Day 65 - Salt Water...

At the gulf. Salt water at last. We share a celebratory whisky with withering old man river and Poseidon for he will be with us in our future adventure. For now, I will take my long sleep, not waking at 5am, drink cold drinks, and cool off by the hum of air conditioner.


http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.046200,-89.774009+(MyPosition)
longitude: -89.774009
latitude: 30.046200



At salt water.



Standing in a patch of grass in salt water.

- Posted from my iPhone

Day 64: New Orleans

I am currently here:
Day 64: New Orleans
Almost done with the trip! Tonight we gonna camp at a gorgeous camp site called "The Residence Inn" in the French Quarter of New Orleans!
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=29.998290,-90.430652+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.430652
latitude: 29.998290
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 2 m

Day 63 - Poche family park at mm 148

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Day 63 - Poche family park at mm 148
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.017243,-90.721899+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.721899
latitude: 30.017243
accuracy: 10 m
altitude: 12 m

Day 62 - Baton Rouge and camp mm 210

I often hear people saying that it's dangerous and scary to paddle through big cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans. But when we arrive, it's not that scary. Though there are a lot of commercial crafts, as long as we keep out of their way we are fine. 

I am currently here:
day 62 - baton rogue and camp mm 210
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.309466,-91.210680+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.210680
latitude: 30.309466
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 2 m

Day 61 - north of Baton Rouge, mm 250

Paddle, paddle, paddle...almost there!!! I can smell the salt water (just my imagination), can't wait to taste the salt water now, only a couple more days to go. Jeffrey and I didn't see any alligator today, but another guy in our group said he saw one in the water. We saw alligator tracks on the sand at our camp site just like at the other previous campsites we've been to the last couple days. We haven't had any incident where those gators come bother us though. Just like any other animals, if we leave them alone, they'll leave us alone. It drizzled a little today while we were on the river, enough to get us wet. It helps cool down the temperature just a bit. We paddle a total of 50 miles today.

I am currently here:
Day 61 - north if Baton Rouge, mm 250
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.583419,-91.311927+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.311927
latitude: 30.583419
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 4 m

Day 60 - completely in Louisiana, mm 300

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Day 60 - completely in Louisiana, mm 300
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=30.940007,-91.651183+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.651183
latitude: 30.940007
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 12 m

Look at that 8 foot gator walking on the sandy beach

 Jeffrey cooking dinner. Secret Recipe: boil water, pour in 1 pack of instant mashed potato powder, pop open 1 can of spam, and voila...yummy dinner!

Day 59 - Natchez and mm 348.

I am currently here:
Day 59 - Natchez and mm 348.
We met a pair of kayakers from Chicago.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=31.447564,-91.510769+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.510769
latitude: 31.447564

Day 58 - mm 398

Nothing special today, just another long hard paddling day.

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Day 58 - mm 398

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=31.969415,-91.178044+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.178044
latitude: 31.969415

Day 57 - Vicksburg, mm 438

We are camping here on this nice sandbar right outside of Vicksburg. About 500 feet from our tents, there's a little pond. As I was walking toward the pond to do number 2 business, I saw what looks like two big eyes on the pond. I didn't think much of it and after I'm done with my business, I went back to the tent and had a chat with the other guys in our group. We heard what sounds like two alligators talking to each other. I and the other two guys took a walk toward to pond to confirm what I saw, and those guys agreed with me that what I saw were alligators eyes. I think I'm gonna send some guys to Walmart later tonight to buy some alligator spray. :-)

I am currently here:
Day 57 - Vicksburg, mm 438


http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.339039,-90.925542+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.925542
latitude: 32.339039
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 12 m

Day 56 - Game of Tortoise and Hare, mm 477

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Day 56 - game of tortoise and Hare, mm 477
 I started a game of Tortoise and Hare as we paddled down the river. Usually, we would have to jump in the water to cool ourselves off every hour or so and made a stop here and there at some shady spot on the river bank to rest due to horrendous heat of the afternoon. Today, I told Jeffrey to ease down his paddle stroke. We just take our sweet time and paddle lightly so we don't sweat and not get tired. While the other guys on the other canoes were still paddling hard and left us behind, we continued paddle lightly try not to break a sweat. At the end of the day, we (the tortoises) still made it to camp at the same time as the other guys (the hares) did, making the same distance but not over exhausted. We had an interesting & annoying experience with a sand storm today at our campsite. The sand storm swept away our tents and put a nice thick coat of sand on all our stuffs. Sand is everywhere, in everything!

