day 49: Madd Dogg on the Mississippi

Gotta appreciate a good log to sit on at the end of a long day on the river.  A nice, all natural, chair.

Also gotta appreciate bobcat tracks by your camp.

20 miles of paddling today was great, warm weathered, and cloud free.  We stopped in town today and got some supplies but we were also stopped by a lady who told us a story.  The same story 3 times, 3 different ways.  The casino had no people our age or body weight.  Also no one there had a normal tone of voice, either too loud, or too soft of talkers this town had.

Some days are good, this was one.  We also found a campground with free showers.  That was the first proper shower since evansville, 350 miles away.

Camped on a beach again and getting attacked by mosquitoes.  Drinking Madd Dogg 20 20 and bout to eat some freeze dried lasagna,  I know it sounds crazy but I love this lifestyle.

80 miles til I'm "walking in memphis"

Good news, I got a place to stay when I get down to the gulf so that's a ton of stress off my shoulders.  I love the air out here, yal should try getting to nature, it's not over rated and it smells great.

Also, today is my little brother anthonys birthday.  He turns 21 today so I hope he has fun and is responsible.  If you read this anch I'll have a drink or two with ya when I get back.

day 48 Caruthersville

day 47

Landed in a river bed that looked like a desert. Traveled 25 miles.

day 46:the chillest day yet

Let me start by saying last night was scary, and cool both at the same time.  After falling asleep to a huge fire I was awoken by the sound of a pack of coyotes attacking the hell out of spmething .  I woke up with my knife in hand with Erik wide awake with wolf like sounds terrorizing an inocwnt animal.  Oh well. We build IP the fire again and went to bed.

Today we got into town of new Madrid. Walked through heavy heavy heavy mud
 Then the mayor offered us a ride to dollar general.  Coolest mayor. The town is hosting the bass pro shop cat fish competition next week so assume there's some monsters close to where we are paddleing .

We grabbed a case and decide to float instead of paddle.  We still made it 20 miles.  We did some fishong  drinking and radio listening.  Now were on am island made up samd .

day 45: another day another dike: record setting day

No pictures today folks sorry.
Today we got 52 miles on the Mississippi because of an insane currwnt .  we left at 12 and still made it that far.  There's a lot of dike on this river and Erik looked it up we are actually experiencing  class 3 radips after barges come by.

Were sleeping on a beach and got a fire so it's all good.

day 44: start of Mississippi, end of ohio, sand in my Ramon noodles

The 3rd picture is the flood level chart.  It's kinda like how as a kid your mom measured your height in the hallway but instead it measure floods.  I'm surprised it didn't measure the death toll too, it might be an important stat.

Today in Cairo Erik almost lost all his stuff, scary moment.  A barge must have came by when we were in town and knocked a lot of his stuff out of the boat, including food.  His important stuff got wet like solar charger and backup phone, but we're hoping that it gets dry and can work.  Erik will be fine, he said he wasn't even upset 10 seconds after it happened because, well, shit happens.

We're on the Mississippi River people.  Lots and lots of current on this sucker, almost as crazy as an ocean when a barge goes past.  Speaking of which,  not even 1 mile into ending the ohio, which I miss dearly now, the biggest barge yet rushed past us and created wakes 7 ft high spaced out by only a few feet.  Luckily were pros at keeping it cool or else that could have been the end of of the road for old Mr Oddo and Mr Barnum.

We covered serious ground today, I'd say about 19.2 miles in 3 hours and 40 minutes, just based in what the map and clock told us.  For all I know we could be in new orleans already.  But we're not yet.  Based in our speed today we could easily be getting 50 miles a day.  On October 8th it's a full moon so plan on a night paddle for that one.  Tonight is a new moon, the beginning of the fall equinox, and the first day on the Mississippi,  and ni we did not plan this intentionally, the universe just keeps working in our favor I guess.

As I sit here I can see the milky way and it is epic on a new moon.  I don't have place to set up hammock so I'm gonna sleep in a tent, or maybe just on the sand beach.  Erik does not use his tent and I give him mad props because the mosquitoes bite allll night.

Cairo, Illinois.   Every person we talked to told us we shouldn't be there, and to "be afraid!" I asked the one lady what we were supposed to be afraid of and she said a person got stabbed.  I said "ya but why, and why should I be afraid?"  All anyone from any town said was to be afraid of Cairo.  Weird.  I will say they had a big building, it was a project.

I cooked my Ramon and tuna in Mississippi River water and I feel fine.

845 miles to go on the Mississippi,  should be in Memphis early next week, then it's 250 miles of nothing.

I feel good, I hope yal do to.

Bald eagle count - 24
Times thought about pizza and beer- infinity

day 43: ohio river... done

So coyote tracks are the first thing we see as we hit land this evening.  At least it's not bear or mountain lion tracks.  Soon well be seeing alligator tracks as we have finished the ohio river.  Technically were camping about 3 miles away but it's only because we don't want to camp close to town, for obvious reasons.

Today we killed it.  Going at 4.3-7.1 knots today was the only reason we got this far.  We woke up, sliced a watermelon into pieces with a machete, drank coffee, and we on our way.

Also I made up a song in remembrance of the ohio, it should be on my upcoming record that I'll be making in new orleans.

