charitytravelers.com

The river had been high but is slowely lowering.  Two days ago was the first time I actually could see the dikes from the surface of the water and buoys were not fully submerged.  Tom and I split up over a week ago and will probably meet up somewhere between St. Louis and Memphis on the Mississippi.

The other day on the river…

I woke up to to yoga on the beach I was sleeping on, paddled to a bar with live folk music for lunch and camped out at a boat ramp after having some fishermen tie up my boat and drag me behind them while carying a net to catch flying carp.  I only caught 4 but was probably hit by at least 30.  I call it bravery only because I did not tip, otherwise, stupid. But hey, I did it once.

Bill and I laid on a sandbar for hours just reading, only to stop and dance the “robot” at the trains crossing the nearby bridge trying to get them to whistle, 2/5.

I had a construction worker yell from the bridge he was working on “You’re living my dream man!” I paddled to the complexity of the emotion let after those words for hours and simplified it to one thing, amazing.

I broke down and pulled to the bank to call my father and tell him I love him, and that I was proud to be his son.

I fell asleep with mace in one hand and my flashlight in the other only to wake the next morning and find peoples footprints all around my kayak and tent.

I had yet another man, no, overgrown boy say the comment “Well if you see any of those girls don’t be afriad to bring them around here,” after I told them I was trying to raise money for women who have been trafficked into the sex slave industry.  One of the moments where you don’t even bother to fake a smile.

I felt like a badass pulling over at a boat ramp in the thunder and rain and throwing my tarp over a Lewis and Clark sign for shelter.

I won $20 on the penny slot machines, making it $90 for the shelter.

I sat at dinner table with a family and talked about all the things we took for granted.

I decided I have seen more than my share of Great Blue Herons and almost posted a sign on my kayak “WANTED: Eclectic Variety of Native Birds”.

I showered with a hose in the basement of a bait house while whistling the happiest tune I know.

I laid with my head towards the mesh door of my tent so I could look at the stars and avoid falling asleep because I realized 2/3 of the trip was over.

Everyday on the river…

I have people tell me I’m living their dream.

I watch the world work around me while I paddle through it.

I fall more in love with the moments.

I feel free.

But now as I sit at this computer I can feel her waiting for me, and for that, I love her.

-          Charles

TOM

Reporting from St. Joseph Missouri:

For the record: I have nothing against Aerosmith. I am not such a fan of leaving kayaks (even hidden) underneath a bridge frequented by vagrants (myself included) or ear blasting sound.

After Omaha Charles and I had split for the day intending to camp together. As I drifted I was lucky enough to be hailed by Kyle. He was making an over night trip down to Nebraska City in a small Old Town kayak. With Charles’s directions we arrived at his camp and found him at the local bar (not a quarter mile walk). It was quite the happening place. The next day Kyle took us back to his “crib” where I did maintenance on my always irritating skeg and we were on our way by nightfall.
After Charles and I split for pacing issues (60 mile days, while feasible, is more than I care for) I have been enjoying the scenery of the river. As ever the blue herons are nearly a swarm and I’ve drifted less then 10ft from them. I have had little company except for them. Last night I pulled over in the quickly darkening evening. I had been misinformed on the location of the St. Joe’s Casino and had gone past the last noted campsite. I met Mike and Theresa who were kind enough to let me stay in the yard. They had just gotten back from Chili’s and offered me a whole leftover rack of ribs. The cartoon of a character dropping a rack of ribs down their mouth and pulling it out as just bones is rather apt. Along with an ice cold beer this deeply hit the spot. I thank them again. After allowing rain clouds to pass over in the morning I was on my way down to the town. I pulled out at Terrible’s Casino and had a great buffet. I have since gotten a ride into town and toured 3 museums including the Glore Physiatric Museum which was rather eerie. I once again resupplied on reading material and look forward to visiting a friend in KC.

