August 3, Vicksburg, MS

It's been a while since we reported in, but you will probably find this update is worth the wait:

We find ourselves in Vicksburg, Mississippi which is a very historic landmark for both the Civil War and the Coca-Cola Industry. First, let us tell you how we got here.

The last update we posted was from Cape Girardeau, MO. Thank you Jeff and Polly Graves for setting us up with such fun hosts that showed us a great time in town! Mark, Tracey, Smiles and the kids we had a blast and hope our river stories weren't too boring.

From Cape Girardeau we headed south for six days enduring 100 % humidity and temperatures over 100 F until we reached Memphis, TN on July 25. We ended up finding a hostel in the city and reserved a couple beds for two nights. That night we went to Beale St. to check out the blues halls and nightlife. In between our venue hopping we met Jamie and Kim, two ladies on a road trip from Minneapolis, MN to Phoenix, AZ. They ended up being our tourist counterparts as the next day we met up with them and headed to Graceland, home of Elvis Presley, and toured the National Civil Rights Museum, the location at which Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

Memphis is a very interesting city with a lot of entertainment and history. We were almost going to stay another day or so to soak in a little more of the city but in an effort to get back before school starts we had to press on. Let it be noted we are definitely going back to Memphis!

From Memphis we got back in our aquatic mobile home and spent another six days on the river enduring the same 100% humidity and high heats all the way to Vicksburg, MS. We toured the Vicksburg Battlefield which was a very important moment in the history of the Civil War and toured the original Coca-Cola bottling factory.

Thunderstorms are a daily occurrence and sometimes nightly. Sometimes we get off the river, other times we paddle right through the lightning and rain. A couple nights ago one storm produced 30-40 m.p.h. winds that ended up uprooting Ed's tent stakes. The only thing keeping it anchored was his body.

Friends, we are coming to the end of our trip. We have approximately 440 miles of river left to paddle. This should take us 8 days to complete. Add 2 days for some time in Baton Rouge and we should be finished by August 15.

We have posted a few new pictures, take a peak.

To all of you that have donated, thank you! The donation meter currently stands at $3,050 which is an awesome number and we are very proud of this accomplishment; however, we would still like to shoot for the $5,000 goal.

If you know of anyone that is thinking about donating and just keeps putting it off, let them know we will stop accepting donations on August 22 and we could definitely use their help!

*We will not accept any donations after August 22*

Down the home stretch,

Eel & Platypus