New Orleans has been great to us! We enjoyed a concert in the park at Algiers Point, met our fundraising coordinator from the Semper Fi Fund, met the Commander of Marine Force Reserves, and tried some spicy Cajun food. It was the perfect city to wrap up the last days of our journey.
We had the luxury of sleeping in an air conditioned room last night! I woke up around 7 and went downstairs to grab breakfast on Day 68 (August 6). It was a short day into New Orleans (26 miles) so we didn't have to get into the water until around noon. Over the last couple weeks I have been working with the Semper Fi Fund and the Marine Corps reserve unit in New Orleans to plan a final event for our trip. Susan Wortman has been my point of contact for the Semper Fi Fund since I started planning this trip and she began reaching out to people she knew in the New Orleans area. We didn't know it yet but she had a great evening planned for us. We paddled in another miserably hot day and arrived at Algiers Point at about 5:45 pm. There was a band on stage playing and a group of people walked over to wave at us as we passed by and parked our kayaks. The first to greet us was GySgt Harilson, who contacted me before my trip even started. He said that the Marines in New Orleans would be prepared to take care of us when we arrived in his area of operation. We were greeted by several other Marines right away and then Susan came over to finally get to meet us. Working with Susan the last several months has been an absolute pleasure. She has constantly been looking out for us and making sure we had everything we needed. Shortly after we arrived, a big rain storm forced everyone to take cover under the tents. We had the opportunity to meet a bunch more Marines and their families. It was awesome to see how excited they were for our arrival. One of the Marines handed us each a beer to enjoy while we waited for the rain to pass. Lieutenant General Richard Mills, the Commander of Marine Force Reserves, also made an appearance to congratulate us and thank us for what we were doing. It was a pretty great experience to meet him! We even met up with him again at the bar later. When the storm finally cleared I went on stage and had the chance to speak to the crowd of almost 200 people. I explained our trip and some brief details of the Semper Fi Fund. We were then approached by a group of people who offered some cash donations and asked for business cards to follow our website. The concert continued on and we met a lot of great people in the audience. The Marines advised us to go to a bar called Crown and Anchor, which was just a block or two away. After getting a t-shirt purchased for us by a kind gentleman named Jeff, we made our way to Crown and Anchor. The General and other Marines have made this bar their own. It felt great being around a bunch of Marines again. We didn't pay for a drink all night! We had a very late dinner at a place called Daisy Dukes. I tried Shrimp Gumbo for the first time and really enjoyed it. The Semper Fi Fund was kind enough to put us in a room at the Hilton for the evening. The rooms were quite nice. We didn't get settled in our rooms until around 1 am and got a handful of hours of sleep. Overall, New Orleans was another huge highlight of the trip. Thank you to everyone who made it possible!
On Day 69 (August 7), Susan drove Gabe and I to the Marine Corps base to pick up our kayaks that GySgt Harilson kept for us overnight. We restocked water and snacks and were given a small tour of their facility. It made me really miss being around Marines again. Gunny Harilson had three Marines follow him back to the levy to put us back in the water. When we grabbed the gear we needed from my parents' vehicle, the Marines had already carried our kayaks up over the levy and about 150 yards to the edge of the water. They literally did everything for us. We thanked them individually and said our final goodbye to GySgt Harilson. Without his help the coordination of the last two days wouldn't have gone as smooth as it did. We are thankful that he was willing to help from the start! Susan presented Gabe and I each with a large framed poster from the Semper Fi Fund. It had pictures of us on our trip and had a nice message on the bottom thanking us for fundraising. It was very nice! We pushed off into the water at 9 am and were exhausted fairly quick. It was another hot day and we paddled for a little over 10 hours, completing 47 miles. Gabe and I didn't talk much today. I think we were both tired and ready for the day to be over. I accidentally ran out of sunblock today and I certainly paid for it. When we finished the day my neck was burnt pretty bad and I had a few very small blisters forming on my forearm. Looks like I'll be wearing long sleeves the rest of the trip. We pulled our kayaks out just before dark and locked them up on shore.