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=32.707986,-91.059619+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.059619
latitude: 32.707986
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 6 m

Day 55 - Greenville and mm 527

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Day 55 - Greenville and mm 527
Greenville sucks! don't go there! Nothing green about it!

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.259812,-91.119184+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.119184
latitude: 33.259812
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 12 m

Day 54 - mm 567

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Day 54 - mm 567

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.658126,-91.193699+(MyPosition)
longitude: -91.193699
latitude: 33.658126
accuracy: 5

Day 53 - Dennis Landing, mm 610

Another of those long paddling day. We paddle from 7:30 until noon, stop for lunch break and a long nap, then paddle until 7:30pm to our camp spot.  The river current is moving very slow, about 5 mph. At this section of the river, there are mainly barge traffics, no recreational boaters, no fishing boats, etc. All we see all day are barges after barges and they create nasty turbulent in the water. There are times we had to pull over to the side to wait for these damn barges to pass to avoid turbulent water that might flip our canoes over. Other than those ugly annoying barges, we are blessed with non-extreme heat and not-so-crazy wind today. The mosquito at the camp site are annoying but other than that, everything is well.
I am currently here:
Day 53 - mm 610
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.024658,-90.908775+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.908775
latitude: 34.024658

Sent from my iPhone

Day 52, lula ms, mm 664

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Day 52, Lula MS mm 664

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.494151,-90.584634+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.584634
latitude: 34.494151
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 4 m

Sent from my iPhone

Day 51 - Mississippi , mm 715

We made it to the state of Mississippi on the Mississippi river. Saw a couple rolling down in a raft. Made camp at a perfect sandbar.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=34.983607,-90.295301+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.295301
latitude: 34.983607



- Posted from my iPhone

Day 49 & 50 - off day in Memphis

Long rest for everyone. Enjoy the luxury of AC and instant cold drinks. As it turn out, the paddle crew really enjoy frisby golf and Memphis has some of the US top notch frisbie golf around.
- Posted from my iPhone

Day 48 -Shelby Forest Boat Ramp

We've arrived to Shelby Forest Boat Ramp at around 8:30pm after 13 hours of paddling. Got a ride home to get a nice shower and cool soft bed for the night. We'll take two days off from paddling to spend time in Memphis with family. Coming a long with us are 4 other boats, Jen, Kyle, Cody, Brian from the PaddleCrew and Matt, Ben, Snow, JD from the Matt's Crew. We got to the house at around 11:30pm, stopped by Taco Bell to get dinner, then headed home for a nice and much-needed shower

Day 47 - Arkansas, mm 818

We are approaching Memphis slowly but surely. If not for a little summer squall hindered our way, we would've made it to Memphis sooner. Looks like we'll be arriving to Memphis at Mud Island North boat ramp around 2pm Friday afternoon. The Memphis Bluff City Canoe Club is organizing a paddle crew to come out and paddle with us from Shelby Forest into Memphis. It's gonna be fun!

I am currently here:
Day 47 - Arkansas, mm 818

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.896087,-89.646570+(MyPosition)

Day 46 -Tennessee baby!!!

A beautiful day on the river overall minus the heat. We did 51 miles of paddling today. We stopped by a town name New Madrid. It is, by far, the most wonderful town with the friendliest people in the world.  We met three people at the boat ramp offering to give us ride into town to shop for food. We took the offer from one gentleman and before we left, he told the cop to watch the boat for us so nobody would mess with our stuff. When we got to the store we picked up more food supply and water and wanted to buy more but thought it might be too heavy to carry it back to the boat. The store owner overheard our concern and offered to give us a ride back to our boat. We were so grateful of all the kindness we've received and had a little heartfelt sentimental moment. I thought to myself how interesting it is that people often don’t know the effect they have on other people with just a suggestion, a smile, a word, a nod of approval or even something as innocent as a gesture, especially to those who's been away from home for quite some time. Anyhow, that was the highlight of our day. Before we departed New Madrid, we met a local newspaper reporter at the boat ramp. He took some pictures of us to publish on the front page of The Weekly Record, New Madrid's local newspaper. We paddled into Tennessee today, can't wait to get to Memphis this Thursday, latest Friday.

