FLOATING THE PEARL

FLOATING THE PEARL – Randy Ridings, a teacher from Missouri, passed through Lawrence County July 29 in his human-powered amphibious vehicle, the Quadyak, which can travel on land or water. He built the vehicle with his father seven years ago. He is traveling across the country and has been working on the trip for the last three summers. He started on the west coast of Oregon and is traveling to the east coast of Florida. He traveled down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg, rode up the Natchez Trace to the Barnett Reservoir, and floated for five days down the Pearl River to Monticello. He was headed to Prentiss to ride down the Long Leaf Trace. He estimated that he has traveled 3,500 miles altogether, 600 since June, and that two-thirds of his trip has been on land, and one-third has been on water.