But I suppose a reflection of what I've learned is in order at this point.  I'll try to be as honest as I can here because I know that there's people out there doing adventures and not learning anything and saying they did, I don't want to be that person, and that's actually one of the first things I learned.  I want to be authentic, honest, and most of all humble.  This trip has definately humbled me.  I've had time to think about the past and future and where I stand a lot, which is part of the reason I did this.  In that time thinking I've realized how I haven't followed through with most of the things I started.  I tend to give up right when things are getting good.  I've also realized how I need to be more independent.  Supporting myself and being adaptable is easy for me, leaning on others shoulders also is.  This is something I've had time thinking about and thinking about how to change for the better.  I learned I'm a horrible fisherman.  I also learned I love hammocks.  I learned that being kind to others pays off and that there's a lot more good people in the world than bad.

I think most of all I've learned what I really want and that most of what we want, use, and have is not what we need.  Sometimes our needs change depending on weather and desire, like rain pants and watermelon.  Sometimes our need is a machete or lighter, even though we don't NEED one.  We all can reevaluate our needs vs desires vs the "what can make my life easier" type things.  Sometimes what we think will make our life easier might actually make us board-er or lazier.  And sometimes we don't realize that when our lives become harder that we can look at it as more challenging,  or even as something we can learn from.  Now I'm no self help guru but I've learned that we must challenge ourselves, we must go into uncomfortable situations.  Quit your job if you hate it so much.  Do what you love, even if it puts your life at risk, because, afterall, today is just as good a day as any to die, or to live.

Go to Facebook and like "dogehio river adventure"
Eriks blog " reddit.Com and search dogehio

Bald eagle count -23
Mile marker-978 of ohio river
Times Erik and or I have said the word "boom"- 12,523
Dead carp floating (to our knowledge) 9374748

day 42: back on the river almost to Mississippi river

So I've left out a lot of detail about this weekend.  We had an awsome time due to great people being generous.  Also had amazing whether.   Yesterday was great as we had a camp sight under a half used 30 million dollar building.  There was a homeless dude sleepin near our site but he didn't give us any bother.  We were just happy he was alive.  Our good friend Lindsay was sooo close to joining us for the next 50 miles of the ohio but backed out at the last second when she heard the whether would drop into the 40s.  It's all good some people have their priorities where they need them and don't want to mess that up.  We would have loved to have a 3rd member of the party and shown her what true adventure is like on the river.  Oh well.  Today I got some supplies in town and now a proud owner of a fanny pack.  It's a very clutch piece of equipment!

At the outdoors store I was at I ran I to another river traveler.  I won't say his name but his story was craaaazy.  He used to work outside area 51 for the government in an underground facility.  He started leaking information about their secrets and they gave him an illness that kills slowly as punishment.  It's a bacteria that eats away at the brain and is very painful.  But he's doing this trip because he's literally dying and wanted to see the rivers before he left this planet.  Great kid but it's taken him 6 months to get as far as we've got in 1.5.  I know, shouldn't be bragging about getting more miles, but I just did.

Anyway, Erik saved our life as he spotted a lock and dam 100 yards before we went over a waterfall.  This lock was built in 1928 and they are still working on it.  Erik has some amazing ideas that will probably change the world, literally.

Anyway I hit up a casino tonight to charge phone.  I played once and won 4.80 on 1 dollar.  I bought a beer with my winnings.

But I gotta tell yinz that we are hitting the Mississippi tomorrow at sun down and there are not a lot of places to re supply and charge phones, let alone Internet and phone reception so there will be days where I can't post blogs and pictures.  I will write down the adventure with a thing called a pen onto something called paper, I hope these things have spell chex.

Mile 944
Bald eagle count -21
Beard weight- 7 lb 3 oz
# of times people gave asked "where ya headed?"- 423
# of times people say"that's a long way to go!"-746

day 41: pirates and steelers win

What a weekend. Paducha is the greatest city I've ever seen.  We took a 2 day rest, watched football, ate good food, and relaxed.

day 40: Mr and Mrs Barnum are heros and amazing

So, a lot has happened, and I apologize for not always keeping yinz 100% up to date with everything that goes on.  Most if that comes from being so exhausted at the end of the day that I don't even care to write the blog.  But I do it anyway.  I also enco utter age you to read Eriks blog too.  It's super dense and usually has the word of the day hidden in the post somewhere, so you could actually learn something.

But Erik and I are still paddling together in his canoe.  We tied off my kayak and are towing that along.  We make better time and can make more informed decisions, plus we crack jokes all day and it helps the time go by.

So now that you have that.  We ate at mile 935 right now in paducah ky.  Awsome town.  Tons of art, bars, great food, and great people.  Last night a good new friend let us stay at her place.  I got a proper shower, food, and a couch to sleep on... it's amazing how we can lose touch with the world sometimes and forget to a appreciate simple things like that.

But ya had a grrrrreat time last night.  Bar hopping in this town is too easy.  I got to play with two local bands with my harmonica,  and obviously people loved it.

Today we chilled out, explored the island, which has a secret landing strip in the middle.  That also explains why we got kicked off the island for "national security issues".  Whatever,  we got a good spot under an old abandoned factory.

Mr and Mrs Barnum, wow.  They are Eriks parents and drove from cincinnati to help Erik and I resupply.   They got us food and clothes, and even bought dinner.  They have been a great part of this trip and their generosity is out of this world.  Good company is always a plus as well.

But I'm done, leaving tomorrow, 50 more miles on the ohio then it's time for the Mississippi.  I'm having a great time and I hope I don't get depressed when this is over.  I guess I'll just try and enjoy every minute of every day.

Also this is awsome, Erik got an interview on coin desk.com.  it's basically the Forbes of Internet currency.  Great stuff, share it with your friends
Coindesk.com