Picture from Daves phone that we recovered

Picture are from day 756 to 80 or something like that!! 

The Trieschmann family 

Look closely it an alligator

Sunset 

Bug 

Beautiful 

Thank you Triesh for helping us out 

Land art 

thank You

Thank you very much to the following people for your support of our fundraising efforts.  If you made a financial donation and your name is not listed please email us at bigmuddy2015@gmail.com.  Also if you have donated recently we also may have not received the updated donor list since you donated.

Jeff Ryan

Bird Poche

Brian and Nicole Henessey 

Some Final thoughts

Well yesterday we finished an epic 94 day journey filled with countless moments which exposed who we were at our core. We cried, screamed, were terrified, elated, sad, confused, concerned and lost. The one constant was each other, our love for one another and our commitment to paddle on! Amanda Mosse is an amazing wife, paddle, and expedition partner and to her I owe a million thanks which will be payed for the rest of our lives together. Now we unpack, clean and put away our gear, but how do you put this away?  How do you put away three months that change your life?  How do you walk away?  Well I'm not sure how but I'll start by cleaning, folding, and packing the material items.  The lessons are still to be discovered and journey always continues.

We stayed at the light house lodge and while we waited for Amandas parents to get us they let us to stay here free of charge until they get here tonight on the 8th.  

Next step:  well we finished the river but we still have more adventuring to do! Yesterday (Day 95) we finally met up with Mitch Selby and Malcom Reed whom we have been in contact with since New Orleans! We got to hang out with these two cool dudes while they stopped over at the Dollar General to get some supplies.  They are going to be done on either Tuesday or Wednesday and we are planning to meet up with them when they get back to New Orleans!  After that we are going to make our way back North and visit some of the amazing people along the way who have helped us!

Day 94

Well today is the day!  The day we make our final paddle strokes, load the boat one last time, tell Reggie to get in the middle of the boat once more!  Conditions were perfect, the water was glassy and smooth.  Not a breath of wind.  The paddled felt lite in our hands and the boat seemed to glide through the water effortlessly.  Within a couple hours we had paddled 9 miles to mile zero in the Head of Passes.  This is the point at which the river splits into three main passes as it flows its its final miles to the Gulf of Mexico.  I was blown away at the size of the Head of Passes.  The scale was far greater than I had expected.  At first I was unsure where the South pass was.  I could clearly see the Southwest pass and the Pass A Loutre neither of which are recommended.  The Southwest pass is the route of choice for commercial ships and Pass A  Loutre is not used by many people at all which is a problem because we were hoping to hitch a ride back to Venice.  As we made our way through the pass the South Pass became apparent.  Although the current had slowed significantly the water was smooth and it was quite again, finally.  The river felt like ours again!  We were back to day one when we were surrounded by miles of grassland.  The only difference now was that we were surrounded by miles of cane.  We were silent as we paddled down the glassy waterway getting closer and closer to the Gulf.  As paddled we could see the lighthouse at Port Eads which stands at the end of the pass.  As we cruised by the shoreline ended opening up to a limitless horizon peppered with huge breaking waves.  We shouted with excitement as we neared.  We were soon at the point where salt water mixes with the muddy waters of the Mississippi!  We looked around for a beach to stop on, take some pictures and celebrate our amazing accomplishment!  Unfortunately the water was high and all we found was a muddy shoreline covered with cane.  We tried to walk down further but were stopped by a large snake.  Disappointed we jumped in the boat and decided we would try to take a picture from the boat! Well the combination of waves breaking over the rocks at the end of the pass and trying to use a selfie stick for the first time made it nearly impossible to get a picture.  Just as we were about to give up a boat pulled up.  We asked them to take a picture of us and then told them that we had just finished paddling the entire Mississippi!  They took our pictures and offered to pull us around to a small bit of beach where we could get out and get a picture.  We did and they were great!  Lisa, Robert, and Roxie were out for the day visiting their son Kyle who worked at Port Eads.  After we finished the pictures Robert asked if we were hungry then told me to hand him my radio.  I did and he promptly radioed Port Eads and told them he had a couple paddlers who were hungry and that he should fix them a burger!  We were stokked!  As if this wasn't awesome enough he then asked if we needed a ride back to Venice!!!  This was amazing, after all the people who helped us, there was more river magic coming our way!  As we rode to Port Eads we couldn't stop smiling, laughing and thanking them!    We ate the burgers at Port Eads giggling with joy and excitement!  Not only had we finished an amazing journey that tested us in every way as individuals and a couple, but now these amazing people bought us lunch and a couple t-shirts!  After eating Amanda and I wandered around Port Eads in awe of what had just happened!  When Robert and Lisa were ready we all loaded into thier boat and headed back to Venice.  On the way we chatted about everything from what we did for work to family.  When we got back to Venice we learned it wouldn't be possible stay at the hotel at the Marina.  The only option was The Lighthouse Lodge 10 miles away!  I told Robert that would figure a way for us to get our stuff to the hotel and thanked him for all his help.  At that Lisa and Robert gave me a confused look and said something along the lines of "why?  We got a truck.  We will take you to the hotel."  What!!!! Are you serious?!?! I couldn't believe it.  We were so incredibly greatful and appreciative for the kindness these three people had shown us!  Robert was going to drop us off so we gave Lisa and Roxie a big hug and thanked them.  After Robert dropped us off we thanked him again and off he went.  