-Tom

SAFE, Shelter & Aftercare Inc. partnering with Wings of Shelter Int’l Inc.  has opened the first long term shelter in the state of Florida dedicated specifically to female minor age victims rescued out or  Human Sex  Slavery/ Trafficking.   We work with FBI, Sheriff’s Offices, ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement)-who has placed our first 4 girls in our home.  January 2010,   SAFE  house  opened its doors as a family style model with House Parents to hold 5 girls at a time.  We provide a healthy family model, education, counseling, medical needs, mentoring, while assessing the individual needs of each teen victim trapped in the deceptive, traumatizing crime of human trafficking.The program is designed for a minimum of 9 months stay because restoration is a process.  We serve on the Task Force in Lee County, and collaborate with surrounding counties to make a difference in awareness and education of the public to Florida’s shameful reputation of being #3 in human trafficking activity out of the 50 states.  We are all custodians of our community.  Thank you for your support  in our efforts to rescue and restore minor age girls that have been victims of the organized crime of sexual slavery.

www.safe-refuge.org

After leaving the library yesterday Tom and I found a ride back to our kayaks that were hidden behind some weeds on a steep muddy bank of the river.  We both nearly fell in trying to get back into them and paddle/drifted to the next bridge where we saw two police officers on motorcycles and asked if we could camp underneath of it.  “The only ones who would have a problem with it would be us, and we don’t have a problem with it.”

They informed us of an Aerosmith concert taking place within a mile of the river and told us we would be safe there for the night and that they would alert the other officers.

Tom not being a fan of arguably one of the greatest rock bands of all times wanted to stay and watch the boats.  I didn’t fight him in this want haha.  I purchased one of the last 94 remaining tickets and found myself in the nosebleed section next to two big fans, Robert and Judy, who bought me a beer during intermission.  The rest of the evening resulted in what normal concerts are known for…drunken people falling in the stands screaming at the top of their lungs to words they can’t hear because the noise is so deafening…and I was right there with them, minus the drunken part.

Afterwards I walked back to the bridge in awe that they can still rock for no less than 2 ½ hours after over 30 years of touring to find Tom wide awake on his deflated air mattress (it’s had a hole in it since the first week, I told him to buy a Thermarest but he didn’t want to listen :p).  I heard music coming from a bar near buy and decided to check it out.

Eventually I found myself playing bongo’s (I play a variety of different drums at home) to Latin music and eventually dancing with a group that meets there every Thursday night to dance until 1am when I finally decided it was just too much for one day and I needed some sleep.

I awoke this morning to the sound of thunder and the mist of rain water blowing in the wind.  I love waking up under bridges, especially in the rain.

Currently I am back at the Omaha Library after waiting outside with the mob of homeless people for it to open to update this site one final time before we push on, though the weather doesn’t seem to want that to happen right now.

Once again – I spend the days dreaming of all the things I want to do in life and the nights dreaming of waking up, literally living the dream.

-Charles

TOM

The miles fly by. After a very enjoyable visit with my parents (thanks for dinner mom and dad!) we made 35 miles just drifting! After Sioux City we have to be a bit more careful because there are numerous hazards in the water (buoys, whirlpools, dikes, debris). Unfortunately the wind has been a constant southeast wind. On the otherhand the weather has been much cooler and we’ve slept remarkable well in the last few days. As miles glide by we rapidly approach the Missouri stretch where I hope to paddle with friends and classmates.

The key to enjoying this stretch is to be spontaneous and open to experiences as they arrive. We arrived in Omaha, NE with no more than a desire to eat something else than what comes out of plastic wrappers. Instead we have had the chance to tour a wonderful air and naval memorial. This included several huge (30,000 lb) anchors as well as several propellers and 3 decommissioned navy vessels. I was able to replenish my utter lack of reading material at a great local bookstore. We have also bumped into a bicyclist who pointed us to a local brewery. The Upstream Brewery is an excellent craft brewery with 12 brews with several brews changed seasonally. We ordered the sampler (what else would we have ordered?) and got to try them all. Jake, our bartender, also arranged for 2 of the brewers to take us through the actual brewery part of the restaraunt. Here we got to see the >15 barrel setup and try some of the mystical Heffeweizen soon to be dispensed. It was truly a pleasure. If you are ever in the are this should definitely be a stop. Tonight we plan on camping with Jesse (the bicyclist).

