Wife & I met these guys a few weeks ago on their test run, they are riding wave runners from St. Louis to New Orleans. :eek: Apparently, they decided this was something on their "bucket list", that they wanted to accomplish before they go, and decided to raise money for a school program called "Real Men Read", since they both work for the school district in Springfield Illinois.

Yesterday, July 2nd was the day they would take off from St. Louis for their journey, we met their chase/support crew there by the riverfront in Chester, of course the river is high and the river road is closed, so I had to show them a way to get close enough to carry the 5 gallon gas jugs down to where we were to meet. Finally, we saw two small rooster tails come around the bend about two miles up river.

You can follow their travels on their facebook page; http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Great-Mississippi-River-Wave-Runner-Challenge/223150074376117?ref=ts

and a story from a Springfield online newspaper;
http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x177090008/River-trip-to-benefit-Real-Men-Read

Please check it out.

here's a few pics and short video I knocked out from yesterday's stop at the Port of Chester.

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/huntrz_2010/wavrnnrchlng2B.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF4f5lwP1g8

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/huntrz_2010/wavrnnrchlng1C.jpg

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/huntrz_2010/wavrnnrchlng7.jpg

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af199/huntrz_2010/camman.jpg

.

Huntrz - you should send the pics and story to the CJ.. bet the Willis boys would like to have it :)

Well done...:)

Very cool, thanks for the link to the face book page. That would be a fun adventure.

LOL, I didn't even see that in the paper. And indeed I went to High School with Nick! He is a member of the school board now. Bucket List? I'm to young for a bucket list!

Just heard these guys on KDHX this weekend that canoed the whole Miss and wrote their new album...
http://mississippialbum.blogspot.com/

How cool is that !

I just heard from the guys, they are in Baton Rouge, only 134 miles to go tomorrow to make it to New Orleans, then they're going on down to hit mile marker "0" on the Mighty Mississippi.

Makes me wonder if I should be writing up a "bucket list", anybody else got some things they want to do before they leave this world?
I know there are some places I would like to go before I go, no pun intended.

Sounds like they did it 'way' to fast!

Heard too much about river bars/taverns, in times past! Personally, I might have tried to stretch a tour like that out quite a bit longer! :D

Sounds like they did it 'way' to fast!

Heard too much about river bars/taverns, in times past! Personally, I might have tried to stretch a tour like that out quite a bit longer! :D

I hear ya Ron, that sounds like a 9 day trip to me, and I think the chase crew would have to be someone besides my wife, uh, uh, I don't think she could get off work that long, yea, that's it. On second thought, instead of waverunners in the river, why not just follow the river in a vehicle, stopping in all the small towns along the way.
The guys doing the Wave Runner challenge did tell me every town they were stopping in had a casino.

I gotta tell you, locking through in a bass boat was scary enough...on wave runner?!?!?! YIKES!!!!