Voyage of the River Belles

LDS Young Women, Olathe Stake 5th Year Girl's Camp High Adventure Fort Osage (mile 338) to St. Charles (mile 29) Down the Missouri River

Log Book DAY ONE 6/16/03 Mon, We pulled out of the driveway about 6:30 am after packing gear since 4:00 am.  On 470 Hwy I pulled off to close a door that opened on the boat and hit something in the road.  My right rear tire blew out and we changed it at the side of the road, Allen and Scott helped and we were back on the road within 20 minutes.   We were pushing the schedule now and getting all the boats in might take longer than we planned.  But 10:00 was coming up fast and we weren't even at the ramp yet. Girl's Camp, trip begins by putting boats in at Ft. Osage ramp (rivermile 338 from the Mississippi) about 8 am.  Still haven't connected all the controls in the pilothouse.  After putting in the river and finding a bank to tie off, I completed some electrical wiring so we would have all the required devices such as navigation lights and horn.

RiverWalker awaiting launch.  Built just for this trip, we were still wiring last minute connections on the ramp. The Riverkeeper, veteran of a trip to the Gulf just a few months before, was ready to go.

There was a ceremony at the Fort for the girls.  We couldn't attend, though I would have liked to.  We were trying to keep the boats off the rocks by setting the nose of the big boat on the ramp with the small boats tied along side.  The first we saw of the girls that morning was when they were coming around the top of the ramp.  They all had "T" shirts of the same beige color and it seemed like the whole bank was covered with people.  I thought how would we hold everyone.  We only had three boats.  Loaded up fast because the current was pushing the boats.  Girls climbed on, but were confused as to what boat to get into.  We directed them toward the two outlying boats but they hesitated because of wanting to stay with their friends.  Finally, we got them and the leaders aboard, the two small boats pulled away and I went to the pilot stand to start the motor.

Riverwalker finally in the water and awaiting passengers.  To the left you can see the Bonton captained by Norm Clark.  In the background the Riverkeeper circles.

We cast off about 11:30, but the motor died as the current caught the bow and pushed us back.  Many people were standing up and it was hard to see around the boat.  We were drifting backwards toward the bank and rocks.  I asked Allen to take a pole to hold us off the rocks long enough for me to get the motor running.  I continued trying to start the motor, it fired and I revved it up a few times.  A Merc 110 6-cylinder is hard on idle.  Shifted into gear, it kept running and we pulled away from the bank, entered the current and pulled forward to clear the ramp before trying to turn around. The motor was still not warmed up and we were overloaded in the front.  Very unstable, so I asked everyone to sit down.  They did but in doing so moved more of the weight forward and the bow settled into the water. That scooped in a large flow of water as we were going up into the current.  I slowed but that brought even more water in, which scared all the girls. There was no understanding about balancing a boat on the part of our passengers.  We should have taken time to go over this before boarding.  But the good thing is everyone was listening now, I think they were beginning to understand.  At last I got the boat turned around and balanced out, motor running smooth and we were catching up to the other boats.  I'm sure the whole episode looked frightful from the bank.  It was about 12:00, we were running late.  Due at Lexington an hour ago, still took another 45 minutes to get down to their ramp, which was to be our first docking.  Norm was at the side of the ramp and I came in very slow and planned to set the nose on the ramp so the girls could unload without getting in the mud.  It worked.  After we had all tied off, I looked around and relaxed a moment.  It looked like the trip was going to work.  We would balance the boats with a shift in the people.  12 persons on the pontoon boat was too much.  Norm could take 8 but I felt that was too much for him.  Scott could take 5 but that was one person too much for his boat.  So the real numbers should be 4 girls for the Riverkeeper, 7 girls for Norm's "Bon-Ton" and 8 people for the Riverwalker.  At that, all boats were at the usable maximum load. If we had rain, it would have been very hard on everyone.  As it was, the weather was almost perfect.  Light breeze, warm sun, cooling air when we were underway.  After Lexington, Cynthia said she was glad to get back to the peace of the river.  We were settling into the late afternoon as we past the town of Waverly looking for the site of our first camp.  The girls were beginning to grasp the idea of river travel.  One of the girls told us later that she expected to be lifting sails and climbing ropes and hanging rigging.  She was surprised to see that her trip would be more of riding down the river and letting it do the work.  The impact of the landscape is greatest when seen over the prow of a working riverboat. Mark had our mobile marine radio and told us of a creek outlet we could put the boats in for the night.  