Today is our last FULL day of paddling! Then just a half day on Saturday and we will have officially made it to the Gulf.
We had the luxury of sleeping in an air conditioned room last night! I woke up around 7 and went downstairs to grab breakfast on Day 68 (August 6). It was a short day into New Orleans (26 miles) so we didn't have to get into the water until around noon. Over the last couple weeks I have been working with the Semper Fi Fund and the Marine Corps reserve unit in New Orleans to plan a final event for our trip. Susan Wortman has been my point of contact for the Semper Fi Fund since I started planning this trip and she began reaching out to people she knew in the New Orleans area. We didn't know it yet but she had a great evening planned for us. We paddled in another miserably hot day and arrived at Algiers Point at about 5:45 pm. There was a band on stage playing and a group of people walked over to wave at us as we passed by and parked our kayaks. The first to greet us was GySgt Harilson, who contacted me before my trip even started. He said that the Marines in New Orleans would be prepared to take care of us when we arrived in his area of operation. We were greeted by several other Marines right away and then Susan came over to finally get to meet us. Working with Susan the last several months has been an absolute pleasure. She has constantly been looking out for us and making sure we had everything we needed. Shortly after we arrived, a big rain storm forced everyone to take cover under the tents. We had the opportunity to meet a bunch more Marines and their families. It was awesome to see how excited they were for our arrival. One of the Marines handed us each a beer to enjoy while we waited for the rain to pass. Lieutenant General Richard Mills, the Commander of Marine Force Reserves, also made an appearance to congratulate us and thank us for what we were doing. It was a pretty great experience to meet him! We even met up with him again at the bar later. When the storm finally cleared I went on stage and had the chance to speak to the crowd of almost 200 people. I explained our trip and some brief details of the Semper Fi Fund. We were then approached by a group of people who offered some cash donations and asked for business cards to follow our website. The concert continued on and we met a lot of great people in the audience. The Marines advised us to go to a bar called Crown and Anchor, which was just a block or two away. After getting a t-shirt purchased for us by a kind gentleman named Jeff, we made our way to Crown and Anchor. The General and other Marines have made this bar their own. It felt great being around a bunch of Marines again. We didn't pay for a drink all night! We had a very late dinner at a place called Daisy Dukes. I tried Shrimp Gumbo for the first time and really enjoyed it. The Semper Fi Fund was kind enough to put us in a room at the Hilton for the evening. The rooms were quite nice. We didn't get settled in our rooms until around 1 am and got a handful of hours of sleep. Overall, New Orleans was another huge highlight of the trip. Thank you to everyone who made it possible!
On Day 69 (August 7), Susan drove Gabe and I to the Marine Corps base to pick up our kayaks that GySgt Harilson kept for us overnight. We restocked water and snacks and were given a small tour of their facility. It made me really miss being around Marines again. Gunny Harilson had three Marines follow him back to the levy to put us back in the water. When we grabbed the gear we needed from my parents' vehicle, the Marines had already carried our kayaks up over the levy and about 150 yards to the edge of the water. They literally did everything for us. We thanked them individually and said our final goodbye to GySgt Harilson. Without his help the coordination of the last two days wouldn't have gone as smooth as it did. We are thankful that he was willing to help from the start! Susan presented Gabe and I each with a large framed poster from the Semper Fi Fund. It had pictures of us on our trip and had a nice message on the bottom thanking us for fundraising. It was very nice! We pushed off into the water at 9 am and were exhausted fairly quick. It was another hot day and we paddled for a little over 10 hours, completing 47 miles. Gabe and I didn't talk much today. I think we were both tired and ready for the day to be over. I accidentally ran out of sunblock today and I certainly paid for it. When we finished the day my neck was burnt pretty bad and I had a few very small blisters forming on my forearm. Looks like I'll be wearing long sleeves the rest of the trip. We pulled our kayaks out just before dark and locked them up on shore.
Today is our last FULL day of paddling! Then just a half day on Saturday and we will have officially made it to the Gulf.