Post Trip - Day 4

Today we spent all of our time writing the script. There's not much else to say other than I am really excited to see where this is heading. Bouncing ideas back and forth between the two of us is resulting in some very cool writing that I think people are going to like. I can't wait to finish the script tomorrow and start editing.

Post Trip - Day 3

So much progress! My mind is racing with the possibilities of this project. Today we talked about the direction of our video and we decided on telling our story. It sounds vague but the possibilities (in my mind) seem monumental with regards to it's possible impact. I can't wait to start writing the script and be able to tell how the trip we took changed our perspectives, introduced fascinating obstacles related to human nature, and enlightened us to the livelihood that exists on the river. After we discussed the script and direction we dealt with learning the editing software. We ran into some problems with having a computer available to us with the proper processing power but eventually we figured it out. After school we went over to Alex's house to finish with all unpacking and cleaning our trip gear. After cleaning we made a rough outline of most of the things we want to go into the script. I finished writing a rough draft of the intro (the first minute).

Post Trip - Day 2

Today was a pretty slow day. We had to do a lot of tedious things in order finally close out the trip. We unpacked all of the supplies, layed some of them out to air out (they were very stinky), and we prepared some of the things that needed to be returned. Other than that we reviewed some footage and transferred a lot of video on to a collective hard drive so that all the footage is in one place. Still have a bit more of that to go. Not much else to say about today. I'm excited to finish all of this unpacking next monday and start working on the actual video.

Post Trip - Day 1

Today was a slow day in terms of progress. We did a little bit of exploration of Apalachicola in order to get a feel for the town we finished in then we ate breakfast at a local restaurant. In order to have some footage of the city, I drove back to the wharf and took a video of the drive to the hotel we stayed in. After exploring one of the local stores and getting a souvenir to remember the trip, we packed up the car and headed back to Atlanta. Alex stayed behind to do some further research. On the way home I took a brief look at some of the footage we got during the trip.

Day 10

We made it! I can't believe that we made it! All the way from Fort Gains, one-hundred and eighty miles down river to Apalachicola, Florida in 10 days: what a journey! I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for being given the opportunity to go on a trip like this or how glad I am that I went when I was given the chance. We heard some great stories, made some new friend, and made a lot of memories in the process that I'll never forget. Alex and I had originally planned on splitting the last 24 miles into two days but once we got onto the river this morning, we knew there was no need--we could make it. The end was so satisfying. We paddled into a huge marina with our families on land waving and screaming at us: "Congratulations! You did it!", is all I could make out as we pulled up because there was so much commotion. Tonight we enjoyed ourselves and celebrated by going to an incredible oyster bar for dinner and sleeping in a hotel for the night (we have beds for the first time in two weeks!). Tomorrow we decided we would stay in Apalachicola for the day and get some footage of the city we finished in and maybe talk to some people about the river. Can't wait to get started on the video when we go back to Atlanta!

Day 9

Wow! Some crazy views today. What do you picture when I say "Dead Lakes"? It doesn't seem like a very appealing image does it? Well, I'm happy to say that the Dead Lakes we visited today were gorgeous. To get to the Dead Lakes we had to take a bit of a detour. We paddled 22 miles in total going from the Apalachicola River to the Dead Lakes (via the Chipola Cut), and then down the Chipola River to meet back up with the Apalachicola. It was a tiring day but well worth it. The Dead Lakes were stunning. I never thought dead trees could be so beautiful but they truly were. When looking across the lakes all you can see is stumps sticking out, like some other worldly chainsaw chopped down a whole forest filled with water. We got some awesome shots of us paddling through the natural phenominon which I'm really exited to review when I get a chance. As we paddled towards our camp site for the night along the Chipola River, we met almost a dozen friendly people who seemed genuinely interested and impressed with our trip. Each new "oh my goodness" or "wow" gave us inspiration to continue on. Around mid-day it started to rain. This rain cloud was no ordinary rain cloud, this rain cloud was out to get us! Obviously I don't believe that this rain cloud had a mind of it's own but bizarrely it did seem to follow us. In all directions there were clear skies except for right above us.  For about an hour we paddled through the rain, thinking that it would eventually pass over us until we relented and pulled underneath the cover of a boat dock and waited for it to pass. It took about an hour for the storm to finally move passed us. Luckily, the sun came out with a vengeance as soon as it was gone and ended up drying out our clothes before we got to camp. Tonight we're staying at Hickory Landing, a National Forrest Campground with lots of other people camping out just like us. Hopefully we can make some new friends by the end of the night!

Day 8

Another lazy day. We decided to sleep in till 9:30. I made some cheese grits for breakfast. We packed up camp and were on the river by 10:30. With the current moving pretty quick, we didn't struggle at all reaching our 18 mile goal for the day. Surprisingly we didn't see a single person all day, which felt weird seeing as we made so many friends yesterday. Alex cought a small large mouth bass that he tied to his kayak and pulled along behind in the water in an attempt to keep it alive so we could eat it later. When we got to camp we video taped Alex cleaning and then cooking the fish in butter, capers, and lemon juice. It tasted amazing. It serves as a perfect appetizer for the Mac and cheese I made afterwards. For desert, we're going to do the same thing with a catfish that Alex just cought. With all the fish he's hooked, I'm beginning to think he's a fish whisperer of sorts. Hopefully in the next few days I'll have some luck with fishing too!