. We also finished the state of Virginia first thing this morning when we crossed into West Virginia. Next up is a short jaunt through Maryland and then it's onto Pennsylvania. Bteakfast: I didn't eat anything in camp. Instead I ate another bag of turtle Chex mix while in the canoe.Lunch: We didn't really get to have lunch because we were waiting for the canoe guy all afternoon. I did eat a couple of clementines. Dinner. We went to The Anvil in Harper's Ferry for dinner. It's named after a play of the same name which is about the trial of John Brown. John Brown was an abolitionist who orchestrated a raid on an armory in Harper's Ferry prior to the Civil War. He wanted to start a slave revolt, but failed. He was tried and executed for treason.We ordered the Bruksel Lahanasi as an appetizer. It's flash-fried brussel sprouts mixed with walnuts, currants, capers, and a honey-vinaigrette. I got a full rack of ribs with green beans and french fries, Pacer got seared scallops in a white sauce. I gave her half of my ribs and she gave me half of her scallops. Everything was excellent.Dessert: Pacer and I went half and half on some banana pudding and a chocolate lava cake. It was good, but I've had better banana pudding.