October 13th, 2009 → 5:36 pm @ Ryan Jeanes
First… The Thank You Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. This was special. This was a dialogue. This was us entertaining you, and I think that’s special. I think there might not be a more holy union than two people, whether it be Phil writing to you or me writing to [...]
October 12th, 2009 → 11:36 am @ Ryan Jeanes
Where are we now? Library in the Secret City, Oak Ridge, TN. The film festival is done. We did not get an award, but several people came up to us and told us The Hitchhiking Movie was kick-ass. Phil and I cringed through scenes that we would have changed – the intro was too long, oh my [...]
October 9th, 2009 → 4:57 pm @ Ryan Jeanes
The End Game – Part I How does one end something? For me it was paddling like mad to the finish, no pain, no glory, just paddling. My muscles were like something possessed; I felt like I had to finish. Phil kept it up with quicker and quicker strokes; he could see the end, he [...]
October 6th, 2009 → 10:15 am @ Ryan Jeanes
There is no more paddling to do and things are quieter. Weird. There are no more beans to make on the riverbank, no more news crews to notify, no more fights to be had over continuing down the curve or cutting to the next bank, no more clacking of paddles, no more singing of dirty [...]
October 4th, 2009 → 10:28 pm @ Phillip Hullquist
There is a feeling you get after battling 20 mph headwinds all morning, after eating nothing but trail mix all day in order to meet a deadline, after getting the first glimpse of the ocean far in the distance, after paddling together without missing a stroke for nearly 10 minutes during the final stretch, after [...]
October 3rd, 2009 → 6:00 am @ Ryan Jeanes
Natchez, MS Courtney is magnanimous – money flowing, love. He says, “I’m gonna take y’all out t’night an’ I don’ wanna hear no shit about you can’t cuz…” I cut him off: “Not a peep out of us.” Smile. It’s The Corner Bar again. The same bar we met. The same bar where the newspaperman [...]
October 1st, 2009 → 6:00 am @ Phillip Hullquist
“Can you hear me out there?” the loudspeaker on a nearby barge crackled loudly. I waited for what I thought was coming next: This barge captain is probably upset we’re in his way in this busy traffic corridor. Barges are scrambling around on both sides of the river like giant ants moving their loads. But [...]
September 29th, 2009 → 6:00 am @ Phillip Hullquist
The times, they are a-changin’ (and the boats on the Mississippi too!). We paddled into Baton Rouge on a bright Saturday afternoon, our first city in the last state on the Mississippi River. Ryan generally tries to give the news media a “heads up” about our journey a day or so prior to arriving in [...]
September 27th, 2009 → 6:00 am @ Ryan Jeanes
“Show me how y’all do what you do!” I have no idea what to tell him, no idea how we do what we do. We normally ride up into a town like a couple of scraggly ruffians and people start asking questions: “What’chall doin’?” “Are you guys bikers, paddlers, runners, killers?” “You guys smell horrible, [...]
September 25th, 2009 → 6:00 am @ Phillip Hullquist
An old story I read as a child told of a farm-hand who promised the farmer when he was hired, “I can sleep on windy nights.” The farmer didn’t understand what he meant until the night of a terrible storm in which the farmer was certain all his hay would be blown away. His new [...]