I rounded the bend about rivermile 270 when I saw a small opening in the bank with Norm's boat sticking back into the river.  It was on the outside of a bend with the current sweeping past Norm's transom.  I thought, how on earth am I going to get this 31-foot blimp in there?  The boys pushed their boats up the creek and told me over the radio to nose in behind them.  The girls were very quiet.  I went past and turned upstream, as I got to the outlet, I gave a hard left into where Norm's boat sat and Allen was up pushing against the bank as we plowed into the mud.  Everyone pulled on the ropes as I powered in.  I felt the boat go up on a rock as we settle hard on the ground.  We were off the river in more ways than one . . .   Learned the next day that we had just broken off the transponder for the sonar. Everyone disembarked in mud up to their knees.  The boat pilots tried to clean up the boats and secure for the night.  We set up a tent on the big boat and Norm and Allen hung a great looking bug net in the cabin.  Like to get one of those.  Later, I walked up to the camp on the flat above the river.  Mark had the fires going and dinner cooking in Dutch ovens (brisket, hmm good).  The girls were setting up large tents and looking around the area.  The leaders were sorting out everything for the first night.  The bugs started to bit as dinner was served, it was close to 9:00pm and the campfire program began.  Marly Jones did a wonderful presentation of a woman's from the Saluda 1852.  Amanda Cockriel sang 'Shenandoah' when it was full dark while the great river silently ran passed our camp.  The fireflies were in the trees and looked like Christmas lights, they were everywhere, it delighted the girls and us.  Later a barge came up river, but the wake was not too bad for the boats in the creek.  The girls were impressed by the brightness of the big barge lights. Everyone turned in about midnight.  First sleep in three days for Scott and I. SECOND DAY Morning came with the mist and dew.   I don't think I moved all night.  Early in the morning, we were hard at work taking the rear service deck off the big boat.  It had acted like a plow and Norm had some heavy tools to remove the bolts.  We lifted it up to the roof.  The day before we unloaded the spare motor and battery to lighten our load and put them in the back of Cristi Mansker's van.  We hoped that with the service deck removed, we could better our speed of 14 MPH.  Loaded up camp and got on the boats.  Backing out into the river was tricky but we came off all right. Once underway, I found we could reach 20 MPH at about 3800 RPM.  That would make a big difference to the schedule and the other boats.  The morning passed with pleasant conversations, naps, and watching the scenery.  Maria made a string bracelet for Allen and me.  Kimberly Foreman and her friend Ashley wanted to drive the boat, so I showed them how to read the river markers.  They drove for a few hours and did a good job.  They learned fast, then started helping me with the boat.  I think we could do a lot more with the girls taking an active role, and they would have gained more boating skill.  We should make a point of having them all take a turn at the wheel.  Our little expedition came to the Grand River and we traveled two miles up to the town of Brunswick.  We passed over some shallows and woke up some sleeping Carp, which jumped up and hit the boat.  One jumped and hit Annie's leg and a girl screamed, which made all the other girls scream. Another large fish jumped up and hit our side; Mansker saw this from his boat.   Hysterical laughter broke out. Landed at the Brunswick ramp, no current to speak of and we all just left the boats sitting on the cement ramp.  Walked up to the shelter and had a wonderful lunch of sandwiches and drinks.  The food committee really put together a wonderful feed.  As I helped load a few things back in the vans, I thought there is too much stuff here.  Too much work for one driver.  Mark Lineback was there and helping the support team, an experienced river guide, he knew much about outfitting needs.  We filled all the gas tanks and started off for Glasgow.  Girls were having fun now and getting into it.  Out on the Grand, water fights between the boats.  All the boats were rounding the bend when we came to the Missouri.  The flotsam and drift were waiting for us as we chomped our way out into the channel.  Allen was learning the boat and helping me a lot.  I was getting more comfortable with the controls and the boat's handling.  It had no oversteering problem and the power was enough to guide in the river, but at slow speed and docking it was very unresponsive to the wheel.  Backward and forward were about all we had, that is hard for river work.  Making the approaches at very slow speed seemed to help. We ran out of gas just as we came under the Glasgow Bridge.  Fast in-flight refueling became our nature and we landed at the park next to Norm.  A photographer was there from the local paper and took the girl's picture as they came off our boat.  The others had gone up to the high school to get showers.  We parked in a good spot off to the side on a mud bank, no current. Norm told me he had a problem.  He was taking on water and his bilge pump would not work.  This was a big problem and could have ended the trip.  