16MAY2012 near Easley, MO - Today I should get to Jefferson City and deliver the mail to Governor Nixon.  In anticipation of being in the governor's office I showered, shaved and donned clean clothes.  Chances are fairly good that the clothes will still be clean when I arrive in Jefferson City since the weather is so wonderful and the distance is manageable.  It is only about 28 river miles and what wind there is is expected to be behind me.
Right now I am sitting at Cooper's Landing enjoying my cleanliness while drinking coffee and internetting.  It's a great way to start the day. 
Cooper's Landing is a place to know.  It has camping, a shower, a store and prepared meals.  Powerboat folks can fuel up here also.  I think the Omaha marina is the last place I passed where one could get fuel this easily; riverside food was probably at dock 44 on Lake Andes, though the marina in Decatur, NE should now be operating for this season.  Coopers is right on the river; I walked maybe 50 feet from where my canoe is tethered to this table.  I'm glad I pushed hard to get here yesterday. 
At 1430 I was tying up at Jefferson City and succeeding in getting up the bluff to the railroad tracks and then in fairly quick order to the capitol and Governor Nixon's office. Governor Nixon is out of town ... no surprise there, but disappointing all the same.  Cathy Hershey is a congenial, helpful lady who took the letter, gave me some water and very patiently allowed me to acclimate to the air conditioning, thus delaying my departure.  Depart I did and found my way to an Irish pub that begins serving food when I arrived ,... outstanding.  This bar is Paddy Malones, listed as #9 on the list of "Oldest Continuously Operating Taverns West of the Mississippi", having opened in 1870.  The prohibition years are not considered applicable for the purposes of this list. 
Is the river of interest?  OK, the wind was always behind me, the temperature was comfortable, the current was steady and the 28 miles melted away.  I had two barge events, one coming upriver followed shortly thereafter by a monster barge assembly coming behind me.  The latter caused me to get off the river and pull up on the sand ... yet the waves were no problem.  How can that be?  This thing was scary big coming from behind, towering over me and my small carft.  From this and the event with the Tarkio I conclude larger waves are generated when a barge is pushed upstream against the current while barging downstream uses less power and causes less churning. 
I was slapped in my back today by an asian carp.  Finally I have experienced one large enough to jump high.  Other wildlife seen were geese, herons and ducks. 
I left Jefferson City with words of encouragement from the Paddy Malone folks.  One word was the one hour to the Osage river ... a comment I discounted since my map showed 15 miles.  A short way out of Jefferson City I concluded that finding sleeping space soon would be preferable to getting to a possible place downriver later.  Having learned that glowing reports of wonderful downstream camping sites often do not materialize, I opted for a gravel boat ramp at about river mile 137 right.  Dave Miller called it Ewings ramp and thought it private.  I ascended to the top and saw no houses at which to inqiuire.  I saw the prison downstream and an enclosure with military vehicles upstream.  There being no signs (Stay Away, No Trespassing, etc) at the river and no one at hand I set up camp and began planning tomorrow.  Eventually a very nice lady in a black guard's uniform was in front of me telling me that I was/am a problem.  Despite my suggesting it was a situation, not a problem, her telephone supervisor disagreed and I tossed everything in the canoe and left.  I crossed the river and found a place for the night.  It was flat, covered with tall weeds/grass, up a steep bank, through some brief woods and the path to/from the river had less poison ivy than other places.  By dark I was set up once again and my shirt was ringing wet, a result of exertion and the humidity and lack of a breeze.  It was very uncomfortable to zip up the tent and lie down in such a condition ... but of course I had to get away from the bugs.  Fortunately that was as bad as it got ... the shirt dried, the tent cooled and by morning I was using both sleeping bags.  Regarding sleeping where I am not wanted, I have no idea how my moving across the river would be significantly better for those who evicted me.  Whatever they perceived I could/would do on that side of the river I could canoe across and still do it.      
Today I paddled from river mile 171 to river mile 136, a distance of 35 miles.