Dispatches
Fragments of the journey—quick glimpses, fleeting moments, and raw impressions captured before they drift away. Snapshots from the river, in words, images, and sound.
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A Pub Crawl in Portsmouth
So we went to Kroger to do a little supply run in Portsmouth before we leave tomorrow morn. A hot hot day and we wanted to make the mile walk back to the shantyboat more interesting. A bar crawl! So picture us in each of these bars with three heavy grocery bags and Hazel around…
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Further scenes from Portsmouth Ohio
Further scenes from Portsmouth Ohio #OhioRiver #SmallTown #Portsmouth #Walkabout
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Apparently it rains in Southern Ohio
Apparently it rains in Southern Ohio. 10 minutes later it was sunny and we were drying out #rainstorm #shantyboat #ohioriver #southernohio #rain
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Looking at Portsmouth history through flood wall murals
Amazing flood wall murals in Portsmouth by renowned Louisiana artist Robert Dafford A great look back at Portsmouth history. My only disappointment was that with all of Portsmouth abolitionist and Underground Railroad History, there were no murals reflecting that proud tradition. #FloodWall #Murals #PublicArt #OhioRiver #Portsmouth
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Tuesday Farmers Market in Portsmouth
Tuesday Farmers Market in Portsmouth #farmersmarket #ohioriver #portsmouth
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Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into dinner
Age caught a large Blue Catfish which we turned into dinner. There IS a danger of PCB and mercury in Ohio river fish. The fish and game folk suggest limiting your consumption. Somewhere between one a week and one a month. This is the result of a century of chemical pollution on the Ohio River…
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Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart
Shantyboat supermarket run in stolen golf cart. #OhioRiver #Portsmouth #AwesomeMarina #BorrowedGolfCart #Shantyboat
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People ask us all the time
People ask all the time #Pooping #BucketShitter #CompostingToilet #Shantyboat #ArtGallery
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Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth
Scenes from a Sunday morning walk around Portsmouth ? #SundayMorning #Walkabout #StreetScenes #SmallTown #OhioRiver #RainbowFlag
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In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinnati
In 1944, artist Harlan Hubbard built a shantyboat on the banks of the Ohio River near Cincinnati. He wrote that he scavenged 12×3 timbers from a building being demoed to build the hull of the boat. A common building style in the area that I’ve noticed is 12×3 floor joists set into the brick on…
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When the captain’s away, the mice will play
Here is what happens on the shantyboat when the captain is away. Sunday shantyboat cleaning! #Shantyboat #SundayCleaning #TimeLapse
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The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty?
The Portsmouth Marina and the Kentucky hills. Where’s Dotty? #shantyboat #marina #ohioriver #ohio
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Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river?
Who wouldn’t want a luxury home beside the river? Historically, the smelly, polluted river would not be a desirable location and there would have been shantyboats along these banks full of people at the fringes of society. #displacement #wealth #fringe #gentrification #cleanwater #ohioriver
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Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something
Derelict ferry or barge or paddle wheeler or something near Greenup, Kentucky. #derelict #kentucky #ohioriver #boats
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People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River
People ask us if we swim in the Ohio River #ohioriver #swimming #underwear
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Nancy tracked us down in Ironton, Ohio
Judy, Karen, and Nancy Buell who you may remember from her story about her family’s shantyboat tracked us down in Ironton, Ohio and regaled us with banjo tunes and stories. #ohioriver #familystories #shantyboat
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Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we stop
Arrived in Ironton, OH a town people upriver suggested we stop. #ohioriver #smalltown
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Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River.
