day 34: evansville:below average pizza and hammock in the sky

Evansville, mile 793.
After getting hammocks set up last night the city of evansville had no disappointments.  Half decent bar we ate at and destroyed a bacon cheeseburger.   After a few drinks we ran into a sorta local that took us to a comedy club.  She was probably funnier than the people performing.  She left, I forget her name.  We ended up bar hopping and I jammed with my harmonica with a guitarist and it was awsome.  We ended up making up songs and I almost got in a fight because I made a song about someone's blue hoody.  Erik and I got a pretty good kick out of that.

Long story short I set up a hammock 10 ft above the ground, sooooo sweet it is.

We went back into town, got food, but the pizza was horrible.  Evansville is an awsome city, it's got a great park, a few skyscrapers, and a ww2 museum ship in the middle of the river.  They also have a walmart and casino.

We at a sports bar now, watched football all day and recooped.   Ready now to hit the river tomorrow.

If we get 30 miles per day for 6 days well be at the Mississippi by this Saturday, hard to believe.

day 33: spider miracles and my birthday

Today, was a good day, 34 miles of a good day.  Through a lock and over water we went.  A spider started making a Web in the boat in between my knees, a miracle.  Also it's my birthday, thank you.

In Evansville,  looking for food, mile 793.
Monday and Tuesday 70 miles
Wednesday- 20 miles
Thursday 30 miles
Friday 40 miles
Saturday 34 miles and time to spare

Cold at night here, it's getting excited.  The universe has been very gracious on this journey and I'm loving everyday.  The only way our days will feel like the same as the last is when we fail to recognize the great things that happen every sunrise.

day 32: paddling north in the dark, bad idea

North winds are strong tonight. We decided to paddle at night to get to an island, which we did but not until after an insane day.

Woke up in a hammock, I love my life.  Then I ate a bunch of my fruit medley, which is peanuts, almonds, cashews, peacons, freeze dried kiwi, strawberry, mango, peaces, apples, and bananas. I love my life.

We then shot outta the gates after a lock and destroyed the river.  Fastest and hardest day of pure insane paddling.  Think about paddling a boat as fast as you can.  Now think about doing that for 7 hours non stop.  We got 35 miles in that time. That's 5 mph for 7 hours.  Usually we go about 3.2 mph.  Erik and I are literally turning into beasts.  Not sure how but Erik wakes up 2 hours before me and still has more energy, next level.

Not too much happened on the river except we murdered it and buried it. And oh ya, we decide to night paddle for 4 miles, bad idea.  We got tossed around because the wind picked up to 20mph once the sum fell.  Also we went past an industry at night where there were barges, very dangerous,  this shouldnt but probably will happen again, sorry mom.

Anyway we got a kick ass fire started on a private island beach.  Tomorrow is my birthday and I hope to get to Evansville where there is a casino.  I love my life.  It seems the less I think and try the easier things are and the more the universe guides me in the right direction.

Getting cold out here.
Bald eagle count-12
Mile 761. 220 to go on ohio

Night beard update:

Day beard update coming soon

day 31: my arms are my motor... rain too

Road ends in water, what A sign.

Today was simple. Rain and wind and cold.  Half way through we stole some corn from a field.
30 miles later we are cold and wet and ready to sleep. But we still have to eat then get through a lock.

Amen.

Day fricken' 30: Crazy night, crazy fish, and still only half crazy

I don't know how well pictures will upload but I have a few good ones from today and just wanted to get post up first. Service is bad out here.

Okay so after paddling 70 miles on a full moon we decided to pass out in a place I called rock city.  I have 1 picture.  It was basically a coast line of rocks yet it was somehow navigable and a great place to camp.  Hell, anywhere after 70 miles of paddling is a great place to camp.

After napping in the afternoon, waking up to eat and read, and then passing out again some crazy stuff happened.  First without me even waking up Erik was approached by a guy in the woods who was just as startled to see him as Erik was to him.  The guy shreeked and ran away.  Then, who knows how much after this happened,  the boat magically untied itself and started floating away.  This is odd because we always put good knots on our boats.  But apparently it worked itself off and started to float away.  But, being the jedi master Yoda that I am, instinctively woke up just as this was happening. I honestly think a spirit guide woke me up, but I'll take credit anyway.  I got in my kayak Paddled downstream and reattached the canoe to the kayak.  What a night.

When we woke the weather band radio magically worked after weeks of not working.  The weather for the day? "Severe and frequent lightening, scattered tornados, damaging winds, heavy and large hail, and possible flash flooding". As Erik and I heard this we looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and said "we'll be alright, let's get to the next town."  And off we went.

As we approached the next town there was a small bar called Peggy sues or something like that, and we decided to stop in, fill our water, and recheck the weather.  After ordering some amazingly good and amazingly cheap food we found that the weather would be bad, but only rain and possible lightening.  All the worse weather was up north.

The bar we were in was pretty cool, we got to control the TV and there were hundreds of $1 bills tacked to the walls and ceiling.  There were also some other people there that, once again, thought we were crazy when we told them what we were doing.  Great people though.

We headed out and just as we were approaching the our camp, which 7500bc- 30 ad years ago used to be an Indian village, a fish just 1 ft from the boat literally 5 ft above the water.  Erik thinks it must have been getting chased by a river monster.

Welp that's that.  100% chance of rain tonight but if I need to I can sleep in the restroom by the dock we are at.  What a life I live.

Suggested readeds: "the alchemist" Paulo Coelho"

day 29, ufo, full moon, sinister fog, and signs from the devil lead to record night

We decided to night paddle, because it was a full moon.  When passing by fort Knox I saw the strangest lights.  It goes deeper than just that but for now I'll leave it at the circular, multi colored disk at Fort Knox was or was not something significant.

Anyway I seen a shooting star horray.  The fog lasted 10 hours.  And now we're at mile 672, as yesterday morning we were at 602.  Now I'm delirious and tired.

day 28: bringing the gold back to Fort Knox

At the moment we are 7 miles from Fort Knox.  It is a full moon tonight and we are getting ready for a night paddle.  If there's ever a night to pass fort Knox, it's this one, a full moon night.
This morning and all day has been nothing short of weird and awsome.  Right as we were coming through downtown louisville a boat cop stopped us and asked us what we were doing.  After talking for a while he seemed excited about the trip and wished us luck.  Not long after we decided to pull off on another island and explore, as we thought the island was hiding some govt  secrets, not the case.
After passing through the lock I found a beer unopened in the river and Erik and I decided because it's an adventure that we might as well drink it.  Only minor upset stomach occured.

We got 27 miles today but that number will soon change as we have a 4 pack of red bull, a full moon, and plenty of will power.  I'm excited to see where we end up as tonight's adventure is its own adventure in and of itself.  The picture below is where I'm writing this from.  Peace and happy full moon.