Chapter 4 - Civilization

Sorry about those last couple posts. I was reading too much Mark Twain and we hadn't seen or talked to anyone in days. 

After spending a night at one of our most beautiful campsites we finally made it to civilization in Richland. 

We got to resupply and drink cold beer for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. We were banking on finding a dock full of hot babes that would let us party with them and park the canoe there. Turns out Richland is a pretty dismal. The Safeway deli was very sad. Everyone seemed pretty sad there actually...

We went on to Kennewick to meet up with a friend of mine and Sparky got all excited about going under bridges. 

We needed a place to dock the boat and my wonderful friend Hilary recommended this marina. We paddled in after the office was closed, but we met a Jimmy Buffet like character who said the slip next to his was empty and we could tie up there. He was super chill and his boat was named "We Be Jammin'." 

We went to a pretty divey bar with Hilary and her man-friend Chris and consumed some alcohol. They both said we smelled like wilderness and freedom and so begged us to shower with the reward of sleeping in a bed. They were both extremely hospitable and we couldn't thank them enough.

Next day we said goodbye to all our buddies at the marina and set off. We're in big boat territory now. We even passed a river boat.

And barges are going by too. We thought they were gonna be scary with huge wakes, but no. Everything has been so calm. 

We found a peaceful little spot to sleep and heard the frogs chirping, the coyotes howling, and the trains rolling by through the night. It don't get much better than river life.

We should be in Oregon soon and we're 7 miles from the 100 mile benchmark. It's a pretty big deal for us hitting 100 miles. Our favorite canoe documentary referenced a quote by some French dude, "What sets a canoeing expedition apart is that it purifies you more rapidly and inescapably than any other travel. Travel a thousand miles by train and you are a brute; pedal five hundred on a bicycle and you remain basically a bourgeois; paddle a hundred in a canoe and you are already a child of nature."

So yeah, look out nature. Yo chillins is comin.