Less I sound dismissive of this stretch; the scenery is beautiful, the blue herons are bountiful and camping is plentiful. Each day the scenery slides by in a blur that is over all to quick. As we approach the distance halfway mark I find myself in more and more reflection of the beauty we’ve seen, both of the natural and human variety. The trip has reached a comfortable rhythm of paddling and enjoying life; one which I will be loathe to give up. But for all that I begin to think about some of the amenities that I’ve left behind and look forward to those as well. Either way there are miles to be paddled; see you on the river.

CHARLES

The current is amazing though it just makes the trip go faster…pros and cons I guess.  For this post I’ve decided to just show the texts I send out to my friends at the end of each day.

On river at 9am.  30 easy miles to Ponca.  Walked  a mile to a shower, 4 showers at 4 different locations in 5 days!  13 for the trip, 79 days. (8/15/10)

These people are letting us camp near their site so we don’t have to pay a fee and are playing Elton John and classic rock while I sit in my tent…awesome! No sarcasm, I love Elton John. (8/15/10)

Woke at a comfortable time and paddled to Sioux City.  I hiked to Arby’s while Tom watched the boats.  Paddled til storm came close at 4pm, 38 miles.  Attractive women gave us beer at boat ramp we camped at. (8/16/10)

Clouds all day, good current, 33 miles.  I spend the days dreaming of all the things I want to do and the nights dreaming of waking up.  Literally living the dream. (8/17/10)

Dodged buoys through a minefield of rolling water and whirlpools for 54 miles today in a relentless headwind, good day.  (8/18/10)

Had amazing burger at Billy Froggs Bar in Omaha today, met a guy who is cycling from Montreal-Argentina and will camp with him under bridge tonight, ordered the 12 tasters at the Upstream Brewery…not a bad day…probably only going to make it 12 miles. (8/19/10)  www.jessesteiner.com

…. That’s about all, I’ve developed a game to wear out Bill at the end of the night so I can actually sleep.  All I did was tie an empty Gatorade bottle (which has another use, You can guess what it is rather than me telling you on the site) to the end of a rope and have him run circles around me for a few minutes before I call it a night…works great.

“Travel is fatal to bigotry, prejudice and narrow-mindedness. Broad wholesomeness and charitable views cannot be acquired by vegetating in one tiny corner of the globe.”
~Mark Twain

-Charles

TOM

We have finally finished the lakes. We knew this day was coming or at least we prayed for it to come and it has finally arrived. We watch the river flow and the feeling is indescribable. I could not do it justice if I tried, and so I won’t. After Chamberlain we paddled Francis Case Lake without much event. We enjoyed the peaceful solitude and clear water while we could. The last day of the lake does bear mentioning. The days had been extremely hot but the final day started as fog. As we got onto the lake both sides disappeared in the thick fog. With GPS and a compass this wasn’t so much of a problem as a joy since the sun was blocked. When we finally go to the Ft. Randall dam after 27 miles of lake, we were met by two brothers (Mike and Tom) from the Lower Brule Reservation. They helped us up and over the dam and got us to the tail waters campground. Later that evening they took us to their beautiful home and we enjoyed barbeque chicken, brats, hot dogs and hamburgers. We played some cards and got a ride back to the tents.

Within 2 days we were over the last dam in Yankton. Along the first current we had seen in ages we met Skip and his family on a tiny island, who hooked us up with some food and beer. It was a great stop to get us out of the sun. The second day we vaguely hoped to get over the dam but things just worked out (as often seem to do on this trip). When we reached the down shore state campground we were actually asked by a family (Kevin and Deb Kleinschmidt) if we would like a ride over the dam. This good luck was further compounded by the fact that we didn’t meet a single car while crossing the bridge. This requires a little explanation, when we load both of our kayaks onto a truck they stick out a substantial distance and on the very narrow dam we would have been unable to squeeze by another vehicle. To celebrate the last night we decided to order some pizza but were stopped because pizza hut didn’t deliver to our campsite. Kevin and Deb had been going into town and so volunteered to pick up our pizza and go out of their way to bring it back to us. Pizza never tasted so good.

