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Yes, I really do look very fine
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My cape rules! (Matt and Scott don't have a cape!)
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Cool looking place
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Cyrus Hanson with Scott and Matt--he met Eric and Walt on the river 75 years ago!
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Scott sucking down some cool water
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Speed boat and nice people
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Matt in the bow, solar panels behind, wild scenery all around
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Monty's revenge (Entry by Monty)
(Jul 10th, 2005) Hello, Monty here, the expedition mascot. I am a [stuffed] dog that rides on the prow of the ship. Matt and Scott have not given me a bath in a long time so I am a little bit upset with them. That and they keep accepting tons of hospitality from so many people, and I never get anything. EXCEPT!---Dr. Biberdorf in Grand Forks gave ME a North Dakota State University Fighting Sioux cape!!!! I’ve been wearing it proudly ever since, and I thank Dr. Biberdorf for having his priorities straight.

Scott and Matt did look awfully hot today for the 3rd straight day, I will confess. And it’s nice that they do all the paddling and I get to just sit here. They didn’t put any suntan lotion on me though, so I’m not sure what is going to happen to my fibers. It was really cool watching the two of them get lost this morning in the flooded river. I chuckled softly so they couldn’t hear me.

We got to Drayton about lunchtime today and oh what a surprise! Cyrus and Janice Hanson and their daughter Louise and her husband all met us at the bridge north of town. Cyrus is 83 years old and in 1930 he was a boy at his family picnic when Eric Sevareid and Walter Port stopped—Cyrus remembered it clear as a bell!! Cyrus was excited to meet Matt and Scott—they gave him an expedition T-shirt and talked with everyone for a while. Mike Stenifeldt, a reporter for the Walsh County Record, was also there. Cyrus and the gang told us how the river used to be lined with farms and lots of people lived around. Now though, with the river flooding fairly often and so many of the farms getting so big, very few people live near the river.

Then Matt and Scott did something I really thought was rotten. They left me sitting on the canoe while Mike drove them into town to Cindy’s Place, a café’ in Drayton. I heard them talking about it when they got back and apparently Mike was going to treat them to Cindy’s fine home cooking, but was pre-empted by Cindy and her husband Clayton, who said the whole lunch was on them. Geez, Matt and Scott are darn near spoiled rotten. They haven’t hardly fed me once since they left. And then to top it all off they pulled out some cookies the Brunson’s (Cindy and Clayton) had given them and ate em right in front of me! I stole a crumb, but geez. Matt and Scott….ridiculous…this should be called Monty’s expedition, I think.

They paddled a whole bunch more, and the water was so high they were able to cut through some fields and shave off some miles. On and on they paddled, and a big white motorboat came—the 2nd boat we saw today after seeing none for the 1st 10 days! The big white boat stopped and chatted—they were on a pleasure cruise on the high waters, from the Canadian border on down. Scott took their picture.

Then finally Matt and Scott stopped for the night, and were just about to unload the canoe when four bright colored jet skiers pulled up! Crazy! The nice people said we should camp on their land just a little ways down the river. We paddled down and then up a drainage ditch to their property that is sealed in by a dyke all the way around to protect against floods (it has held through many floods but not the 1997 one). They are Angela and Ted Juhl and their daughter Megan. Matt and Scott went and showered and didn’t let me. They can really be conceited sometimes. I snuck in and used the internet though so ha ha on them.

It might storm tonight so I’m going to stick my snout under the blanket. Tomorrow we are going to cross into Canada!

One sponsor Monty would like to thank is Cooke Custom Sewing (CCS). Dan Cooke made the spray skirt that I (Monty) get to ride on every day. It’s SO nice. Matt and Scott have kept it on the canoe everyday, and Todd and Scott did too. It protects the canoe from big waves and spray and rain that could get in, and even will wrap around Matt and Scott’s waists if need be. It snaps to the side of the boat and is easy on, easy off. The center section clips shut over the top of all their gear and the solar panels ride on top of that.

All the packs that the expedition uses are made by CCS too. They are rugged and have held up to much abuse. Some of them have hip belts, and the food pack is really cool—free standing for easy access and it has organized bags inside to quickly find meals. The ‘dry-fly’ shelter the expedition has is made by CCS, too. I (Monty) sleep in it at night and it’s really great. It keeps me dry and bug free. Scott and Matt do all their cooking in here, feeding me nothing of course.