Scott had taken our spare pump out of the Riverkeeper and they were connecting it up but no power.  I got into the red boat with my tools and after about 30-minutes we had it working again, all pumped out and dry.  I was over heated.  I went back to the Riverwalker, took off most of my clothes and jumped in the Missouri River.  Cool and muddy, felt wonderful.  Climbed up on the deck, cleaned the mud off my feet and rinsed off with bottled water. Washed my hair, shaved and put on clean clothes.  Felt much better.  I dozed for a while on the back deck until everyone came back.  The girls had fun getting ice cream and taking showers.  They looked better too.  By now, I had learned how to nurse the big boat around and with a blast of the horns we pulled away from the City Park at Glasgow.  On the water again, felt the crew taking charge and our river gang was churning up three wakes.  It was fun looking over at the Riverkeeper.  The girls were all perched up under the canopy singing songs to Scott as the water arched out and away from the bow.  Scott was singing along with them.  They came near our boat and sang to us.  There is a different look on people's faces when they are having fun, real fun.  I also noticed that whenever the girls would pose for a picture, they all had this automatic smile that came on.  It was a perfect smile that they all knew how to do.  Boys don't know about that or how to do it.  I asked them if they had a class for girls in "smile technique," they just laughed at me. By now, there was time to visit and enjoy the quiet of the river.  Speed was working out to be about 20 MPH and the wind was not a hindrance.  I mentioned to Cynthia that all I had hoped seemed to be happening.  Annie said she could feel the spirit in the camp and even during the day, especially on the river.  I think this came as a surprise to the women.  But nature in its pure form is more powerful in effect than words about it.  I came back to the pilothouse and found a note placed next to the wheel.  Amanda had written it and said that she felt that moment I had mentioned to her when it all came so clear, how wonderful the Lord's world is and how amazing it was.  She said she was very happy she came, that all the work had been worth it. She was one that had worked hard on the organizing of the trip. The radio traffic was busy.  The other boats were talking to Mark on the land.  The camp for the night was not a sure thing yet and the support team had many camp stores and few places to reach the boats.  One suggestion was to camp across from the vans and ferry across the gear.  The site was near some fields where the tents could be set up.  But the place the cars were parked was up a sandy bank on a rocky beach.  The river narrowed and any barge traffic during the night would push the boats up on the rocks.  It wasn't going to work.  Scott went down river about a mile and found a sand bar, but the cars could not make it down there.  There were no roads.  We went down with the big boat and off loaded the people on the bar.  Immediately the girls began talking about how they would make it their camp.   Scott and I went back up to where Mark was and the support team to load up the gear.  The support team did not think it was going to work.  I have to admit, when we started loading, I didn't think the bags would ever end.  By the time everything was on the boat, the front pontoons were alarmingly underwater.  We told the support team to take the night off and we would take care of the meal.  The women worked fast and put together the night's food in a way that made dinner very easy to prepare.  I appreciated how hard that was and the fact that everyone was staying flexible and willing.  Back on the sandbar, the girls were delighted and playing in the sand and mud banks.  Marly had built a privy with her shirt, and I must say it was pretty good.  We added some poles and tarp.  Marly found an old bottle and used it for the paper so it would stay dry.  That was smart.  Everyone wanted to sleep out because there were few bugs on the islands.  Mark came down to a lower ramp, which Scott went over to and loaded some missing items.  He came with Scott to the island to stay the night.  The girls were all talking about how this was like the show 'Survivor' and they were all going to vote tonight.  I said, "yea, but we vote people on the island-not off." Cynthia told me, as we were unloading the Riverwalker, that Annie Hamrick was not feeling well. I went up the beach to where the beginnings of a camp were forming and asked Annie how she felt. She was sitting in a chair and did not look like she felt good. She's the kind of person who worries you. You'd never know anything was wrong until she was really in trouble. I was assessing the options, while LeeAnn Buell put cooling towels on her head and gave her drinking water. I felt it best to watch and to stay close for a while. She was alert, though weak. She had been in the sun on the front deck all day--it clearly had taken her strength. Now, cooler air and a setting sun was helping. However, we could see some trouble if her condition got worse. We had the ability to take her to land and from there to the hospital at Columbia or Jefferson. We would have to act fast because of