8-24-17

My first full day on the river was great! It started off early with a phone call from my old middle school, Clinton Rosette. Despite having no service at the campsite, I learned that walking about 200 yards down a 4wheeler trail yielded 1 to 2 bars...enough to make a few calls. My first conversation went well, and I'm excited to team up with my old middle school to make a class project out of my adventure. Throughout the 2,300+ miles I will be checking in with the class and working with them on projects such as US geography, historical towns along the river and sharing the various natural wonders I encounter, all while telling stories from the journey. While all of that is good and well, the aspect I am most excited about is working with the kids to help them understand that any goal is possible. That it is OK to be different and have different goals than those around you. More to come on that in the future.

After my call with Clinton Rosette I made two calls to the classrooms in South Dakota I am working with. The first was a video chat with a room full of 5th and 6th graders, and by my account it went great. It was our first chat and I felt we laid the groundwork for the rest of the adventure.
The second call was to a 4th grade class in South Dakota, and boy were they excited. The massive snapping turtle that was "the size of one of your desks" seemed to get the room riled up! Lol!

For each classroom I am working with I have printed off an awesome map that my aunt turned me onto. It is hanging in each classroom and the kids can update each week with what towns I have stopped in or been through. Pretty cool!

After the calls were wrapped up I hit the water around 1pm. A later start than I would have liked, but I was feeling good having the 1st contact with my classes out of the way.

The paddling was easier than day 1, but not by a whole lot. A several mile stretch of low water required me to walk my boat for a few hundred feet, then hop back in when I thought I had enough water to paddle, only to get back out and walk a few hundred feet later. Most of the day was spent paddling, but the getting in and out of my boat is what sticks in my mind. I also had to work around 6 beaver dams, and got the first portage out of the way as well.

After 10.5 miles I got to camp at about 6pm, set up the tent, cooked some pasta and called it a night. All in all a good 1st full day on the water!