6MAY2011 @ Mandan, ND - The Broken Oar has quickly become one of my favorite places. If I lived in Bismarck/Mandan I would consider setting up my office at one of the seats of the Broken Oar ... certainly I would want to be there after work every day. You can sit at the bar or outside on a shaded deck - both overlook the Missouri River. The wait help is perky and engaging and the proprietor, Stacy, quickly became a good friend - he is just one of those guys that everyone likes - including me. Today I arrived shortly before noon, got a Corona and in a short time was served a free hamburger. A bit later I ordered another Corona and again got a free hamburger. Stacy also gifted me two packages of deer sausage and a root beer; then I was on my way down the river, feeling great. The river was packed with metal boats getting ready for the fishing derby that happens tomorrow - and that was also the basis of the free food at the Broken Oar. As with yesterday I very slowly drifted along, barely paddling, for 13 miles. Then the wind blew and I got rained on and I paddled the final three miles to the Graner Bottoms campground. There I paid $5 for a tent site, set up the tarp and joined Bismarck pharmacist Curt Regstad and his family for a deer sausage cooking session.

During today's 16 miles I saw ducks, geese and pelicans. Several geese were observed honking half-heartedly while just swimming around. I concluded that their nest had been flooded by the higher water and they simply did not know what to do. Today is the first day that riverbank ice or snow drifts were not seen.