the number of transporting stages. I knew stages of heat sickness from years in the sand dunes around Glamis, Ca. I thought of all Sister Hamrick had done, and how much she was needed by the girls and the trip. There had been great sacrifices made for this trip by Annie. I asked her if she would like a priesthood blessing. Her answer was yes. I walked back and asked Norm if he would assist. We blessed her to regain her strength. We continued to watch closely, from the look of her face, she could have become a serious heat victim but she started to regain her strength and by morning she looked much better. Days later, she stood before all the girls and gave a heartfelt account of the help that attended this evening. But before that evening on the sandbar ended, everyone was finishing up a good dinner of salad and all the trimmings when I asked Norm to tell how he won the hand of his wife.  Well, the girls squealed with feigned outrage when he told how his was the only offer Caroline had received, or how their 'first date' was not your normal affair.  Oh how they loved his proposal segment.  He almost finished without telling the juicier parts but Maria pushed him to give up all the details.  This started the ball rolling and the girls asked each of the leaders to tell their story of how they met and asked the big question.  It was funny to watch, I knew some of the stories and expected the reaction that came.  The girls just doubled over in laughter.  LeeAnn Buell told a dear story of her and David and got a big 'Ahhhhhh . " from the crew.  Mansker told his story, and I noticed some of the girls taking notes.  My daughter told me later that the wedding stories were the best night.  At the campfire, the readings and songs again.  By unanimous request 'Barges' was sung and 'My Captain.'   I was beginning to miss these campfires already.  Before turning in, I caught glimpses of girls helping each other, moving their sleeping bags together, and fooling around.   I thought how good it is for them to be together.  Here, each girl was as she really is, and as that person she was loved. THE THIRD DAY The men were up before dawn.  We had to load up the gear and get it to the downstream ramp so the vans could take it to Jefferson City.  Cynthia helped us wake up by calling out "Scott 'n Russ, Scott 'n Russ?"  I was in dreamland and wondered who the person named 'Scottnruss' was.  Finally up, I took the tent down and began loading the girl's bags aboard.  They were all lined up to the boat in the morning dew, which soaked all their hair.  Once we had our load, we pushed off and I went to start the motor-nothing.  NO dash, no light, no power.  We stopped there at the bank as Allen and I tore the dash off and engine apart to see what had gone wrong.  The choke solenoid had shorted out the entire ignition and burnt the fuse.  Forty minutes later we had made an electrical bypass, fused it and got the engine started by a hand choke.  Finally we made our way down to a wing dike on the red (left) side of the downriver.  There were two jon boats tied there and we used one of them as a dock as there was no room to nose in the Riverwalker.  Mark Lineback came to our assistance and sank in mud to his knees.  We loaded all the gear up the hill with the help of 6 girls.  All agreed they could live with only two changes of clothes.  Took us about an hour.  Super heated now. Gear load in vans, we said good-bye to Mark, this was his last day. At last, we were on the river again.  Looking out, the morning sun was drying out everyone's hair and freshening the damp air. We were headed down river to Rocheport and the Katy Trail.  Lunch and bicycle riding were waiting for the girls.The other boats radioed back that they had pulled into the Rocheport side of the river.  We came around the rock dike and up to where the other boats had landed.  They tied off to a pile of driftwood and some of our kids were climbing up the bank.  Our boat unloaded with great fanfare and pictures.  They would go up to get lunch and do some sightseeing.  They had to climb up a 15-foot bank by hanging on to tree roots.  All of the women did it by helping each other.  But it was hard going.  After the girls left, we got to talking about how they would come back down the hill.  Mansker said we would have someone falling for sure.  We decided to take the poles and ropes from the boats and make a ladder and walk for them when they came back.  Scott and Allen took one pole and went on to the top to help with the first drop.  Norm and I stayed on the bank and cut steps into the side with the camp shovel.  When I was cutting the steps, I had to notch them back into the earth because the bank was almost vertical.  When I got to the top, we found some poison ivy.  So we hacked it down and threw it into the trees.  I put the pole at the base of the stairs so they could hold on to something climbing down.  Meanwhile, Norm had constructed a very reasonable rope line across the driftwood.  We tried it out and it worked pretty good.  We could get from the top of the bank, down the steps, across the logs, then follow the rope to the boat deck. About the time we finished our project, the girls were coming down the hill. When they came to the steps in the bank, we helped them down and through the ropes.  