Chattanooga Joe

First, excuse the spelling as I'm not taking the battery and time to check before I post. I'm good to even be posting as it takes about an hour at least to get all in order and write. Hope you understand and take points off.
Yesterday the highlight was meeting up with Joe Jacobi, olympic gold medalist, paddler extraordinaire and all around great guy. He's taught me a lot aboutusing social media to promote and draw interest toward just about anything.
We met about 10 am above Chicamauga dam and locked through toward Chattanooga. We paddled about 5 miles or so to downtown having a great time talking about all kinds of things. Everything from the state of paddling to how the trip is going. Some of you whoknow Joe, know he is a social media fiend. Twittering, postiing on FB, taking photos, commenting and responding is a constant. Pretty cool to see how connected heis and what interest that generates. We stopped into Rock Creek outfitters for bit. I've been having some issues with my sandals and TEVA has been working hard to get a pair overnighted to me through Rock Creek Sadly they hadn't come in, but Andrew...a man I would have working for me in a heart beat is still working on getting them to me. He even has offered to drive them down river at some point and pass them off to me if they come in on Monday. Over and above the call of duty for sure. Rock Creek needs to give this guy a raise, and TEVA needs to give him a pair of shoes for his herculean efforts.
Anyway, Joe said some great things about the project and gave some great support to my spirit. His family was there too, which was great to see. He also got me thinking about this project and the message it's sending. My goal is to raise money for scholarships, but its definitelymore than that. Swain County Schools Foundation has made a great start in providing scholarships, but it's realy going to measured by the success of our students who go to college and finish successfully.
Four years ago I tood a position at our local community college as Director of GEAR UP. A federal grant program designed to get middle and high school students on a colllege path that leads to completion. Some of these students would enter college,but drop out after the first year to return to work. One of my goals was to create programs that inspire interest and passion for something that leads to a career. For instance, Robotics was a program we brought to the area. Offering interesting programs like this,I beleive, lead to passionate, headlong desires to continue on into college. So, how does this project fit into that? A big obstacle to following that path is confidence and experience. This project, I hope, is an example of going out and goal oriented, passionate direction. An example of, even if its difficult, don't quite, because the end result isn't as far as itlooks. Just like college. If a students is passionate about something, and with the right support, maybe, just maybe, theywill complete those two or four year programs.
Joe and his partner Scott were great examples of that very thing. Training for years for the chance to compete in the Olympics, theynot only competed, but won the biggest prize of their lives. It changed their lives forever from that point on.
So, Joe, you keep poswting and twittering and talkiing to anyone who listens. Keep teaching the idea of not letting the world come to you, but go out, find a passion and follow it until you reach whatever goal it is. You go bro! I'm with you trying to do the same. Find a passion everyone and pursue it. you never know were it may lead. The only reward for me would be the appreciation of someone who might be reading this and pursued their goals to the fullest. Now that would be cool. I wish Swain County Schools Foundation the best in their goal of assisting those accomplishments.
Off the soap box now.
At thismoment I just finished breakfast and am standing on the banks of the Tennesse, south of Chattanooga. I'm watching fisherman just about 15 yards away who are probabalywondering what the heck this guy with the compueter and kayak is doing. After Chatt. I paddled on and finished the day with 28 miles under my belt. Again, as I was starting to wind down the day and look for a suitable camping spot, there was a group of folks right at Suck Creek. They wre bar-b-queing chicken and having a good time. I stopped to talk to them cuz thehad a dog likemine...a weimeraner. One thing led to another and they offered me a big dinner of chicken potato salad, and rice and beans. Killer rice and beans. An evening of talking and asking questions again and next thing you k now it was 10:30 and I was sleeping under theirr picnic area with a fan going to keep the bugs off. Being an apartment complex, it had alot of diffferent people, but the waterfront was the hangout with people coming and going all night. When I say allnight, I mean all night. At around 1:30, the radion was turned on..they didn't know or didnt care that I was trying to sleep. I just went back to sleep,but kept waking up all night due to the music. At 4:30 when I woke up, I turned it off and started to get ready to leave. When I went to my boat, there was the couple who turned on the music, still locked in an embrace, sitting next to the boat. I hadn't met them last night and said a quick hello. Not a word from them. Maybe I was disturbing something...who knows, but II quickly packed and headed down river in the dark.
Today I'n on Nicka Jack and feeling tired. My neck muscle is still tightening up so a lot of stops and stretching are the order of the day. I'll let you know. In the meantime, enjoy the photos.