The End

I realize that this is long overdue, but the river adventure of our lives is finally over. Overall, the expedition was fifty-one days, fifty days paddling and one in St. Louis. Then we spent three days messing around in New Orleans. Looking back at our saga, it is hard for me to find the words to summate our experience.

A lot can happen in less than two months, and it feels like we have experienced a lifetime's worth of adventure. We started off as two idealistic, albeit naive, friends seeking adventure and an unorthodox tour of the United States. In the pursuit of our dream, we really got a slice of life in the world, and our eyes were opened to a lot of things.

It's easy to resign yourself to thinking the world is in shambles from watching the news and seeing the chaos unfolding on TV every day, but we found that there is still an unbelievable amount of untapped beauty in the world. We witnessed beauty in the wildlife and forests that we traveled through and the smiling faces of almost everyone we met along the way. We experienced extraordinary acts of kindness from complete strangers who would go so far as to buy us meals and invite us into their homes. We didn't even have to buy a single beer for ourselves!

Fred and I also gained a new and profound respect for Mother Nature and her ability to do pretty much whatever she wants. We were exposed to some of the most extreme weather either of us had ever seen, ranging from 75 mile-per-hour winds to near record-breaking flooding. This whole crazy idea came from a flood, so it was ironically fitting that it should also end with a flood of epic proportions. With the flooding in Louisiana came a whole new set of risks and dangers. Winds rocked us and heavy rain threatened to capsize us on multiple occasions. The higher water level effectively erased all the sand bars that we had become accustomed to sleeping on every night in the from Missouri onward. In the interest of safety, we had to take measures to get us safely to our destination, and we conceded to have a chase car follow us the last three days of the trip. This provided us with a reliable way to find safe shelter each night, and putting the excess gear in the back also allowed us to sit higher in the water which effectively reduced the risk of capsizing. The weather definitely did not make the end of our trip easy, but the sheer proximity to our goal and the comforting thought of cocktails and fresh seafood powered us to the end. On the last day we were warmly greeted by two of our close relatives, a bottle of champagne, and after a short hike to the hotel, an awesome meal with well-deserved libations.

It has been a few months now, and we have both settled back into our lives, with lessons learned and a new profound appreciation for the comfort of how we live. Occasionally, we reminisce the good and the bad that the river had for us, over a beer and a few nostalgic smiles. The experience of traveling such an unbelievable distance in such a long time was truly a test of not only our friendship but of our own human spirit. I'll always look back fondly on the trek we made in our big yellow ramshackle river gypsy wagon, and I will hold it dear for the rest of my life.

Day 31, Better Late Than Never

Well, it's been a long time since we wrote anything on the blog. We've been posting like mad on Facebook, but we feel like these longer entries seem a little more personal. A lot has happened since our last entry, so we'll try not to leave too much out.

After a long and grueling battle with the Platte River, we finally conquered it and found some peace on the Missouri River in the form of fast moving water with no sand bars. We definitely needed to make up the time we lost.

We made our way down Iowa and Kansas' banks until we made it into Missouri. We were making good time through Missouri until we hit Kansas City, when something amazing happened. We ended up being swept up in what's known as the MR340 race, which is a Missouri River 340 mile paddling marathon from Kansas City to St Charles. Spanning almost all of Missouri and being competed in by hundreds of fellow Kayakers and Canoers, we just knew we had to try and compete as well. We were also really fond of the company on the river, as it had pretty much just been the two of us on the river with exception to the occasional fisherman with a motor driven craft. We also experienced the thrill and wonder of Kayaking at night, which was completely foreign to us. By the light of the full moon we trekked silently down the river following the trail of running lights under a sea of stars. We both agree that this was easily the coolest experience of the trip so far, and the thrill was hard not to fall in love with. Topping it off with some killer Thai Food, laughing and joking at 2 am in Coopers Landing made for a night we will never forget.

We were fortunate enough to meet some awesome folks who helped us in too many ways to count, and the experience of paddling with them, was one we will never forget. The whole experience gave us the resolve to come back and compete properly in the future with the hopes of beating 0the fastest record.

One of the really great ways we were helped during that race, was the tip we were given about Mike Big Muddy and his Canoe House. Mike offered to host us, and make sure we were ready for the turbulent waters that awaited us down river. There had been an unfortunate accident where a Kayaker had been killed by a barge in the Port of St. Louis the day before we arrived, and everyone was weary of paddlers trying to make their way through. All of our planning aside, we were still woefully unprepared to trek those waters safely and the information and gear that Mike gave us proved to be invaluable.

We passed through without a hitch and we have been steadily making our way down the river since then.

