West and Jeff started their day very early and ended up paddling their best day yet...55.6 miles. Looking at the spot tracker, they stopped for camp just past a "point". As they passed the point, they saw some fisherman that waved at them and were very friendly. They waved and motioned and asked what they were doing. West and Jeff did their best to respond, as the language was a slight barrier.
Once Jeff prepared their dinner and camp was set up, they were approached, once again, by these fisherman. They came down to their camp and invited them to dinner. Despite West and Jeff politely refusing (due to exhaustion), the fisherman were adament about having them as their guests for dinner. They piled into an inflatable boat and were taken back to the fisheman's camp. There, they were treated to an absolutely fabulous dinner. Smoked fish with some sort of yogurt sauce over it, side dishes, etc. They were camped using a big van with a tent attached to the back. It was a very good time. The fisherman then took them back to their camp where they were getting ready to crawl into bed. They are extremely tired and want to get an early start but may sleep just a tad bit later.
Tomorrow, West & Jeff will come across the town of Khvalynsk. There, the local tourism groups are hosting a sports camp for hundreds of people promoting tourism on the Volga River. Check out the cool website here. They are interested to meet West and Jeff and I can't wait to hear all about the festivities.
--Barbara
