6MAY2012 @ Nebraska City, NE - The (well - some) birds awakened me again but they were not convincing.  The number of birds seemed too light, so I thought ... until I recognized that the wind was coming from the North and I was positioned on the north side of the pavilion.  No sooner did I move my bed south and turn to shag my gear when a blast sent my bedding upside down and my pad rolling through he trees.  Rain came as quickly and soon I was hunched over on the south side, keeping dry but standing and watching ... and watching ... and watching.  For maybe an hour it raged and then stopped.  Almost instantly fishermen appeared and before one could believe it Bud Broom (B&B Trucking) was carrying me to breakfast and Wal-Mart then back.  By 0800 I was on the water again, bailing about 5 gallons.  The good thing about today is wind is to be behind me and it is to be cooler.  Well, not in the morning, but by afternoon the wind was indeed behind me for the two miles coming into Brownville. 
At Brownville I met at Harold Davis at Brownville Mills and he allowed me to cook Thursday's ribs and drink his cherry cokes. 
Despite gathering clouds I pushed off from Brownville.  The stronger tailwind had nme zipping along for maybe three miles.  At about mile 532 the wind became ferocious, several times it felt as if my seat was going to be lifted off the river.  Obviously the Langdon Bend fishing ramp beckoned; tying up there was a relief.  It was also a relief to top the levee and see an open-door quonset hut fairly close.  Further relief was that the owner was still there and (more relief) allowed me to sleep inside.  The final relief came lateer as one more ridiculously strong storm rolled through.  How much fun it can be to lie on a flatbed trailer with a twenty five foot ceiling, smelling that perfect mix of farmdirt and diesel, hearing the wind and rain attack the quonset all while staying dry and warm.  Plus the buildings radio had some high quality music.  Today I paddled from river mile 563 to river mile 531, a distance of 32 miles.