We are currently staying in Vermillion SD, and waiting for my parents to arrive tomorrow. They have kindly taken time to drive down and visit for a day and so we look forward to the time to resupply and stay a day in AC. Well that is all from me.

CHARLES

Finally done with the damn dams….I’ve been waiting 77 days and 1,800 miles to say that joke.  Although I am extremely excited for the 1,900 miles of free flowing river ahead me, I did slowly fall in love with the lakes.  You really start to get into them after awhile.  But…paddling 10 hours and making 60 miles sounds a lot better than the 30 I am use to.

Yesterday Tom and I were on the river just after 7am and paddled until noon when the wind kicked up.  There were several houses along the shore and we pulled over by “The Huberts” home (or so it said on a rock facing the water).  No one was home so we laid in their lawn and ate/read/slept for hours with the sound massive cottonwoods swaying in the wind.  Around 430pm it started to calm down but we could see rain approaching so we decided to take our chances and meet the owner when they returned home from work.

We took several things into consideration about how to approach them when they arrived and make it as little weird as possible.  We sat in front of their driveway on a small cliff of rocks (I was farther down so when I would stand up they would not see my height), tom would do the talking (since my physical appearance has not been useful when finding rides along this trip so far…honestly, Tom gets us all the rides/camp spots/food, people seem to always say no to me even though we ask in the same manner and tone, we blame on my hair that protrudes vertical from my sun visor (people think it is fake until I take the hat off))…we had Bill in his life jacket so he looked even cuter than normal…and we had it planned where we would go if they said no to us camping there.

What we did not plan is that when they would get home they would go directly into the house after obviously seeing us sitting there…this is what happened.  So Tom knocked on the door and eventually a young man named Kyle answered…he immediately recognized me from 2 lakes ago (St. Francis Lake) after seeing me on the river because of my hair!  The rest of the night consisted of sitting by a campfire with him and his friends and sleeping in a nice, warm bed.

Many people have emailed asking about my “charity” portion of this trip.  The organization I am trying to raise money for is a shelter for women who have been trafficked into the sex/slave industry.  It’s located in SWFL and opened last March.  Completely run by volunteers and funded by donations.  I went to lunch with the director of the shelter before this trip and was thoroughly convinced that the distribution of the funds received would be put solely towards the victim’s aftercare.   www.safe-refuge.org

When people ask what is the hardest thing about this trip is, I tell them it hasn’t happened yet, and that will be admitting…it’s over.  It feels great to be living life.

Sometimes you wish you could write to the world and have its response contain all the little moments you missed while living in yours, tell you stories you could never dream, show you perspectives you’ve never seen.  You’d express your emotions, and it would tell where they came from.  The perfect pen pal. 

You travel and meet many faces.  Dive into the depths of souls while they reach out to you in conversation about their lives, in awe of yours.  They see you as something greater, and you want to tell them, I’m not.  I’m just as confused at times, I feel like I lose my lines before they turn into voice, sometimes I feel like I have no freedom of choice.  But you don’t.  You tell the sacrifice it takes to make moments like this happen, and leave it at that.  They rise in spirits by difference in normality you provide just by having a conversation, and you could not take that away from them.

You realize how self absorbed you truly are, how all the actions of the day revolve around what’s important, you.  Sure charity work gives you a joy in helping others.  But deep down, it simply makes you feel better about yourself. 

Sometimes Tom will call people who help us out a “godsend”.  I don’t like that term, it makes me fill with guilt because even at our worst moments, there are others who are more desperate, exhausted, drained, fatigued with all the ways life could go bad to where death is the only escape.  And here I am getting a car ride around a portage, or a free meal, or food.  Not that an honest appreciation for these moments does not exist, it’s just that…there is more than me.

It’s hard to meet people you wish you could spend more time with.  The type of people who excite the very pulse of your heart with their enthusiasm about life and the joy of learning.  You ask, “Why don’t you live near me?” and you realize that you probably wouldn’t know them if they did.  You have to be out of “your world” to appreciate the beauty in the rest.

