Days 36-39 Adventures in Prarie du Chein

We arrived in Prarie du Chein on Thursday October 7th.  When we had spoke to Patrick his directions were brief and not especially detailed but we're adequate to find his place.  He told us to pull into the Prarie du Chein marina (which is not marked) and look for the plywood shanty.  Sure to most this would sound very specific.  However in a town which prides itself with being a true river town, I feared this would describe many shanty's.The structure was made of unfinished plywood sitting on a small old pontoon.  The inside was even better.  The entire shanty is only about 8 to 10 feet wide by about 20 feet long.  A wooden framed with a rope woevn around up the bed and a large wood stoves.  We decidrd this would make for a great view so we set up our tent on the shore looking out over the river and the Shanty. We found it pulled up the proceeded to Patrick's bar called the Tavern after receiving directions from a friend of his fishing on the dock.  We found it and it was perfect.  The Tavern was located in a old brick store front had a big window sticker of an old weathered mans face a a neon sign that read "Lousy Service," perfect.  Kehly was also at the tavern which was great sonce we hadnt seen here in a while either!  The next two days were filled with long walks with Reggie around town, a shower at Erica's store across the street, and live music at night at the Tavern.  On Saturday we got to meet Patrick's family and boy are they a hoot.  They are everything we imagined.  Everyone was very welcoming and we stayed and talked for about an hour before heading back to the shanty.  Saturday was the big day.  The first annual River Rats Ball which was the first major event that Patrick had hosted at the Tavern.  That night Wesley, Eric and Pete all came down to the ball and also to see us.  It was great to have such an awesome setting to hang out with them.  Anyway the music set the tone for the night and we danced and sang the night away to the tunes of several fantastic local musicians.  The music was mostly bluegrass abd folk but plenty of old time country was sprinkled in therr too.  It was fun to see Patrick meet and greet everyone who came through the door.  He greater them as though they were family and they responded to him in kind.  The next day we had a quick breakfast and continued on down the river to meet up with Colleen.  we started our day with good ole Pete Burg paddling alonf side of us.  It was nice to spend some time with him on the river.  We sit was after lunch in Wyalusing.  The next days plan had been to paddle into the night and make 40 miles but instead found a nice little beach we called "Iowa," because well, we were in Iowa.