We discussed the incredible hospitality we found along the river, but we've felt such an unbelievable sense of community passing this river, and it's truly inspiring. We've probably only ran into three people this whole trip who weren't friendly and willing to lend a hand or listen to our story. 

This river was was a unique and eye opening way to experience this awesome country, and it has fostered adventures that we will likely be telling in stories for the rest of our lives.

End of Week 2

Well, they never said it would be easy. In fact, we'd been told several times it was impossible or stupid. This trip was the realization of two young men's dream, and I'll be damned if some bad luck is going to take that away from us. That being said, Nebraska and the Platte River are trying their damnest to try. Let's go down the list. We've flipped once, almost been strung up by barbed wire across the river twice, we've lost 3 spoons, 1 Gerber, 1 GPS, 1 wallet with a couple hundred dollars and all the IDs and Credit Cards, and we've broken a paddle. We've got a few hundred miles before we leave the state, so we will keep that tab running.

Despite everything, we still get up in the morning ready to hit the river because good things never come easy. Life likes to smack you in the face and spit on your dreams, but what separates the weak from the bold is resilience. The ability to paddle twice as hard when the wind is in your face.

So we will get up every morning, and paddle. When we hit a sand bar we will get out and drag it. When mother nature growls and bears her teeth we will ride out the storm, and we won't quit till we reach New Orleans. We will walk into the closest bar and have that victory toast, because we are going to be the success story whether fate likes it or not.

Down goes the North Platte!

We finally conquered the North Platte River. All in all we incountered 13 dams and diversions that we had to carry the kayak over. It was a brutal leg of our journey, but we fear the Platte River might bring even more challenges. So far its plenty high and we are managing to navagate it just fine, but a Nebraskan official claimed that the river might be too shallow in certain areas to navigate successfully. Only time will tell.

We have been gathering all manner of awesome footage on the GoPro and Contour Cameras and as much as we'd love to upload that footage, we have no computer to do it.

We were pleasently suprised to find that Nebraska isn't all corn fields, and it actually has a lot of beautiful wildlife to offer. We see a bald eagle at least every hour, and we've seen just about every other type of animal Nebraska has along the river. Its really a shame to be the only ones on the river enjoying the majestic wilderness that Nebraska is offering up. The Nebraskans have proved to be just as hospitable as we would expect to find in Wyoming, and they never fail to offer food or a beer. The weather however has been harsh and formidable. The first few days of sunshine around 90 degrees left us tan and a little burnt, but it wasnt meant to last. Thunderstorms for the last few days straight kept us on edge and often cut our days short. Nowadays it is perpetually overcast, and light rain occasionally peppers us while we paddle, but its not going to slow us down.

We've gone 265 miles in the past 7 days, which isnt bad for our first leg of the trip. We will definitely miss Nebraska and its awesome inhabitants, but the faster river and the lack of dams will be a refreshing change of pace. Thats all for this week, we will see you again here next week, or feel free to check our facebook page for daily updates and photos.

P.S. we made it on the news, so be sure to check that out also!

Multiple Month Update!

Hey everybody, thanks for visiting the expedition's blog spot!

Long time since we've added anything, sorry, we have been busy with working at a nursing home (Fred), operating a business (DJ), owning a project home (Dan), training for marathons (both of us), and knocking out a bachelors degree (both of us).

As far as the kayak trip goes:

• we've been planning more and more, and with that comes more items / equipment to purchase. So, our expenditures just keeps growing and thus our credit card balance...(gofund.me/kayakWY2NO)
• It is safe to say, however; that we have purchased a majority of our items with only a few minor expenditures (outside of food, hotels, and air travel) remaining.
• Our sleeping situation is going to be on the shore primarily in a 2-person tent, but there are designated areas we intend to stay at a hotel or friends place.
• Our communication is Dan's phone with mine as backup, we'll be on airplane mode 90% of the time because of energy availability.
• Our energy will come from three separate solar panels (that hopefully won't suffer a rollover) as well as outlets in the towns we drift past.
• Our food will comprise of three things; soylent, MREs, and food from towns we drift past.

We are off the ground and running!

With the plans being hashed out and finalized, we are in the stage of our adventure where we are going to start acquiring the equipment. The most formidable item on the agenda is a two seat kayak that will be both light enough to carry but large enough to carry the rest of our gear. We will need to be able to carry the kayak near a mile to pass around dams and other obstructions that we may find along the river.

There is a medley of other items that we will need to buy before we can set out on this excursion. Everything from water purifiers and solar panels to PFDs and a River GPS will be carefully selected while accounting for weight, volume, and serviceability.

We will keep you updated as we progress, but for now, that's all.