I am currently here:
Day 46 - mm 862, Tennessee baby
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.310243,-89.609414+(MyPosition)
longitude: -89.609414
latitude: 36.310243
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 12 m

Day 45 -Chute of Island No.8

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Day 45 -Chute of Island No.8 KY, mm 913
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.585884,-89350283+(MyPosition)
longitude: -89.350283
latitude: 36.585884
accuracy: 10 m
altitude: 16 m

Day 44 - Cairo, mm 0 or 953

We got on the river at 8:30am, paddled until noon and stopped over at a sand bar along the river for lunch and to cool off from heat index of 105F. We rested for about two hours and then paddled on to Cairo. We arrived at Cairo around 6pm. We pulled over to take some pictures and paddled on to find a camp site. The wind started picking up making it very difficult for us to maneuver. We decided to call it a day and pulled our canoes up to the sand bar. Within 30 minutes, the rain came down hard and white us out. We, in our rain gear, stood under the trees waiting for the rain to ease off so we can set up our tent. It finally eased off at last just enough for us to set up a tarp and unpack our stuffs. Today we are at mile marker Zero, the end of the Upper Mississippi River. Tomorrow, we'll be on the Lower Mississippi River and begin at mile marker 953. Yes, we have 953 miles more to go.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=36.973325,-89.116547+(MyPosition)
longitude: -89.116547
latitude: 36.973325
accuracy: 5 m
altitude: 12 m

Day 43 - Cape Girardeau

- Posted from my iPhone

Day 42. mm 65

Lately, we have some of the best camping around. With 75-degree night and little bug, we're able to cowboy camp. But the price to pay for that is 100-110 degree day makes paddling in the glaring sun tough. I just now realize that we've been having 9 days of 95+ degrees temperature and the last few day has been over 100 degrees.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.433033,-89.432667+(MyPosition)
longitude: -89.432667
latitude: 37.433033

Day 41 - meeting with family and first long afternoon nap

After a drunken night, yes there was a drunken naked guy running around, we met up with my brother at an abandoned marina a few hour down. He was on his way to St Louis, so he stopped by to bring some of my stuff and pizza and icy drinks. We swallowed the pizza and headed to the sand bar across the river to take a long afternoon nap

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.980156,-90.013189+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.013189
latitude: 37.980156






- Posted from my iPhone

Day 40 - Penitentiary Point, IL. Mm 137

July 4 2012...
God must have love me today. We got help from one of our traveling companion's friend to load up on food and resupply for our own party. Then we floated some more in the evening heat to the next good looking sand bar. Here I thought that yesterday sand bar was the most perfect sand bar, short of removing a the highway bridge next to it, God answers my call. We made a big fat fire and everyone but Jeffrey and I got drunk.















http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.094497,-90.214205+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.214205
latitude: 38.094497

Day 39 - St Louis, mm 170

After traversing the last lock, we spent 5 hrs sight seeing St Louis. When we headed out of town that afternoon, the head wind and barge traffic was insane. Barge has no speed limit here. Anyway, we found a really cool camp site, almost perfect. Flat sand, no mosquito, and a 5 mph breeze.



http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.489220,-90.271040+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.271040
latitude: 38.489220

Day 38 - Alton, IL

Today Lam woke me up at 5 because he couldn't handle the noise from the ferry next to us. We got on the river at 6 and paddled about 26 miles and stopped at a town named Alton. We ate McDonalds, napped and did nothing for 5 hours. We then passed the dam and stopped at a park and met up w/ paddle crew.






- Posted from my iPhone

Day 37 - Golden Eagle, IL

Jeff here. Writing the blog for today. Today we got on the river at 8. I had the genius idea of connecting the two oars we've been hauling for a month and making a double bladed paddle. Obviously, my idea worked and we moved faster than ever, even though the paddle was extremely heavy. We paddled to some random marina to use the bathroom and get ice. The people there were really nice and gave us free ice-cream and shirts. We spent about an hour bullshitting with people and left to the next lock and dam. After 11 hours of paddling, we made it past the dam and went to a nice bar and grill named Kinder's, where we met a nice lady who gave us free shirts. We ended up camping at the bar because it was dark and we were too lazy to go find a campsite. Overall, it was a good day. Weather was extremely hot but we got alot of free stuff and did 40+ miles so it's cool.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.871565,-90.567100+(MyPosition)
longitude: -90.567100
latitude: 38.871565