Sunset light in Huntington on the Ohio River. #ohioriver #huntington #sunset #shantyboat
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Bill Martin is the dockmaster at Gallipolis
Bill Martin is the dockmaster at the excellent Gallipolis Boat Club. He treated us with hospitality, generosity and humor. #boatclub #OhioRiver #gallipolis #generosity
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Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton of the John Gee Black History Center
Spent the day with Bobbette Braxton who told us about her family and Black history in Gallipolis, segregation, the color line dividing town, her work on civil rights, and the John Gee Black History Center. She took on on a tour of the Pine St Colored Cemetery and other important locations to Black history. #blackhistory…
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Important business in Gallipolis
Important business in Gallipolis. #BeBest #MilwaukeesBest #DockLyfe
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Look who joined us here in Gallipolis
Look who joined us here in Gallipolis! Here on his sixth Secret History river journey, please welcome Jeremiah! #everyone #shipmate #allriver
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Remo’s Dogs
Everyone we met in Gallipolis told us Remo’s had the best dogs in the area. A humble little place where many of the people in this little town stop in for lunch. Rob Rocchi, the owner, already knows your order from last time. The secret, he says, is the sauce that is his Grandma’s recipe. …
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Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous welcoming people
Gallipolis, One of those mysterious towns that’s full of generous welcoming people. When we pull in unannounced, uninvited to the Gallipolis Boat Club, Bill greets us at the dock: “Do you need gas? Dock anywhere is fine. Need electricity? Need water? Use our showers! Here’s some beer couzies, Gallipolis Boat Club windbreakers, A list of…
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American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River and a Mystery
American Electric Power on the shores of the Ohio River. Researching how clean these coal-fired power plants are lead me to another less straight-forward story. Try googling “modern coal power plants pollution.” Your first half dozen hits will be the Institute for Energy Research whose optimistic outlook is featured in a google sidebar: Modern coal plants,…
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Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha River
Age fishing as we lazily drift down the Little Kanawha River #horizontalfishing #ohioriver #latergram
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The Incident
The Incident. All agreed, mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. But at least our bilge is now very clean and, after a little work, dry. #shantyboat #mistakeweremade #bilgewater
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Reminder that this is very much an industrial river.
Reminder that this is very much an industrial river. #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #WestVirginia #Industry
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Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Ohio
Swimming in a rain shower at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Ohio at Ravenswood #shantyboat #swimming #rainshower #thunderstorm #ohioriver
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Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick
Shantyboat at the mouth of Sandy Crick #swimmers #ohioriver #shantyboat #railroadbridge
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Trouble with tows on the Ohio River
Tows on the Ohio River. People ask us all the time if tows give us any trouble. Nope. Tow skippers are some of the most professional people on the river. #tows #tugboat #towboats #ohioriver
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A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the Ohio River. Despite everyone upstream promising us apocalyptic weather.
A beautiful day to be on a shantyboat on the Ohio River. Despite everyone upstream promising us apocalyptic weather. #ohioriver #shantyboat
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Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the shantyboat
Mayflies caught in a spiderweb under the eves of the shantyboat. Water quality experts tell us that the return of mayflies on many rivers is a good sign. Way to go Little Kanawha River. Age told me that this was his art installation that he’d worked all night on. #mayflies #ohioriver #littlekanawhariver #shantyboat
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Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River.
Shantyboat at the mouth of the Little Kanawha River. #shantyboat #parkersburg #ohioriver
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Why Marietta endures inevitable floods
Several people told us that Marietta has never seriously considered a levee because it would separate the town and its people from its river roots. People understand that floods come with the territory if you want to live in a river town. “We deal with it and move on.” A sensible approach considering how often…
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Marietta’s Steamboat Landing
Marietta maintains a sternwheeler landing on the Ohio riverfront where historically and currently passenger steamers nose up to the landing and lower their gangplanks for passengers to deboard. Marietta also hosts the annual Ohio River Sternwheel Festival and hosts the W.P.Snyder Jr.; a historic coal-fired sternwheel towboat. #ohioriver #muskingumriver #marietta #sternwheeler
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Pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project at Marietta’s First Friday
Open house and pop-up exhibition of the Secret History project during Marietta’s First Friday. #OpenHouse #Exhibition #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #Marietta
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“Go with the flow” a button made by my new 10 year old friend Iris
“Go with the flow” a button made by my new 10 year old friend Iris who had many many questions about shantyboat living. #kidphilosophy #shantyboat #madebykids #openhouse #buttons
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Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta
Hundreds of people came to visit us in Marietta during First Friday. #shantyboat #openhouse #exhibition #firstfriday @mariettamainstreet
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Full house(boat) in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown ups, and grown ups excited as kids
Full house(boat) at First Friday in Marietta Harbor. Kids, grown ups, and grown ups excited as kids asked one million questions about the shantyboat and about the Secret History project. Thanks to @mariettaadventurecompany, @justajar, @clutchmov, @rtafest @mariettamainstreet, and @mariettaharbor for making it happen. #shantyboat #exhibition #openhouse #ohioriver #muskingumrive
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OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on First Friday in Marietta OH.
