Single Mom and Seven Kids Complete 2,350-Mile Mississippi River Canoe Journey

(KNSI) – After 96 days on the water, single mother Nikki Bettis and her brood have completed a 2,350-mile odyssey down the Mississippi River from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

Bettis, along with the seven youngest of her 15 children, began paddling on August 16th from Lake Bemidji and reached the Gulf via the Atchafalaya River on November 19th. The team passed through St. Cloud in early September.

Bettis and her kids took four canoes through locks, past barges, and alongside alligators in what she described to KNSI news as an adventure meant to bring them together. “You connect with each other in a way out there that you cannot get in a normal daily environment. You just can’t.”

The expedition faced skepticism from the start. Bettis said many people predicted disaster at multiple points along the route. “We were told in this journey, especially having only my seven youngest with me, that we would die at all of these points along the river. We were going to die in St. Louis. If that didn’t kill us off, it’d be the Ohio confluence. If that didn’t, it’d be Memphis and then it’d be alligators. But, we just sailed through each one.”

The family encountered alligators in Louisiana’s swamplands, with one juvenile gator even swimming alongside their canoes for a stretch.

Rather than the wildlife, Bettis said their biggest challenge was fast boats in the reservoirs above the locks and dams. “We almost got hit by one. The boat saw us, we all made eye contact, we waved, he acknowledged us. So you think you’re good, but people just don’t drive sensibly.”

The family’s route took them through the heart of America’s river system, including a memorable mile-and-a-half portage walking their boats through downtown Minneapolis after the lock there was closed due to invasive carp. They used VHF radios to communicate with lock operators and barge captains.

Among the expedition’s highlights was sandbar camping-setting up on pristine islands of sand each night. The family also benefited from strangers who opened their homes and offered support. They balanced that with a few stays at motels during illness or bad weather.

Wind proved to be their greatest adversary. The family established safety protocols, refusing to paddle in winds above 20 mph, after dark, in fog, or in rain below 58 degrees.

Bettis, who homeschools her children, integrated education throughout the journey, visiting historical sites and experiencing geography firsthand rather than through textbooks. But her bigger mission is to inspire other families, especially single parents, to embrace outdoor adventures. “The most important thing of this whole thing is it’s possible. What I’ve seen of online social media, people are so filled with fear of great things, fun, epic things, that they don’t allow themselves to experience it.”

The Mississippi journey follows the family’s 2,200-mile hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2023, which Bettis described as a healing experience after leaving a 20-year marriage marked by domestic violence and her ex-husband’s struggles with career-induced PTSD as a firefighter-paramedic.

The journey featured Bettis and her seven youngest children: twins Graham and Gatlin (who turned 15 on the river), Gates (13), Lillye (12), Grisham (10), Galax (9), and Opye (who turned 7 during the expedition). Her eight oldest children remained home working while the family paddled south.

The Danville, Virginia, family has already returned home and is planning their next adventure for 2026, either a long-distance bike ride or another hike, with some of the older children planning to join.

The family documents their adventures on the 32 Feet Up Facebook page and YouTube channel, sharing their experiences in hopes of encouraging others to get outside.

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