It was a time when each person was helping the other person.  A feeling was beginning to show in the entire company.  A feeling that people began to express.  I would look at the girls and they would look back with that beginning knowledge.  The river was making us one in purpose.  It was mightier than we were, we needed each other.  Our crew probably didn't realize it, but they had slowly changed.  Now they saw what needed to be done and were becoming adept in keeping the boat orderly.  Nor had the women forgotten the men left on the boats.  They brought food and drink and 20-amp fuses for the motor (how on earth did Cynthia find those?).  Have you ever been with a group of people that did everything they could to help one another?  This group did.  It is a rare thing. We were only a short distance from Cooper's Landing (rivermile 170).  About an hour later we were going past their dock, I could see Norm and his girls had already landed and were up near the store.  Scott was pulling in but there was no way I was going to get our boat in there against the current and drift.  I radioed back that we would stand by, and have them ferry out gas to us in mid-stream.  This was done with some flare by Scott and Allen.  We turned upstream and slowed to a standing idle, which would be about 6 MPH against the current.  Scott brought the Riverkeeper along side as Allen lifted the three cans aboard our boat.  We both turned around and picked up speed as we headed downstream.  Norm was up ahead, Scott had picked up his girls, we were all secure and coming back to 3800 RPM.  The girls had their places and we were back on the river. This part of the Missouri was where the river country really started to take on a new aspect.  High bluffs, wooded forests, wide bends all combine with the magnificent sky of clouds to astound the person who looks.  Looking out of the pilothouse windows, I saw the girls making bracelets, writing, some reading, others sleeping.  The warm sun keeping them comfortable against the cooling breeze.  I thought that for a few of these girls, perhaps this was one of the most cheerful days they have ever spent.  I thought it was for me.  It had been a wonderful day.  In the world, there is a battle every day against the influence to think only of self.  Here, we were engulfed by the message of the trip; it was more than self.  As one girl said (I think it was Rita) in her testimony two days later-it was a journey of the spirit.  That would only become more apparent later in the night. We were to meet the new support crew at the Jefferson Ramp. The motor was droning along in a steady sound that already had some sleeping on the rear deck.  In the wake, I could see pieces of branches chomped up into smaller ones.   Each day I bent the props back into shape from log strikes.  You can tell when you hit a floating branch.  The blades all curl forward without a mark on them.  It's because they catch the prop blade against the cavitation plate as it is lifted up by the rotation. The other boats are ahead and unloading the girls at the ramp.  Everyone is going to the State Capitol for a tour.  We pulled onto the ramp, which is very wide.  A reception committee is waiting and we got a rousing ditty called 'Hey, Payzant? Shake you booty."   I must admit, I had to ask Allen which part was your booty.  And then I wasn't at all sure I could shake it at all.  But the girls seemed to have practiced this movement before; at least it looked like this was not the first time.  I was surprised to see that Cynthia had been practicing the move a little herself.  The gang moved off to their big day at the seat of government. The boats, without the girls, were now headed down to an island we would camp on that night.  It is just off the Osage River, rivermile 130.  The water was high and not much dry land was available.  But we found a sand highway that went over to a spot that was dry.  We made camp there.  The boats were sitting on the sand in 1-foot of water.  We were afraid we would be grounded if the river dropped during the night.  So we waded out to deeper water to drop our big anchor, with long danford spears.  We needed fire wood that night and there was none on the island.  So Scott and I took the Riverkeeper over to the other side of the river by the railroad tracks.  We got some long tree branches and placed them across the front bars on the bow.  They were hanging off about 6-feet on each side and I was sitting on top.  We came across and dragged them down the bank towards camp.  We got two tents up, made a latrine, started the fire, got most of the gear picked up from the Osage Ramp and carried the 100 yards to dry sand.  We spread out a tarp to put the girl's things on.  We were finished about 7pm.   It looked like an inviting camp in the gathering dusk.  Still the women had had some problems with getting food and schedules and would not see it until dark.  We got word as full dark approached to come up the Osage River two miles and pick up the crew.  The two smaller boats did not have lighting, but had made the trip so often during the afternoon they found the way even in the dark.  We switch on the tri-pontoon's navigation lights for a beacon.  The moon was not up yet and it was dark.  