Day 18, end of expedition celebration dinner

Our amazing waitress, Allison, took this picture of us at the Mayor's H.ouse restaurant in Pawleys Island.

Day 17 Blog post: Austin Bunn

I woke up this morning around 7 am to the sound of rain drops hitting the top of our tent. We were  allowed to actually sleep-in until 9, but with so many early morning starts my body didn't allow me. As the rain became harder others began to wake up and pack up their personal gear. We decided after sitting in the rain for a while that it made a whole lot more sense to sit on the covered porch of the DNR offices. The rest of the morning's activities took place there because of the thunderstorms that moved in. Imagine that, our last day of paddling started off like our first day ended.
We entertained ourselves with skits about our biggest challenges done by each tent group. After a good lunch of veggie pitas we finally all headed to the boats and began to get in. It was close to 1 by the time we all got in which was definitely the latest start of the whole trip. We did this so that the tide would work with us. The paddle was wonderful; it was cool with a slight drizzle. We got to see lots of neat wildlife including fish jumping and egrets fishing. The marshes were really unique. I have been visiting the Charleston area all my life and never seen marshes like this. Instead of just having marsh grass as far as you can see with no trees, there were cypress trees, lillypads, and other beautiful aquatic plants with neat flowers.
Finally the end of our journey was in site; ahead we could see the highway 17 bridge which marked the Georgetown marina. As we passed under the bridge we all floated in a pod and tapped our paddles on the underside. Once at the docks we all got out and loaded our gear and boats onto the trailer. It wasn't until the last boat was loaded that the realization of being done really sank in.
We then headed to Huntington state park where we enjoyed some much-needed food and showers. We soon all went to the beach where we stuck our feet in in celebration of making it!
It's been a long journey but an awesome one for sure. I have enjoyed overcoming all the challenges and getting to know everyone but for now its time for some well needed rest.

Day 18 at Tom Yawkey

Here we are with Joseph (aka Tiny) who gave us a wonderful tour of the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center on Cat and South Islands. Thanks Jamie and Joseph!

Day 17 camp at Hunting State Park

Jana, Brian, and Mater working hard to recruit future WLEE majors. This is Lucas Johnson, who was enamored with our row of kayaks.