July 26th. 8 1/2 hours 18 miles The river was w-i-d-e, but I had the wind in my favor for a while today. I made great time for the first three hours and then the situation changed and my pace slowed. When I saw Pickwick Dam the adrenaline flowed, and I took off swimming as fast as possible. As usual, the closer I got, the farther the dam seemed, but eventually we arrived at the dam. Once on the other side, I made great time. The river was narrow and had a swift current. It was the first time there had been a swift current since Fort Loudon, and I loved it. It was fun to watch the scenery move swiftly by. I was trying to see if I could do a mile in ten minutes, so I pulled hard and picked up my turnover. Now I can tell my daughter I swam an 11 minute mile. My daughter Kelsey and I love the dumb comedy "Rocket Man". The key character is Fred Randall. He is brilliant, but quite immature. He refuses to take responsibility for anything he does that is wrong. When on the planet Mars with another astronaut, he "toots"... a lot. The other astronaut is furious and yells at Fred because they are having to share Fred's air, and naturally he doesn't want to breath Fred's toots. When confronted, Fred gives his typical quick response. "It wasn't me!". This makes the other astronaut madder. He says, "We are millions of miles from any other life form, what do you mean it wasn't you? Who else could it be?" It is funny in the movie. All Fred had to do was apologize and take responsibility for his bodily functions. Of course, if he had, the movie would not have been so funny. On the other hand, Mussels dying in massive amounts are not funny. Someone needs to take responsibility... I am not trusting of people, companies, or corportations that are quick to say, "It wasn't me". How do you know that without checking it out? Honesty is a wonderful character trait for people, companies, and corporations. People hate to be lied to or betrayed. Be honest. You cannot be dishonest to others without being dishonest to yourself. I do not think anybody finds contentment and happiness outside of themselves. I look around at how many rich, materialistic, unhappy people there are. I believe contentment and happiness comes from within by developing positive character traits like, integrity, kindness, gernerosity, honesty, etc. Find that within yourself, and you will find contentment. Yea. It is Friday night and tomorrow is a day of rest. We headed out for a Mexican dinner. Asking other members of the group for a couple bucks because I was out of cash, I looked up, and there was my daughter Kelsey and my husband. "How did you know where I was?" I asked in complete surprise. "Simple," he said, "I just asked the hotel clerk where the best Mexican restaurant in town was." He's good. Once while staying in a hotel in Memphis, my van was broken into. The window was broken out and glass was everywhere. My daughter and I were continuing on up to Minnesota, so we had to get it fixed. While at a glass repair shop in Memphis, the clerk got a phone call. "Are you Mimi?" she asked. "Yes," I responded. she told me I had a call. A call? Who knew I was here? Thinking she was mistaken, I picked up the phone. It was my husband. Somehow, he had tracked me down. All he knew was that I was in Memphis with a busted window. Perhaps he missed his calling as "Columbo". Whatever....he is good. He knows me too well. Everyone enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for checking in and caring. mimi