Regrets are irrelevant in this time of my life.  They have 0 meaning.  No negative emotion builds about anything that has happened in the past because you are in the moment.  It’s nice to have that freedom, that lightness of thought.

When people ask “what do you do for a living?” I want to respond, “This.”  I want to be part-time in school, work 4 months a year and travel the rest.  That way retirement will never be a dream, it won’t even exist in my vocabulary.  But I don’t, because their responses are hardly encouraging most of the time and my only retaliation is…”I’m doing it now.” 

It’s nice to live a life where you do nothing but observe for awhile and then take your observations and implement them into bettering “your life” when you return back to it.  Lose some materialistic items, find joy in smaller things, grab that silver lining and lasso your friends with it when they complain about what you now consider unimportant worries. 

I am me, and my thoughts are mine.

The last 48 hours of my life – Tom and I woke up after being wind bound on a sand stone beach for two days…well actually a day and a half. Around 3pm the 2nd day the weather calmed down and we could have paddled buuuttt…I didn’t want to. We had our tarp rigged up to provide shade, I had water boiling on the fire and was planning to filter it afterwards and had 3 shots of whiskey in me after losing a few card games to Tom. So we stayed and had probably one of the most relaxing days of my life.


The following morning we were on the river at 7am and made it to little bend on Oahe Lake. It was easy paddling until the last 2 miles before the portage point. The stiff wind kept pushing the rear of my kayak and turning me sideways. Within minutes I was past my tolerance level, but we made it and hauled our kayaks up a slightly steep cliff and waited in exhaustion on the gravel road at the top until a guy came buy with a truck and boat and gave us a ride to the boat ramp on the other side of the ridge. The wind was pushing our bodies around as we loaded our gear on his truck. Once we made it to the ramp we set up camp and spent the night reading, playing cards (I’ve lost 9 out of 11 games, sigh), eating, and fending off biting flies.

We were on the river paddling at 430am the next morning (today) and made it 34 miles to the dam by 1pm. We were paddling on glass, which is efficient paddling, but miserably hot. Once we reached the take out point I helped a guy load up his boat. He showed his appreciation by returning 15 minutes later with a 6-pack. From there we got a ride around the dam and ate lunch at the marina where we met Mike Jones who offered us to stay at his home tonight. Mike actually helped Zane (who we met in Fort Peck earlier on this trip) last year when he paddled this river…what are the odds we meet the same guy who just happened to be at the marina dropping his daughter’s truck off.   He said he would pick us up a campground just 6 miles downriver in Pierre. We paddled to the campground (which involved a portage over a causeway, making it 3 portages in 2 days) and found some people who owned a camper that would let us tie up our boats for the night while we stayed at Mike’s.

During our time at the campground we met a hitchhiker who has been traveling for the past 7 years around the world (Middle East, and US). He and I hiked to the grocery store to get some food. Afterwards Mike called and said he was on his way to pick us up. I let the hitchhiker use my tent for tonight since thunderstorms were in the forecast. Mike picked us up and we went back to meet his family and showered, had a ridiculous amount of walleye, and sleep in beds…ahhh, beds.
Random lines I’ve heard in the past few weeks that have popped into my head periodically…
“I don’t have a dollar in my pocket, I just stepped on my cigarette, but there’s a bar downtown that will give me credit” – trampled by turtles.
“Shi Chya” Rex at the Williston campground.
“There’s just something about shooting a walleye in the face.” – Mike Jones, Pierre
Just random thoughts – It’s amazing how many people are unaware of the issue of human trafficking. When I tell people I am trying to raise money for a shelter for women and girls who have been trapped into the sex industry, they respond by saying they know someone who works at an animal shelter, or a guy will say some joke he would regret if it was on camera. Sigh.
All we hear from fisherman are the same lines.”You have a long way to go” “If I were you I would attach a trolling motor to those kayaks.” “I can’t believe you guys don’t have a fishing pole.”
61 days now. We just finished the largest 3 lakes and only have 3 more to go (all of which do not equal the distance of Lake Oahe that we just completed).