We finished 

The Mississippi to the Gulf 

Almost there 

port Eads 

Thanks Kyle this was awesome!! 

Banana Trees along the Mississippi 

The awesome Fortenberry's!  

   Roxie Robert  Kyle      Lisa

Day 93

 Today started off as most days and soon we were on the water and were immediately greeted by a east/northeast wind.  At first it was just loud and wasn't creating any chop. This changed suddenly and for no apparent reason near Boothville. As we rounded the corner the waves were breaking against our boat.  Luckily things settled down as soon as they started.  When we arrived at "The Jump" a pass that brings you into Venice and contemplated paddling to Venice but instead decided to paddle a little further down and make camp along the river.  The site we found looked pretty cool.  It was on a high patch on ground with lots of Ball Cypress in the water and a neat swamp behind it.  We pulled up and examined the ground.  It looked pretty dry but for some reason there were areas that were damp, odd.  We figured that whatever the reason that it had been quite some time since it last happened because all the wood on the ground was dry.  We set up and the rest of the evening went on as any other.  However, in the middle of the night the question about the sand was answered when Amanda shouted, "Water! Dave get up I hear water!"  I jumped up looked outside and saw huge waves crashing on the beach as water was receding from around our tent.  The damp sand you see was from huge waves breaking against the shore and when big enough made it all the way up to where our tent was! Luckily and for reasons I don't fully understand the water stopped just inches from our tent.  Although our tent remained dry we decided to move it over a couple feet to another dry spot, just in case.  Tomorrow we paddle to the Gulf!!!

Day 92

Today was great mostly because there wa very little ship traffic and in many ways it felt like the early days of our trip.  Although still quite wide the river has taken on a more natural feel.  As the day wound down we looked for a campsite and poked into any little inlet we could find.  We finally came across a great spot right along the levy.  It was very protected from the channel and had a little bayou around it.  The landing was the best we have had in a long time and had contemplated not even taking the boat out of he water but did anyway.  We made dinner and settled into bed at a good time.  Overall a great day of paddling.  At an out 1am we were rudely awakened by the sound of a truck driving up over the levy right behind us. I looked up to see a truck speeding down the levy away from us, the occupants stopped twice and seemed to take aim a something particularl along the river and shot at it twice.  We were both pretty nervous when we lay back down.  A short time later the truck returned but spotted us this time.  They were surprised to see a tent which was clear by the choice of four letter words they shouted at us attempting to gain our attention.  I hesitated but then looked out again fearing that if I didn't they would escalate thier approach to getting our attention.  They swore at me more then sped off.  We were both very concerned they may return but thankfully we fell asleep.

Stopped for lunch 

Our campsite for the night 

Day 91

Today we finally paddled through New Orleans!  We woke up early and things went pretty smooth as we prepared to push off until I reached down to turn on my radio.  It was gone!  Somehow while loading the boat it fell out of the pocket in my PFD where it had been in for the past 90 days!  What the heck!?!? Thankfully Amanda still had hers.  We shoved off and a bit nervously paddled into New Orleans.  Much to our surprise he port of New Orleans was easy, not too busy at all!  Seems to happen that way, Baton Rouge was the same.  As we paddled the wind picked up and as we passed under a bridge the water became very choppy as the wind howled.  I got frustrated and said some choice words which could not have been timed worse because Amanda was already very anxious about the wind and waves and had thought something was going terribly wrong and began to cry.  I quickly realized my error and told her we were fine and just to keep paddling.  Aside from that our passage through New Orleans was uneventful!  We stayed along the right side of the river but far enough out to maintain a good line of sight.  When we looked at the maps the right side looked like the best route however, to ease our minds we reached out to our fellow paddlers and thankfully they confirmed that the right side would be the best route. At lunch we stopped and contacted Mitch Selby and Malcolm Reed, two through paddlers who were very close behind us.  Turns out they were just putting back on the river in New Orleans after stopping for thanksgiving with Mitch's family.  As we paddled on the boat traffic for the first time in four days was dwindling rapidly!!!! Wootwoot!  As we paddled along a barge captain that looked like a rivery version of Willie Nelson waved at and radioed, "If she is crazy enough to get in a canoe and paddle down the river with your crazy ass then she is a keeper!"  Amanda and I instantly burst into laughter.  We paddled a full day and found a nice spot along the levy that was tucked away from the river and hidden from the town on the other side.  After dinner as we were putting things away the river instantly lit up.  We ran over to see a Carnival Cruise ship passing by.  It looked like the sky had been put on its side and was floating down the river.

Yep that is a ship behind Dave...he likes blue ships