OYO killing it at Just A Jar Design Press on First Friday in Marietta OH. #ohioriver #bluegrass #ohio #muskingumriver
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The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at the Marietta waterfront
The Valley Gem makes way up the Muskingum River at the Marietta waterfront #Sternwheeler #MuskingumRiver #OhioRiver #shantyboat #excursion
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The textures of Marietta’s Harmar Village are killing me. Beautiful, old and unprecious.
The textures of Marietta’s Harmar Village are killing me. Beautiful, old and delightfully unprecious. Busy Bee diner, Laborer’ Local 639, Harmar Tavern, all used and well loved. #ohio #marietta #ohioriver #shantyboat
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A landed shantyboat at Marietta’s Ohio River Museum
A landed shantyboat at Marietta’s Ohio River Museum, it’s older grandpa, the flatboat, and finally the famous W.P.Snyder sternwheeler tug. #Ohio #Shantyboat #FlatBoat #Sternwheeler #Steamboat #Tugboat #Marietta #Ohio
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An interesting docking at Marietta tested our mettle
The public dock at Marietta is challenging. Two of the fingers point up the fast-flowing Muskingum River, tangled around the complicated currents off the railroad bridge pier. We had to ease in backwards to ensure that we had enough control and steerage, the whole time being pulled toward the jagged snags near shore or toward…
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Shantyboat anchored in our secret little hidey hole
Shantyboat anchored in our secret little hidey hole. #shantyboat #fishingspot #anchoredout
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Sistersville is a classic adorable small river town laid out parallel to the river.
The classic adorable small river town is laid out with its primary commercial district parallel to and a couple blocks up from the river. This also kept Main Street safe from periodic flooding. Historically, the blocks along the river were a busy neighborhood of warehouses, wharves, barges, oil derricks, shipping, drayage, coal and grain elevators,…
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Sketchy McSketcherson’s sketchy homemade dock
Sketchy McSketcherson’s sketchy homemade dock. Note the interesting piles of trash, skillet-hot sizzling sheet metal, and hull-skewering protruding metal pipes. #HomemadeDock #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #Ohio
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Hazel doing what she does best
Hazel doing what she does best. Charming us. #hazel #cattledog @gooddoghazel
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Age came from New Zealand to shipmate
Age came from New Zealand to shipmate on the Shantyboat. He also joined me on the Tennessee River in 2016. Now I will have someone to talk to beside myself, Hazel, Nd Squirlsey. #shipmate #shantyboat #ohioriver #age #adrian
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Just got 20 on my turn though Age is still kicking my ass
Just got 20 on my turn though shipmate Age is still kicking my ass #cribbage #cardgame #ohioriver #shantyboat #westvirgina
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It’s a two knee knocker sort of day
It’s a two knee knocker sort of day. While a barge bottom boat tends to be stable, the little bit of freeboard we have allows bigger waves to slosh over our deck. We have removable knee knockers we can install to prevent those waves from washing into the cabin. A little later the river calmed…
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This is a pipeline cut
This is the beautiful Appalachian Plateau in the West Virginia hills. And this is what it looks like when oil and gas companies cut a broad and bloody swath through the hills to lay a pipeline to support fracking. #fracking #westvirginia #appalacian #pipeline
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The Tillers – Shanty Boat at Payne Hollow Kentucky
By and by, I’ll be coming up on Payne Hollow, the holler where Anna and Harlan Hubbard settled out after 5 years spent floating their shantyboat down the Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers in the 1950s. I’ve heard great things from my shantyboat friend Faith about Paul who was the Hubbard’s young friend and is…
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The Grave Creek Indian burial mound, at 70 feet high, dominates the skyline of Moundsville
The Grave Creek Indian burial mound, at 70 feet high, dominates the skyline of Moundsville, WV. At the visitor center where I did my talk, there was a great deal of archaeological information, including about the human remains and artifacts that were found in and around the mound. I knew that Lenape, Erie, Shawnee, Munsee,…
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Shantyboat at the Prima Marina in Moundsville WV.