When all had gathered at the camp, we had a short program, which ended about midnight.  Tomorrow would be our longest day with over a hundred rivermiles to reach St. Charles. DAY FOUR-LAST DAY ON THE WATER         Reveille came at 4:30.  Cold and damp and dark.  But these great women were every bit as tough as men.  They had guts.  Everyone was packing up their gear and we formed a line out in the water to the tri-toon.  We loaded up everything and took it to the Osage ramp.  There, we prepared some of the support vans to head back to Kansas City.  We got gas across the river at Soda Pop's gas dock.  Our next landing would be at Hermann for Lunch.  It had started to rain a little.  It had taken longer than expected to unload the boats.  We were finally on the water about 8 am.  Drift was heavy, but the motors were running well.  Plans for landing and dinner that night at Lewis & Clark's Restaurant were being discussed.  Laura Allen and her daughter Brittanie Kim were in the pilothouse with me and we talked about how great the trip had been.  Laura had done a lot of work on land and today was her chance on the river.  She was enjoying it and Brittanie told me she liked the river too.  The two of them spent some time topside (above the pilothouse), which was a favorite place for the girls to ride. HERMANN         The first leg was a little over 30-miles and we took about two hours to reach Hermann.  Their riverfront is one of our favorites.  But it took some effort to get the big boat up to the dock, the wind was up and we swung sideways to the dock.  With some ropes we pulled her along side.  Here we had sandwiches and gas.  I figured we were getting about 2 miles to the gallon from the Tritoon's big Merc.         At this point, Captain Mansker and I were discussing the fact that we still had no one to drive his truck and trailer to St. Louis.  That meant we would have one of our boats sitting in the weeds that night.  Many calls were going back to KC, but to no avail.  Then LeeAnn Buell said she would ask her husband to drop everything, leave work, find Scott's rig and drive it over I-70 for four hours.  She said he would do anything for her, and I believed her.  Word came back that David was coming and would find us at the ramp that night.  He did, but not until long past dark.         We were ready and launched once more.  Our little troop of river crafts settled into the groove and again chewing our way east.  A few hours later we came to Washington.  They have a ramp but it faces the river on a bend.  The current is very strong at their dock.  We chose to take the bigger boat up into a jetty and tie off to an abandoned dock. We needed more mixing oil and asked Kelly Lineback to pick some up.  She was not daunted by this request and vigorously prosecuted a gas station attendant until she got the four quarts of oil.  All while he was trying to cut up her credit card.  Seems some woman called the station after she had used the card many times that day.  We give her the River Metal of Honor for not caving in to mid-Missouri chauvinism.         Here, I experience one of the funnier moments for me.  I was standing at the top of the ramp talking to Sarah and Erin.  These two were Riverkeeper girls.  Sarah was explaining that Erin couldn't flirt at the dance that night cause she couldn't wink right.  Erin nodded her head up and down and Sarah made her show me her wink.  She closed one eye while the other just looked around.  Had this been her only way to signal, I had to agree it might have needed some text to go with it.  At last Sarah jump in and acted out a possible scenario of what the evening might hold in store.  She took Erin by the shoulders and shook her, yelling, "Erin, Erin, snap out of it, are you having another seizure!!" I thought how did Sarah think of such a thing so fast.  I though she was very quick, and certainly that kind of drama would take the young man's mind off the subject of Erin's winking.  I was laughing so hard that when I got back to the boat and started it up, I forgot and hit the choke, which shorted the ignition out again.  Repairs. We had our last gas filling, our last meeting with ground support, our last stop.  We were on the final leg, but longest of the trip.  It would be twice as long as any other part.  We pulled away, cleared the jetty and were passing the bridge.   When all of a sudden we came on two young men that had been showing off for the girls on their jetski.  The craft was dead in the water and they were floating in the current.  Norm pulled out to give assistance.  He would tie on and take them back up to the ramp.  We told him on the radio that we would continue, that way he could catch up and it would be as if we hadn't stopped at all.  This however would prove to be a mistake. It would take Norm about 40 minutes to get finished.  By that time we were out of radio contact.  The time passed and no word.  More time passed and I became concerned that if there were problems, Norm had no help.  One boat going back would have thinned out our group and all were at risk now.  Scott was going to go back as far as radio contact would allow and see if he could raise Norm.  Time was passing and we were moving further east.  This could put all of us on the water at night and we had a long way to go with no ramps to pull out.  