Currents, Keys and Ghosts

The Moth-man, Point Pleasant, (mile 265)

Stayed at the legendary home of the moth-man in Point Pleasant, WV. The moth-man siting in the 70's led to a series of strange events like the arrival of the 'men in black' --described as pod people that never blinked and the tragic breaking of the bridge between West Virginia and Ohio where over 40 people died. All of this and more was told to me by the old men who hung around the center. A shop owner who sells prints of orbs and other moth-man memorabilia said he didn't live in town, "Seven Native American tribes would hunt here only in daylight hours, if they wouldn't live here, I sure won't". The men could tell that their creepy tales were getting to me, so it was a comfort when they added that the Lowes Inn, the historical hotel we were staying at, had several haunted rooms, including ours.

All of this might have freaked me out for the duration of our stay, if I hadn't been freaked out about something else--the loss of our historic hotel room's skeleton key! The skeleton key debacle sent me on my own native tracking mission--to the river walk, to a random park miles away and more. As it is a small town, news traveled fast and I soon had the same old men on skeleton key patrol. Unfortunately, I never found the skeleton key, but was able to find a similar one online after a tedious online search mission. Nevertheless, it was a pretty quirky, creepy, yet delightful place!

Point Pleasant Flood walls + "History Lessons"

Park near Lock & Dam, OH (mile 279)
Location of possible missing skeleton key

Earlier that day, accidentally came upon a family reunion in the park and was joined by a whole crew who waited with anticipation to see Mimi swim by. Even better, they got to meet her as she and Sharon rolled by in the bed of Lockmaster Jason's truck.

Ashland, KY (mile 323)

This is one of the awesome murals at the house of Ashland council-woman, Cheryl Sprigg's house where we stayed. Having spent all of this time around water, I really felt like I was one of those women.

Come rain or shine, the die-hard fans and photographers come out to see Mimi off. The rain has meant some wet kayakers, but it has brought the best current yet for the swim. On Tuesday, Mimi averaged 4.5 miles per hour, 3+ Wednesday and Thursday and today (despite a 10:30 start!) they went 17 miles in a little over 2 hours! We pray to river gods for more currents like that.

The passing of the kayak--from Sharon to Cindy and onto Barbara in 3 day sets has been pretty amazing. These three supporters, as well as Cindy's husband Dave who became the honorary logistics man during her dates, have brought a bit of home to the river (they're from either Tennessee or Alabama).

Mimi with Cindy, almost to Ashland, KY

Marsha and Barbara locked through Greenup with some pals from the 'Last Hurrah'

Greenup Locks, KY (mile 341)

Mimi hung out with the core of engineers, who she dubbed the 'dam men'. She cracked mad jokes with them and was schooled in Ohio River knowledge by Eric (right), who is leaving today for a contract in Afghanistan.