Shantyboat at the Prima Marina in Moundsville WV. #ohioriver #westvirginia
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Outdoor evening concert in Moundsville, a delightful Midwest summer phenomena
Outdoor Friday evening concert in Moundsville, WV. This is a delightful summer phenomena that I’ve only seen in the Midwest and East Coast. Before air conditioning, staying indoors on hot evenings was not an option, so people fled to the porch, the stoop, or the park where there was a chance of catching a cooling…
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Shantyboat morning with wildflowers
Shantyboat morning with wildflowers #Shantyboat #Wildflowers #poster
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We thought you was a shed that had come adrift
As I made coffee and checked my email drifting down the river in the morning fog, a tugboat crew came to check on the shantyboat. “We thought you was a shed that had come adrift.” #OhioRiver #Tugboat’s #Tow #WestVirginia #Ohio #Shantyboat
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Scenes from a sunrise walk around Wellsburg, West Virginia
Scenes from a sunrise walk around Wellsburg, West Virginia. #OhioRiver #Rivertown #WestVirginia #Shantyboat
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Harvey pulling in a 10lb cat from the Wellsburg WV docks
Harvey pulling in a 10lb catfish from the Wellsburg WV docks told me in detail how he lost his mom a year ago to heart disease after he moved here from Tennessee and that things happen in God’s time even if it doesn’t suit our timetables. #shantyboat #fishermen #westvirginia #wv #ohioriver #fishing #catfish
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See ya, Steubenville. Given the highwater and the decrepit condition of the marina, exhibition canceled
See ya, Steubenville. We had an exhibition planned in Steubenville for the last year, but given the high water and the decrepit condition of the former Marina, they had to cancel. In fact, there isn’t even a place to land a boat safely. It makes me sad that this former river town has so little…
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Shantyboat in Toronto Ohio. We were rocked by tugboats and tows all night.
Shantyboat in Toronto Ohio. We were rocked by tugboats and tows all night. #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #Ohio
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Shantyboat breakfast with cheesy grits. We eat well.
Shantyboat breakfast with cheesy grits. We eat well. #shantyboat
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Beaching the shantyboat for a quick pitstop for Hazel.
Beaching the shantyboat for a quick pitstop for Hazel. #Pitstop #Shantyboat #OhioRiver #River
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Montgomery Locks on the Ohio River
Montgomery Locks on the Ohio River #shantyboat #lockanddam #locks #ohioriver #pa #pennsylvania
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As everyone knows, when you drive under a train, it’s good luck.
As everyone knows, when you drive under a train, it’s good luck. Doubly so if you do it on a boat. #goodluck #shantyboat #sailorsuperstitions
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Do you need power? Water? Do you need any money? Do you need anything? Groceries? My keys are in my truck.
When we arrived in Bridgewater, PA along the Beaver River we pulled up to an open space at the very first marina we saw and immediately a few folks came out to catch our lines and help us out. We were parked in someone’s space apparently but it was okay because that boat was out for…
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First day’s voyage celebration. No one was arrested. No one died. And no one lost a limb. Success!
First day’s voyage celebration. No one was arrested. No one died. And no one lost a limb. Success! Unfortunately, I am losing my shipmates already. Christian the nice reporter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had to return to his desk. And Josh my artist/professor friend had to return to his fam. So now it is just…
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Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who lives on a shantyboat
Interview with our trip angel Evan Clark who a) does environmental education and cleanup, b) told us about the effects of post-industrialization and global climate change in PGH, and c) lives in a shantyboat. #interview #shantyboat #secrethistory #oralhistory
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Props props props. During my travels some low driveway took a bite out of my prop
Props props props. During my travels some low driveway took a bite out of my primary propeller so I had to travel into the Pennsylvania hills to get another one. #Propeller #BoatProp #Shantyboat
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One of the last things we do before we launch
One of the last things we do before we launch is find a new green friend to join us on our journey. #HousePlant #BostonFernMaybe #Shantyboat
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Shantyboat on the Allegheny
Shantyboat on the Allegheny. Thanks to Evan from Brilliant Marina whose local knowledge and extensive river experience helped a lot. #shantyboat #allegheny
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Hazel at the bow of Evan’s boat on the Allegheny
Hazel at the bow of Evan’s boat on the Allegheny. This is an important step for her. You know it’s only over the last couple years that Hazel became at all comfortable with boats. #cattledogsofinstagram #allegheny
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What I look like after a cross-country drive and repeated visits to Home Despot
What I look like after a cross country drive and then repeated trips to Home Despot to fix the boat. #shantyboat #boatrepair #diy #homedespot
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When you park right next to the tracks
When you park right next to the tracks you experience this disconcerting phenomena. Which looks like this late at night… #train #railroad #shantyboat #woowoo
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For the first time in a week I have a moment to relax
Sunset over the swollen Allegheny River and for the first time in a week I have a moment to relax and smoke a cigar. #endofthetrail allegheny #Pittsburgh #PGH
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Hangin with the PGH boat punx on the swollen Allegheny River.