Ground support wouldn't know.  This could really become a mess.  Suddenly, Norm's voice cracked to life over the speaker.  "Bonton here, looking for Riverkeeper, over."  Never heard a sound I liked better.  We were back together, now we poured the coal to it and were headed to St. Charles.  We were passing some of the busier sections of the Missouri River.  But most of our people were asleep.  Everyone had had little sleep in the last four days.         Coming around the I-70 Bridge, we saw the Riverfront Park and the City of St. Charles.  We would land there with the girls calling out to the other crews ashore.  We made it.  The girls made it and they were laughing, shaking their booties, carrying bags, and helping with the boats like they owned them.  There had been no cliques, not snobs, no snubs, all were one.  We had become a company of souls on a journey that needed everyone.  We used every thing we prepared.  Needed everything that came and we were solving questions as they popped up.  We had figured it out. Russ is holding back the Missouri River during disembarking Unloading was what you'd expect-everyone helped.  The men remained to load the boats on trailers and get the gear put in trucks.  The rest of the group went up to the Lewis & Clark Restaurant; we would meet them later.  Caroline arrived in Norm's truck and we loaded them up.  They drove back to KC, because Norm had some jobs pending.  Mike Foster had driven over in my truck and had repaired the tire we blew out the first day.  What a good guy.  He helped us a lot getting some order going.  We walked up to the Restaurant. The boat captains: Russ Payzant, Alan Olson, Norm Clark, Scott Mansker END-OF-TRIP DINNER         The four of us, Mike, Allen, Scott, and myself, climbed to the top of the third floor.  I could hear familiar voices.  As Scott cleared the landing applause broke out spontaneously and cheers for their captains.   We all found seats in the group and the stories began.  I tried to hear all of them, but have you ever tried to listen to twenty-two women speaking at the same time?  I have trouble with one speaking patiently, and these were all trying to get their story out first.  There were a few skits and mimicry of our favorite isms.  Annie Hamrick was writing a book of Normisms.  We all listened with rolling eyes and whistles of exclamation.  Wish Norm could have been there, he would have never forgotten that night of celebrity.         After dinner, outside, everyone posed for more pictures.  As I looked over the crew I was amazed at the sense of belonging we all had for one another.  I couldn't imagine a better crew.  As the vans pulled away, the captains were walking back to the boats.  Many calls of "wooo hoooos" and "hurraah!"  The girls were off to local LDS homes, showers, and a Stake dance that night.  We, on the other hand, were homeless.  But David Buell had arrived and we loaded up the Riverkeep to the light of a fisherman's lantern.  We got rooms at a hotel close to the temple and finally got a shower. THE TEMPLE         Next morning we all met at the St. Louis Temple.  As we were waiting in the entrance area, I took the girls aside and told them of the impressions I had about their being there.  The Temple Presidency gave us a very nice message and then we went into the Baptistery were the women did temple work and service for about two hours.  The spirit had been with us all during the trip.  The same spirit was in the temple confirming the importance of the last few days.  It was long enough to have influenced 16 girls for good.  As they finished their baptisms, the young women went back to the chapel.  They began to sing hymns by themselves; I will miss hearing their sweet voices.         We had a testimony meeting after lunch.  I wanted to hear the girls speak once more.  To hear from all of them.  As it was, the spirit touched many.  The leaders spoke with sincere expressions of love.  I took a few moments and reminded them of our story and those amazing smiles for the camera.  I said that girls have another kind of smile that is not often given.  It is for only those they love with all their hearts.  That kind of smile, I said, had the power to heal.  That kind of smile and expressions made up our meeting.  Our company of river travelers had accomplished their journey. And along the way, had seen in the morning mists, the evening fire, the laughter of companions, and the solitude of nature's silent witness, a better view of the real Captain. Composed by Russ Payzant River Belles-the crew Larissa Bonnell Kjerstin Brown Amanda Cockriel Kimberly Foreman Sarah Frederickson Erin Hamrick Brittanie Kim Rita Havenar Kathleen Johnson Marley Jones Maria Kershisnick Carrie Lineback Tessa Mullen Brittany Payzant Ashley Roudebush Nicci Tietjen Land Support Laura Allen Shelley Beatty Leslie Frederickson Mark Lineback Kelly Lineback First Mates-YW Leaders Cynthia Cockriel Annie Hamrick Denise Hubbard LeeAnn Buell-Attending Nurse Captains Norm Clark Allen Olsen Scott Mansker Russ Payzant Riverboats The 'Bonton' skippered by Norm The 'Riverkeeper' skippered by Scott and the Mermaids. The 'Riverwalker" Tritoon' skippered by Allen and Russ                 Tritoon pilots-in-training: Kim, Ashley, Maria,

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