Saturday, January 14, 2012

Swamp People

Goal to New Orleans: 1,865 miles
Paddled since last blog: 229 miles
Total paddled: 1,561 miles
To go: 304 miles
Current location: Baton Rouge
Granola bars consumed since last blog: 16 Total: 137
Fun Size Snickers: 6 more bars Total: 51
Days Paddled: 53



We have made it to Baton Rouge (translation: French: hot dog). We paddled two days through extreme fog where we decided our safest bet was to stay right along shore. We used our nautical band radio to talk to a barge parked along shore and the nice captain told us about Channel 13. 


Paddling Lesson #13
If you are monitoring a channel expecting to hear barge captains talking, and they NEVER talk to each other, you are probably monitoring the wrong channel.


Now we know they talk all the time, topics include: what side they are passing on (1 or 2), the new automatic fog horn, and how much they hate kayakers. They assume that we don't have a radio and can't hear them question our sanity on Channel 13. Wrong! But Liddell doesn't like confrontation, so they still don't know. We have initiated conversations and gotten kind responses. In all honesty, most conversations and interactions have been positive, but one captain was a douchebag. 


Some of our avid readers have been asking us what we think about while paddling. We have trouble answering this question due to the depth of intellectuality, but here it goes:


the water is sparkly that stick looks like a gremlin i wonder what kind of bird that is when will liddell have to pee again i'm hungry woah that tree has leaves i think it's been 3 minutes since i looked at my watch, oh crap it's been 4 how long will it take us to paddle to that red leaf up there cream cheese sounds good i haven't seen a green buoy in a while the green buoys are called can buoys red buoys are nun buoys when the barge captains say one whistle it means passing on the right like in america man some barge captains don't like us most are actually nice though i wonder if they've had bad experiences with kayakers my porgies are wet it seems like the river is turning left now i'm hungry that cloud looks like a giant staple remover i wonder if we can race this barge fried foods sound good man this sparkly water is going to give liddell really bad sunglasses burn that stick looks like a loch ness monster i wonder if that's a white pelican....... 


We plan on getting to the Gulf of Mexico in about a week! Then we'll paddle the remaining 65ish miles of the French Broad when it has more water in it. Until next time, remember


Paddling Lesson #7567
On the Mississippi River, fog will never be mist. 
birds
Kara's dream home
Typical house
fog
Hot Dog

5 comments:

  1. those girls are crazy i wonder if you get calluses on your butt maybe its safer than bicycling i hope they aren't planning on camping in new orleans did they really eat gator i was only joking about that i hope the weather holds out oh no everyone in the family uses bad puns mist really do they go 14 days without showers it is impressive the willpower i'm really glad that Liddell's parents have been keeping track those girls are crazy i can't wait to see them

    Love you.

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  2. Hi ladies!

    Glad you got some hot showers and rest with Callie and JD in Memphis!

    Stay strong,

    KT

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  4. Ummm....it's "red stick", not hot dog

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