Fort Peck Lake = 5 days, 3 days (solo)

Sakakawea = 6 days

Lake Oahe = 12 days

Cherish the seconds,

Charles

Tom and I have been extremely fortunate on this trip so far. Of course there are days when the wind tests every ounce of tolerance in your body and has you paddling mad at the world for hours while only gaining a few miles that could have been earned in minutes on a good day. But ultimately, we have picked a great time of year and year to paddle this river. The water is extremely high. Lake Sakakawea was at 1848 when we went through. In 1997 it was at 1854. This makes the lakes wider but simultaneously gives us easier camping options. Plus when it goes down a little, we will have a plethora of driftwood to choose from for campfires.

After leaving Washburn a few days ago Tom’s skeg leaked into his back hatch. We were forced to stay at the Cross Ranch State Park for a couple of days to let the glue, that the maintenance guys let us use, dry fully. During that time we helped prep for the Wild West Festival they were going to have that weekend by setting up tepees, moving an antique wagon around, and placing some fence posts. That earned us a free night stay in the tepees and an invite to their staff BBQ. It was a great experience.

There are pros and cons to no wind while paddling. Pros = faster pace, more miles covered, and the joy of saying how calm the water is every few minutes. Cons = HOT and covered in nats. Sometimes I put mosquito netting over my head just so I can breath without eating them or having them find every crack on my face to crawl around. Tom developed a small sunburn and the heat is definitely taking a toll on our enthusiasm to paddled during midday. Wake early and paddle – rest in the heat – paddle a little more before dark seems to be the schedule we are creating.

Bill is working out great. He wakes me early in the morning (which would normally be annoying except for the fact that I need to get up early), sleeps while I paddle, and gives us entertainment at night. He is also, needless to say, a “chick magnet” with his new life jacket…which is fortunate because Tom and I are not exactly getting better looking the longer we are on the river. 53 days now, over 1,000 miles.

I may have put the Prairie Nights Casino out of business yesterday with the amount of food I ate at their buffet…those “unlimited options” don’t come often so I made sure to take full advantage.

Life is always great when looking from the right angle.

Bad connection to upload photos with, will try at next library.

Charles

Currently I am sitting in a casino lobby around mile marker 1257 just across from Beaver Creek on Lake Oahe and a lady named Mrs. Harltand is kind enough to let me use her computer for a moment.

Tom and I have perfected the art of “Guerilla hopping” – that’s when you find yourself stuck on a sandbar and you place your fists on either side of the kayak and lift it with your arms and legs and hop from one end to the other, only to avoid getting out of the kayak, which inevitably, would have saved you time.

We slept in Tepees at the Cross Ranch State Park and met the first African American US forest Ranger (Charles “Chip” Cartwright).

Bismarck – we met a fellow paddler (Eric) just before the first bridge and he paddled with us for a few until he pulled out to meet his wife.  We met them at the Broken Oar Bar later that evening.  Afterwards Tom and I crossed the very busy river (Friday night in good weather) to a marina where we found ourselves talking to locals in their pontoon boats for a few.  A girl named Jessica gave me her number and asked me to call her tomorrow if we were in the area for a ride to town.  Tom and I paddled across the river one more time and camped alongside a corn field on a peninsula where the Heart River enters the Missouri.  The next morning we were woke by the breathing of deer near our tent and found a ride across the Heart River from a guy fishing to the Lincoln State Park.  We toured General Custers home and the Indian lodges before Jessica picked us up.  We had lunch in Bismarck and bought a life jacket for Bill.

Afterwards she gave us a ride to her friend Sue, we had met the day before and we headed out on their pontoon boat to our campsite.  Tom and I packed up and made a whopping 6 miles that day before we met some people on a sandbar that offered us to play German golf and free beer.  We ended up camping there that night and met a man named Rabbit who lived on that island for 3 or 4 months a year during the summer.  He made us an amazing breakfast that morning and we left Bismarck and entered Oahe.

That’s all I have time for, we are in good shape and Bill is still cute.

- Charles