A crowd stood on the banks of the Mississippi River on Saturday morning squinting into the horizon and searching for the glint of paddling oars.
The group was waiting for three men — LSU graduate Max Zoghbi, University of Mississippi senior Bowman Hitchens and University of Mississippi graduate Rob Treppendahl — as they finished their 2,300-mile journey to kayak the entire river in 60 days.
Starting at the river’s origin in Lake Itasca in Minnesota on June 21 and ending on the steps of the Moonwalk in New Orleans’s French Quarter, the men finally arrived to the cheering crowd and hugs from friends and family around 10:30 a.m.
“It feels completely amazing. I never wanted to see a city so bad,” Treppendahl said. “You see the cityscape, we were like, ‘This is it, this is Day.”
Through sponsors and donations, the men have raised $40,000, but said they will continue to put money toward the causes. Zoghbi said they will make a documentary with footage collected along the trip and potentially write a book.
“The bigger it is, the more money for the kids,” Zoghbi said.
But for now, a shower and a bed will do.
“It’s good to be done. I think the best part is just learning how to let go of things and be flexible,” Zoghbi said. “The whole time we didn’t know what home looked like each night. The coolest thing was God provided time and time again, over and over and again.”
Each night, the men stayed in a supposed “three-person” tent on the banks of the river or occasionally in a backyard if allowed. But even when they stopped in places like Baton Rouge, they slept in the yards or on the porches of people they knew, and never in a bed.
“We’re coming home to homes and families and financial provision, but I think sleeping not in a bed was just a small step to help us kind of identify [with the homeless], especially when it was 108 degrees outside,” Treppendahl said. “Certainly there’s no way we can really relate, but we can step into their shoes and be thankful for what you’ve stuff.”
“This completely bridges the gap,” she said. “I think it helped us because we’re so spiritually