Throwback Thursday: The Time I Boated Down the Mississippi

In the link up yesterday, I mentioned that I traveled down the Mississippi River in a house boat. Because Holly is incredibly awesome, she took the time to read my link-up and commented that I should do post about the trip. I would have never thought about doing something like this because I focus so much on diet and exercise. However I really like the idea of giving some tidbits of my none fitness life. 

When I was in the seventh grade I received the worst news possible. We were moving. In the world of a 12 year old, moving away is life changing and devastating. But not only were we moving, we were going to travel down the Mississippi River from Red Wing, MN all the way to Cape Coral, FL. I was going to have to home school. I felt like a freak. Home schooling was not cool. And I am an only child on my mom's side of things, so I would be traveling/schooling alone. 

Now you might be thinking that this is the adventure of a lifetime. I think that now. But back then I was not happy about it.  My step dad had retired at an early age, and his life long dream/goal was to take his boat down the river. From the time that I knew my step-dad (he's been in my life since I was 5), he had a 41 foot Chris-Craft that he kept in a marina in Red Wing, MN. Every summer we would spend our weekends at the boat. To give you an idea of what the boat looked like, here is an image I found on Google: 

source

In the fall of 2002 the shit show (aka; my step dad, my mom, our two cats and me, the moody tween) piled onto this boat, and departed from our marina for the last time. As we left, I don't think I quite grasped what was happening. I was mad at them for not letting me go back to school with my friends (I am sure I was just a delight to be around), but at the same time I felt like we were just going on a vacation. 

It took us a month. It should have only taken us three weeks, however along the way we hit a tree stump, broke a prop, and were stranded in Demopolis, AL for a week, while we waited for the boat part. If I had to pick a place to be stranded, it would not have been Demopolis. Not because Demopolis was that bad, but because some of the other marinas we had stayed in along the way had pools, gift shops, and yummy seafood restaurants. 

This marina had none of that. It did however have a community TV with cable in the main office. However I got yelled at once by an old man because I tried to watch Clueless, and he didn't find the movie to be entertaining. He didn't know what he was missing. 

We stopped in some incredible cities, and marinas. We also stopped in some not so incredible places, but that was all part of the fun. We went through at least 20 lock and dams along the way. I got to boat past the St. Louis Arches, stay in the Kentucky Lakes area, and experience the Mobile bay area. 

And the most memorable part of the entire trip was crossing the Gulf of Mexico to get into Tarpon Springs, FL. It took an entire day. We had to duct tape our refrigerator closed because the waves from crossing the Gulf would have knocked the fridge open. Every time my step dad tells this story the waves get bigger and bigger. It started out that the waves were 3-4 feet high, then they were 5-6, then they 8 feet. In any case, it was very turbulent, hard to walk around, and one of our cats got sea sick, poor guy. For at least 8 hours we could not see land, but we did see lots of dolphins! Back then I was fearless, but now I think crossing the Gulf in such a tiny boat would be terrifying. 

In all honesty, it was an incredible trip. I loved spending so much time with my family, seeing so much of the United States, and soaking up so much culture. Home schooling was actually a pretty cool experience, and I didn't feel like a freak. Once we got to Florida I spent a month there, and then every other month I would fly home to stay with my dad, so being able to home school was actually pretty convenient. 

I feel like I could write story after story about this trip. And when I talk to my mom and step dad about it, each of us have different memories. It's funny how that works out!