Jul
19
2009
Port Austin
Author: RuthStephen has made it to Port Austin on the tip of Michigan’s thumb and is sleeping on a yacht tonight. Not fair! I’m headed down on Wednesday to visit, resupply his larder and obtain photos of the trip though Saginaw Bay. More anon….
July 20th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Hi Ruth,
Be sure to tell Stephen not to canoe into any “cracks in the Lake”.
That phrase, to my knowledge, came from the book The Indian Drum and its many stories of Lake Michigan shipwrecks. I read the book at the cottage one summer and never forgot the imagery.
Dad
July 27th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Thanks for the updates Stephen and Rupa. Saw the trailer in your front yard yesterday with Ruth’s boat ready to roll. Keep on paddlin! Pierleopteris.
August 16th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Aug. 16, 2009
Steve,
Great site and great photos! And what a great adventure! Will try to get caught up and continue to follow it. Babette told me about it when I was telling her about my coming trip. Not quite as strenuous or adventuresome as yours, but nevertheless I’m really excited about it. Leaving tomorrow a.m. Here’s a snip from an email I sent to various people.
Have had my nose in my computer day and night for the past nine months or so planning for my big trip. Maps, attractions, forts, waterfalls, scenic overlooks, parks and campgrounds, itinerary, budget, etc., etc. Think I’ve got it all put together pretty well. Hardly seems fair that it took 9 months to plan and I’ll only be gone 2 1/2 months. Will be leaving August 17 and getting back home November 2 if things go as planned.
Attached is an itinerary of where I expect to be each night in case you’re curious. (Not attached, I didn’t know if I could.) Might change a little but I’m going to try and stick pretty close to it because I’m hitting several of the campgrounds on the last or next to last night they’re open. A few heavy travel days, but mostly 100-200 miles per day so I’ve got time to do more than look out the windshield. Almost 10,000 miles not counting side trips. (I’m sure there’ll be side trips.) Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick again, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina again, Tennessee again, Kentucky, Virginia again, Kentucky again, Indiana, Michigan and finally home. 10 Canadian national parks, 25 provincial parks, 1 nature reserve, 4 private campgrounds (1 New Brunswick, 3 Nova Scotia-nothing in area or already closed), 5 US national parks, 21 state parks 10 national forest campgrounds, 1 Army Corp of Engineers park, 0 motels, 0 hotels.
I bought a cell phone to take on the trip (what a rip-off they are) and ditched my land line. That way I got to keep my same phone number. Phone I got supposedly has the best coverage in Canada and most of the mountain areas I’ll be in. Just in case.
I’m taking my laptop and I think I can find wi-fi in enough places to get email and pay bills. I hope with my laptop along I’ll also be able to keep up on my photos, or at least not have to buy 8011 flash cards. I bought an adapter that will run laptop off the car battery for when I’m at parks without electricity. I’m going to try and put some photos up to my web page as I go. I just put up 2 new folders, Rabbit and Orchids & Others.
http://my.inbox.com/photos/index.aspx?collins.dennis.
Best wishes!
Dennis