Hangin with the PGH boat punx at Brilliant Marina on the swollen Allegheny River. #BoatPunx #FloodStage #shantyboat #Marina
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Arrived in Pittsburgh to a warm welcome
Arrived in Pittsburgh to a warm welcome by boat punk friends. #RoadTrip #Pittsburgh #PGH
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Welcome to America.
Welcome to America. Apparently, this is the largest cross in the world. Interestingly, I drove by its only stiff competition in Groom, Texas on this trip. As if God is guiding me to the most kitschy and monumental symbols of His faith. #Crosses #ChristianNation #roadsideamerica #illinois #effingham
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Battened Down. Finally.
After 6 years, I finally got tired of all the shantyboat stuff walking all over the place when I drove. #boatrepair #shantyboat
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Big storm over Vandalia, Illinois
Big storm over Vandalia, Illinois #roadtrip #shantyboat #stormacomin
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Accusatory look. I don’t think either Squirlsey or I thought this trip would take six days.
Accusatory look. I don’t think either Squirlsey or I thought this trip would take six days. #AngrySquirrel #RoadTrip #RoadService #CrossCountry
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Middle of the night truckstop shantyboat repair
Middle of the night truckstop epoxy work to repair the damaged hull of the shantyboat. #epoxy #boatrepair #shantyboat #roadtrip
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First real meal of any kind in three days of travel at the Sunnyside Diner in OKC
First real meal of any kind in three days of travel at the Sunnyside Diner in Oklahoma City. I love stumbling upon places like this. Great peeps, good prices, excellent food. #RoadTrip #Diner #OKC
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There are a lot of abandoned places in the American Southwest
There are a lot of abandoned travel service places in the southwest, gas stations, motels, restaurants. Walking around on the weed-shattered, glass-strewn pavement, the sun pouring through dusty windows, hearing no sound but the crickets in the encroaching vegetation has a very post-apocalyptic feel. #RoadTrip #PostApocalyptic #Route66
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Sometimes you move over the same landscape so many times that you get a sense of déjà vu.
Sometimes you move over the same landscape so many times that you get a sense of déjà vu. I’m nearly certain I have taken this exact same photograph before. #shantyboat #Déjàvu #DejaTruckStop
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30 minutes out of my way to Lake Havasu City to someplace that had fiberglass supplies
30 minutes out of my way to Lake Havasu City to someplace that had the fiberglass supplies I needed to repair the boat. #boatrepair #diy #shantyboat
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As if we need additional confirmation that I am an idiot. Let’s be clear…
As if we need additional confirmation that I am a fucking idiot. Let’s be clear, this was not just a crazy unforeseen unfortunate highway event. I am 100% incontrovertibly unarguably and completely responsible. Mistakes were made: 1) I didn’t get the wheel bearings re-greased and repacked as part of our regular maintenance. 2) When I…
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Chuvas Senior gets replacement tire and rim. Junior packs new bearings with marine grease.
Chuvas Senior gets replacement tire and rim. Junior packs new bearings with marine grease. Meanwhile all the old bearings are replaced and repacked. Chuvas told me he had been in King City for 30 years and spoke little English. He moved from Michoacan to Mexico City where he worked 27 years as a mechanic. #roadtrip…