Life Etc.

A month on the river has yielded some awesome results.

We have crossed paths with amazing people; some for moments, others for days. While I can't credit any specific event, the total experience has been indescribable.

Countless lessons and opportunities, taken and missed, have shown us how the river ties a collective of individuals together.

Her might must be respected, while her majesty enjoyed.

We Need a Pool

The Van Camps:
After an offer of a cold beer on the river, Pam and Paul became interested in our project. They sought us out via Twitter, and we met up in Bettendorf, IA, their hometown.
Smoked pork chops, an Iowa staple, were served; if you haven't had one I'd highly recommend it. Much better than chef Luke's famous ramen, we stuffed ourselves.

Questions:
The good people at Local Livelihood are going to be interviewing us about Canoe to the Future on the 4th of July. Comment on this post, email, or tweet questions that you would like to have answered!

Halfway

Re:Photos from Coffee Pot Landing just north of Itasca State Park

I met you at the landing and you asked for a couple of photos as you paddled away.

Here are those photos -

Good Luck,

Tim

Endurance Game

Bittersweet Minnesota

I had never been to Minnesota before this trip, but I can say I will be back. The outdoors is a staple here, but the people we met made an ever lasting impression.

As we paddle south out of Minnesota and into Iowa, I feel a sense of sorrow.

I'm glad to be making progress; just hoping the rest of the people we encounter can offer us the hospitality, compassion, and good that the people of Minnesota did.

Templeton Rye

"Canoe to the Future?... Do you guys have to get up to 88 miles per hour?"

What started as an invitation to have a cold beer, turned into a night shared with fast-friends. This group, a motley of over a dozen friends, family, and coworkers, seamlessly welcomed us into there fold.

Not only did they share their rental condo, washing machine, and shower; we shared an evening of great conversation.

Excited by the values of Local Livelihood, Brita explained to us they, too, are championing sustainable community agriculture through their fledgling organic hop farm!

Check out Driftless Edge Hop Farm at-

www.driftlessedgefarm.com

Thanks again to Sharon, and all her friends from Decorra, for being who you are. We won't soon forget your hospitality.

Bass Camp

After our first 50+ mile paddle we crashed at Bass Camp, just after Lock 5.

We were greeted by Terry; he drove us around to the tent section where we would camp. Upon venturing, Terry decided the mosquitos were too bad, and invited us to stay on his plot, which was elevated.

Kim and Danielle were staying nearby; after overcoming their fears that we were homeless, they offered us a ride to get groceries and dinner in town.

We had a great time with them, although we didn't get to enjoy the bonfire as exhaustion had taken over after we hit the showers.

The Bass Camp is a great little community along the river, and served us well during our short stay.

Wind and Current

We just made it out the back end of a 20 mile lake. Ouch. Often it seemed that both the wind and the current were working against us.

Chuck and Kevin-
We met Chuck and Kevin one night when camping in a park. These gentlemen were distracted from their evening bike ride to talk with us.

Big Water-
We are now in the"big water" half of the Mississippi. We are paddling on a much larger river through much larger cities.

Lock and Dam

We recently started using locks to get past dams. This is much easier than portaging.

We were a little nervous at first, but we soon discovered that locking is a piece of cake.

Portages

Travel up to this point has been slowed by the necessity to portage around dams.

We recently received help with our stuff from the Coon Rapids Fire Department! They happened to be at the dam on a routine call, and liked our cause.

We were extremely thankful because this was to be our longest portage yet!

Fishing Culture

"My medication says I shouldn't be out in the sun," says the seasoned fisherman, with a smile and a shrug.

We ran into Ed and his 91 year old father during one of our portages. The duo was out for an afternoon of fishing.
Ed was quick to bequeath us with the knowledge of 'The Ultimate River Rig', and the tackle to make a few for ourselves.

We have run into countless fishermen. Buddies, couples, fathers and sons, families; fishing is a way of life in Minnesota. And everyone here wants us to enjoy it as much as they do

Like Home

Yesterday, we had to portage around a dam in Little Falls, MN. On that particular day of the year, we found, they have a festival in honor of their beautiful dam.

It may be that the festivities had this river town in a particularly hospitable state, but we were welcomed, and sent off, as adventurer heroes. Brad, Katelyn, Floyd, Cris and all her kids, Darrel the Can Man, and many many others, all helped to make a lasting impression.

I can't thank the community of Little Falls enough for the HUGE encouragement.

Bingo Night at the VFW

Class 3 Rapids

The last few days have been mostly filled with rain. Water levels are getting very high, and the current is strong.

All this rain has had some affect on morale, but spirits are generally high. We have been listening to some great audiobooks that spark discussion.

Burned Bridge Update

We recently received, from a resourceful follwer, some enriching information regarding a previous post, Rain Delay. 

http://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississippi/pages01/fr2171.html

Aitkin, MN

Aitkin is a little town along the Mississippi. It is filled with wonderful folks and plenty of opportunity for us.

Strolling through the quaint downtown, we perused a local bakery which provided us with plenty of goods at a fair price.

We replaced our broken fishing rod at a hardware store and noticed it was bingo night at the local VFW chapter. .. we better make an appearance.

Mosquitoes

Our life is paddling; We rarely make full stops anymore. Instead we float along on the current until it is time to set up camp again.

River Domination

Day 9 was the first day we set an alarm, we were determined to make some miles.

7:30 couldn't have come sooner, as Crazy James' Point was the least hospitable campsite thus far. Clouds of mosquitos offered free acupuncture and the overnight downpour left our gear more than damp.

We entered the river without cleaning or organizing anything in the boat (a big no-no in my book). There was no other choice though; as one can only inhale so many mosquitos while trying to do the dishes. On the river 5 minutes behind schedule, I'd say we were doing pretty well.

Got a great jump on the day. We made progress while preparing the gear for travel on the river rather than land.

Our first leg yielded 27 miles with a few stops to refuel and rehydrate.

We decided to push ourselves and paddle another 17 miles downriver to the Pokegama Lake Area Dam, cruising in as the sun dipped.

We met Trinity and Jessica at the campground, and they offered us a ride to restock our food. Clutch!

It seems that morale level directly correlates to food availability; especially during the long hauls.

Sure the Dam had great people, campsites, and stars, but it held one more great treasure, showers.

A bar of soap and a dip in the river will only get a man so clean. So we spent some much needed time scrubbing and buffing ourselves up to par.

Jane and I slept in on Day 10 to catch up on our beauty sleep.

Video Log Announcement

Today kicks off our first video log. These are going to be short, low production videos, that give you a flavor of what your adventurers are experiencing.

Links to videos are posted on our twitter feed which is located on the right side of the blog.