Final Thoughts

As this semester comes to a close I have been able to reflect a lot on myself, the expedition, and the communities we have been warmly welcomed into.

Throughout my life, I have been blessed to go on a few adventures that really pushed me and allowed me to grow. I've always had the mindset that I could do anything, but I didn't really know what that meant until I did this trip. I was really pushed mentally and physically every day on this trip. I really do see more of my capabilities and how far I can really push myself and where my limits are too.

I have also been able to live in this amazing community with so many amazing people that I love so much, but also drive me insane when they don't wash their dishes. I have been so honored to be part of this experience with all these people and it has been a beautiful experience.

The expedition was hard in its self to do, but we were met with some heavy weather that kept us off the river for a while. Most of our paddle day it was raining, heavy winds, and even snow. One of our lunch stops we were so cold that some of us tried to go under a tarp to keep warm from the piercing cold wind that was hitting people with sand. Most of the time we were trying to make up miles from days we had to stop paddling because of the weather so most days we paddled about 25-30+ miles. The expedition was a lot in itself and on top of it, we had a full course load of work.

Something that I never really thought about until the trip actually started was the community I was with. At first, I wasn't too sure about the people I was with, but bit by bit we all started to peel away at our layers and we got to see each person for their generosity, the way they stepped up to do the work, and just how genuine people are. 

Along the way, we met lots of people and got to have many conversations about diversity. There is a lot of work to be done for getting diversity to the outdoors, but there is also a lot of work to be done along the river for diverse communities that have fewer resources and are affected by the decisions made by upstream neighbors. 

From being able to be on my hometown radio I have had people contact me about getting youth with diverse backgrounds into nature. When I get back to my hometown I am going to be working with outdoors activist to get funding and have the local public schools agree (hopefully) to have us take kids out to the local river (Canon River) and hopefully get some tandem canoes out for summer school. I have also be invited to be part of the Northfield River council as well to help with upcoming decisions on the river banks.

This program really has opened me up to many interesting doors that I really never thought I'd even be thinking of walking through. I am excited to get back home and work on diversity out in our local nature and help others engage in it because it is truly a blessing.

Quick Updates: Giving Thanks

We have been at Touch of Nature for awhile and have had lots of opportunities to visit a farm (a couple of times for different reasons). We were able to go to Southern Illinois University’s recreation center to rock climb and just use the area to work out and exercise on the equipment. It felt good to be active again instead of just sitting at a computer and walking to get to the wifi. We also had River Kid Thanksgiving down by the beach with everyone and someone made cheesy potatoes that made me sick.
We have made so many good friends here in Carbondale and some people invited us to dinner in their home with all their family too. We are truly a blessed group. At the farm we visited we were able to have a few of us go and kill our own turkey for out River Kid Thanksgiving.
Hope everyone is with loved ones this time of year.

Downstream Neighbors

(Levees: an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river.)
Going downstream we get to see a lot of the affected communities and how the lower river has to adjust to higher waters from the upper river. During our time in the Quad Cities, we got to talk to a Professor at Augustana College and he talked to us a bit about levees. We got to see on one side of the river one town had built a levee and the other side decided not to. During the time we were there the river was flooding and was a prime example of what happens when levees are put up and what their effects are on neighboring river towns. One side the water was creeping up onto some business that was close to the river. On the other side of the river there was a levee that basically pushed the water down and out of there way, which in turn effects other river communities like the one right across from them. Many cities that build levees usually are cities that can afford them and are willing to put other neighboring cities at risk of flooding. Most cities that are at risk of flooding are usually poorer communities that don’t have access to the river and just see the river as a danger to their well being.
Here is a video that was shared with us during out lecture:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTv6RkFnelM

Quick Update: Weather AGAIN

We got to Cairo (not Egypt) which is where confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River is. Sadly the weather has caught up with us again. The weather is supposed to go down to dangerously low temperatures and is no longer safe for us to paddle for now. We will be staying in Carbondale, which is about an hour north of Cairo. Our guide, Cory, went to grad school in Carbondale and has many connections and was able to get us to stay in a house that is currently being remodeled. We will be moved to a cabin that Southern Illinois University owns in a nature center called Touch of Nature. We don't know when we will be back on the water, but we are already making lots of friends willing to help us out!

Quick Update: On the River Again

***Just so everyone knows, these blog posts are not exactly in chronological order. Things are just very scattered and try to post when I can (about once a week if weather and resources allows).

During this time we started to wrap up our time to St. Louis. We did a good amount of work in the public library in downtown St. Louis.

We also headed to the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. We got to hear about a lot of projects they have been working on. We also got to go to this really cool garden called Food Roof and learned about the work they do in their garden. They also had an aeroponic system in their greenhouse like at Living Green in Faribault Minnesota. Something I found interesting was that they did not use just soil they had this foam that helps more water to help the plants grow in their environment on the roof.

The day we left we were guided by Big Muddy Mike and Dolly past the Gateway Arch. Mike was helping us and giving us advice on how we should have the bow be lighter because of the waves from barges. There were significantly more barges in this part of the river than in the upper river.