Today’s word: PREDESTINATION. The day off in Vicksburg was productive, relaxing, a little boring, but had a few wonderful bright spots that of course were bound to happen.

I thought I would sleep in today, but I was naturally awake around 6 and got up for coffee shortly afterwards. I had a few things I needed to do today to prepare for the 9 day home stretch to New Orleans. First thing – check on the boat! What a great feeling to look out the balcony and see that it’s still there. I paid $10 extra per night for the river view, but I would’ve paid much more just for that periodic comfort of checking on my big blue baby.

Second task – laundry. I only have 8 articles to wash, I guess 10 if I count socks individually. These are all the clothes I’ve worn since leaving Memphis on Tuesday. I didn’t ask about hotel laundry, because I have a Jacuzzi tub! I realized after loading the washer that the clothes we’re getting sucked into the water intake which feeds the jets, so I ended up having to bathe with my clothes to keep them circulating. After that I strung some of my parachord between the bathroom door knob and the Jacuzzi faucet to establish a line to dry my clothes.

After laundry completion, it was time for breakfast and shopping. I knew in my Vicksburg planning that there was a Waffle House next to a Casey’s a mile up the road, so I went down with that in mind. When I came out the front door though, there was the woman from reception the night before who was interested in my journey (and my BMI). She had locked her keys in her car and was trying to unlatch the lock with some foot long piece of aluminum and one of those plastic things used to get hair out of a drain. Apparently these were the most effective tools that housekeeping had. When she saw me she asked, “Do you have a screwdriver?” I remembered uttering those exact words at Joe and Christine’s house about 50 days ago. I took a look at the situation, introduced myself to Sandy, then went back to my room for some tools.

The screwdriver I brought down was good for prying the door open, but there was no way we could get that hair remover thing to grab onto the door latch; and that piece of aluminum was worthless. What we needed was a coat hanger, but the front desk said they didn’t have any. After struggling and making some attempts that were nearly promising, a maintenance worker (Chris) came out and saw our situation. He went back inside and came back with a long wooded wedge and a coat hanger. He gave them to me and said I can’t tell anyone where these came from; apparently the hotel management doesn’t want to take risk of assuming any responsibility if they try to help in this sort of situation.

With the wedge in the top of the door, and the hanger bent just right, within 10 minutes I successfully grabbed the door latch and opened the door. The car alarm system immediately went off, so Sandy instinctively closed the door! Thankfully it remained unlocked, though I’m sure I could’ve repeated that break-in process. Once unlocked, I went through the passenger side, put the seat down in the back, and found Sandy’s keys in the trunk. We hugged and she asked for my contact information which I was happy to provide.

Sandy offered to buy me breakfast, but I just accepted a ride to the Waffle House. After my eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and waffle, I walked to the Casey’s. What I needed most was a loaf of bread, and some soups or something I could have for dinner as I was down to 3 freeze dried meals. Unfortunately, Casey’s had no bread and limited offerings for what would constitute a dinner. So, I would have to Uber to a real grocery store later.

I walked back to the hotel and decided next to take care of my water situation. I had one and a half gallons of water on the boat, and 5 empty gallon containers. I figured 7 gallons should suffice for 9 days to New Orleans. Since I was going down to the boat, I thought this would also be a good time to re-tape over the hole in the co-pilot seat where the propulsion system goes. I couldn’t roll the boat over because it was locked so tight, but I could prop it up with a large rock and get underneath with the tape. Satisfied with that, I carried the empty water containers back to the hotel.

As I approached the hotel, Sandy was on her balcony; she asked if I needed any help. I said no thanks, but told her I could use a lift to the grocery; she was happy to oblige. Then, when I entered the hotel, Chris called me back to the maintenance room. He gave me a roll of duct tape and an 8’ piece of rope to use in carrying the full jugs back. He must’ve been with the security guys watching me on the camera and he wanted to help make sure I have what I need to finish my journey.

Sandy drove me to Walmart where I picked up more food than I need, but I guess better safe than sorry. She also gave me a New Testament that someone was giving away in the store parking lot. She wanted to make sure I had that to finish my trip, “for when things get difficult.”

After the grocery, I repacked dry bags in the room with my new provisions. Then I ate a sandwich and salad I bought at Walmart and took a 45 minute nap. I finished a few blogs in the afternoon and had another cafeteria quality dinner from the casino restaurant. I thought about watching baseball while putting a couple dollars in the slots at the casino bar, but instead decided to head back to the room. I watched a little baseball and went to bed just after 9. I knew tomorrow would be tiresome, first taking multiple trips with gear back down to the boat, then trying to get in 35-40 miles. I wanted to make sure I could get an early start to give myself plenty of daylight on the water.

For today’s playlist addition, I should probably find something with more of a “kindness of strangers” feeling: Sandy and Chris were really the highlights of the day. But, when this casino stay was first envisioned to occur with Mark Lecy, I expected it was going to be more festive. So, in thinking about what might’ve been, here’s The Rolling Stones: Casino Boogie