DAY 2: Sunburt, weird looks, pizza, and a little beer

Song of the Day: Let me down easy-Billy Currington

Got the lungs back in my chest and a little pep in the step.  Had an amazing oatmeal breakfast and a COOOLDDDDAHH river bath, that'll do ya just right.  Upon entering the river John aka Nature Boy nearly tipped the kayak and fell into the river.With his good leg hanging out of the boat he made a swift recovery.  Between that and a riverside beer and sausage shack, John fell out of his boat into muddy waters.  Hes got a great sense of humor and took it well. 

We still get weird looks from people.
Weird Look from People Count: 863

After a beer and apple juice some locals told us how to operate the locks and dams so we dont have to Portage anymore!!!!

It's a simple 3 button process, it's scary, and with no official supervision.  People go to school for this in America, but here in Germany, "We trust YOU!"

So John and I with no engineering degree whatsoever safely operated 6 locks and dams with no supervision.

It take about 5 minutes, so, would ya let me down easy?

We both learned about how brutal the sun can be on the skin, and paid for it.  It might be a rough couple days but we shall persevere. 

Lots of singing and chewing and drinking nasty water slowly from a LifeStraw, and lots of small snacks.

Also, lots of weird looks.

I found that if I start with, "Howdy!" it helps people adapt for a moment that we are from America, notbsure if this is good or bad, but who cares.  You cant change where you're from and were all from different places, but we all hang our hats up at home.

The best part of today was the very end.  Upon entering our 6th lock, some local germans were fishing. We decided to camp there because it was a good spot and they were leaving soon. They asked if we wanted some pizza and beer.... to which we replied, "uh, fuck yeah."
We sat around sharing stories about ourselves and talked about cultures, but mostly just bullshitted around eating pizza and drinking beer. 
They left us with the remaining pizza and with a small trout to eat for breakfast.  Their town, Donauworth, is just down river, looks like an old sleepy town but nice.

What a great end to a looooong day in the sun.

Distance today: 43km... whatever that is in miles
total left... 2512km + 200 miles to Istanbul

Crazy ducks observed: 7
People yelling in German from the shore: at least 7, but probably 12
Fishermen that didnt wave back: 3
Country songs sang: too many
Rap songs rapped: nothing quite yet


Dying/fornicating frog sounds: 3

locks passed through: 11
locks to go: 49