Why am I asking for donations. First and foremost I want to thank my primary sponsor in all the adventures I undertake, my wife, Nancy Dawson. She is wonderful and encouraging in all ways and is always there with financial support. This journey down the Missouri River from Three Forks to St. Louis is a major undertaking both in gear and…
Winter at the Confluence
This last weekend I stopped at the confluence of the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers. This is the official start of the Missouri River. The rivers are icebound right now, but I was able to get a sense for where my journey will begin this spring. This is a large undertaking that I need to look at one mile and…
Tagg, My Travel Partner
During my adventure on the Missouri River I will be traveling with our dog Taggerung. Tagg is a five-year-old border collie from Wildblue Border Collies, a local breeder in Colorado. When you consider border collies, Tagg is not typical. Tagg is a mellow go-with-the-flow dog. I think Tagg believes himself to be human. He is happy just being with me,…
Humbled
I am humbled by all those that have chosen to follow my Missouri River paddle trip. I will honor your time with truth, inspiration and information. My target start date for this adventure is to leave Colorado Springs on May 12, 2018 and put on the Missouri River in Three Forks Montana on May 14 or 15. However, the work…
December 18, 2018 – Sleep Log
Last night was not a good night. Despite the medications there was no sleep to be had by me. 10 mg Melatonin, 1 benadryl and 30 mg Temazepam just did not work. A normal night on this combination has been about 5-6 hours of sleep so I am surprised that I went straight to nothing. What was different? I was…
December 14, 2017 Sleep Log
Well, last night missed the mark. I did fall asleep at about 10:15 pm. However, I was awake at 3:15 am. That means I slept about 5 hours. While that is good it’s not near what is really needed. I took my medication, which is now 30 mg of Temazepam. This is combined with a benadryl and 9 mg of…
Boat Selection
Considering that I will be spending two to three months sitting in the boat I decide to paddle, its selection is somewhat critical. My primary needs are; stability, easy wet re-entry or self rescue from a roll and wet exit, a place for Tagg to sit, low wind profile, and good cargo capacity. For easy self rescue it seems like…
November 11, 2017 Sleep Log
Last night was not bad. I again took a cocktail of drugs to sleep. I was in bed by 9:00 pm and again asleep by 10:00 pm. Last night I woke up at about 3:00 am but stayed in bed and did sleep about another hour or so. That makes last night a 6-7 hour night. If I could only…
November 10 2017 Sleep Journal
Last night was not a good night. I took Lunesta, Melatonin and Benadryl. In bed by 9 pm and I feel that I feel asleep by 10 pm. I woke up at 2:30 am needing to go to the bathroom and now I am awake. 4.5 hours of sleep is not enough but it will have to do for the…
November 7, 2017
Last night was not a great night for sleep. Taking my cocktail of drugs help me sleep from about 10:00 pm until 3:15 am. For me 5 hours is a relatively good night. I stayed in bed a little longer but addition sleep was not going to happen. I got up and Tagg and I spent some time laying in…