Post #18: Heather

We have a shuttle.  Heather has offered her services to us  and will meet us at Fort Peck on 6/21. She will make the 2.5 hour drive back to Williston with our car and meet us 5-7 days later.  I hope the weather cooperates and allows me to paddle Fort Peck Lake in ample time. This is one less logistical problem I have to deal with before launching. Great.

Post #17: MSR

While doing general maintenance on our MSR Dragonfly stove, I discovered a frozen fuel jet. I tried every chemical known to man to loosen the jet. My neighbor, Chris, even applied heat to the bottom of the stove. We couldn't budge it. I contacted MSR and Austin told me to bring it in and they would take a look at it. I made the forty minute drive to Seattle and thanks to Scout I found the warranty office in a non-descript building nested among produce storage buildings and rows of trucks being loaded and unloaded.
It took Iris less then ten minutes to rebuild the stove. No charge! The decade old DragonFly works like new now.

Post #16: Shuttle

I thought it would be easy to arrange for a shuttle between Fort Peck and Williston, ND. This has become the most difficult and frustrating organizational item that I have encountered.

When Ellen and I floated the White Cliffs section of the Missouri River a few years ago, we arranged for a school teacher from Fort Benton to drive our car from Coal Banks to Judith Landing. It worked well and we were able to help out a poorly paid teachers. We know, because we both put in our service time with high school kids.

Surfing the net for Williston High School was not a problem. Our email was sent out to the principal of the school and we immediately got a reply. He said his retired school teacher wife would be interested in doing the shuttle. He had a few questions about the details in the first email. Then later he asked about airfare and motel accommodations. Hmmmmmm. The principal, two retired teachers, and one teacher, finally put it all together. That Williston High School was in Florida, not North Dakota. Too funny.

I contacted the real Williston High School and the principal forwarded our request to his staff. No one responded. He tried again and again no one responded. In fact, I received a phone call from the superintendent of the district questioning my request. I just wanted to help out a teacher by paying them to drive our car 2.5 hours from Fort Peck to Williston. That would be 5 hours of driving and I was willing to pay per diem plus $100 and gas expenses. If I saw that email when I was teaching I would have jumped at the opportunity.

The same request went out to several school districts in the general area. All of them very small districts. I even tried the Chamber of Commerce in Fort Peck and in Williston and never received a reply.

Finally, a commercial shuttle business 22 miles from Fort Peck indicated he could shuttle us for $3,300!

Ellen wondered out loud if that included champagne.

Recently, we received a phone call from an elementary school teacher that said she was interested in helping us out. She left a contact number and we have tried it several times since and have not heard from her.

We are now with plan B. Once at the campground near the bridge on Highway 85 just west of Williston, we will put-in. Ellen will stay with the gear and kayaks. I will walk into town and catch the train to Nashua and hitchhike the 18 miles to Fort Peck. It will be the cheaper, longer, and the more risky option. Leaving Ellen alone in Williston is not a great idea. Having Ellen negotiate the 18 miles from Nashua to Fort Peck is a higher risk.

I like riding trains. My running shoes will be on me.

Post #15: Jillian Michaels

I get out of bed after my wife finishes her morning workout at around 5:45 am.  I let the pups out, put my runners on, grab my mat, set up the Jillian Michaels DVD, and do a quick warmup.  By the time the DVD boots up my joints are ready for a workout with Jillian.  Depending on which workout I do, it will last from 20 minutes to 60 minutes.  I then feed the pups and do my four mile run.  I shower and have a smoothie for breakfast and then check email to see if Ellen made it to work safely.  Around 9 am I take the pups on their daily walk.  Afterwards I begin my daily chores and start working outside. I have lunch when I get hungry and Ellen is normally home around 4:30 pm.  Dinner, lunch, and breakfast have been gultan free, sugarless, salt less, dairy free, wheat free, and corn free for the last month.  That was tough for the first few weeks.  Now my palate has adjusted.  I found that gulten free beer is great tasting.  It is hard to find.  I will never find it on this trip.

It has been over two months of DVD workouts (which initially kicked my butt) and I like what they have done to my core and arms. By late May, I hope I will be in shape for this journey.

Post #14: Gifts

Ellen gave me a few insightful items for my 65th birthday. The neoprene grips will delay tired hands.
The coffee cup holder attaches to the deck via a strong suction cup. She also researched and found a great sail from WindPaddle Sails in Oregon for kayaking in the wind.  I'm hoping an old Irish blessing will help with "May the road rise up to meet you/ May the wind be always at your back/ May the sun shine warm upon you face ..." 

Post #13: Weather App

RadarScope has a weather application for my Android.  It will alllow me to track storms wherever I am located with auto updates every 5 to 10 minutes.  I feel safer already.

Post #12: Deck Bags

Purchased and installed two new deck bags recently.  The smaller one is secured inside the cockpit and under the deck.