Burning desire

It always amazes me how a wood fire can bring people together. This past weekend the fires burned bright and drew many to share stories of past adventures. We had a full moon to boot.
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After the long drive ( 1.5 hour delay in Indiana - road construction) it was a welcome site to have camp set and a raging fire.
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Mark and Jack waited at the fire for our arrival which was somewhere around 2:00am, most appreciated.
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After a weekend like this, you get a burning desire to do a big trip, I mean a really big trip.
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The Capt'n

Quite the celebration

There has been a lot of coverage on the Kruger Canoe Adventure Blog with many photos of the Memorial, so I wont duplicate here; but I will say that the VKM puts a lump in your throat and tear to eye when standing there with all the family and friends that participated in the memorial dedication.
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I did get a chance to take a look at Verlen's Sea Wind and Loon that made some of his epic voyages. Mark pulled them out of the museum for the memorial dedication. I believe a couple of Verlen's grandchildren paddled them on the memorial paddle. Pretty impressive indeed.
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Here's a shot of Larry "Coach" Hoff making his way to the put in for the Memorial Paddle. He's riding his bike towing his Sea Wind; a typical day for "Coach". bike -paddle -bike - paddle -bike - paddle.
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A who's who of expedition paddlers showed. Steve Landick was there to say some kind words and share stories of his stories of 28,000 mile ultimate canoe challenge with Verlen Kruger along with many others; the list is long the stories riveting. The cocktails flowed and stories were told.
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Sixty nine Kruger Canoes participated in the Memorial paddle down to Portland Michigan; here's a shot of the pack, Bob Bradford in a cruiser picture left.

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Here's a shot of Boo before we shuttled canoes; this would be the last time we would see her blue spray jacket. She set it down at the put-in and forgot it. We made a few calls and looked for it but to no avail. She's bummed as this jacket has been with here on some of her more notable paddles.
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The paddle was complete, even with a monarch butterfly making the journey; a symbol of the Kruger line of boats, this little fellow hung around for quite some time visiting paddlers.

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Paddle on,

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The Capt'n

Road Trip

Boo in the QCC 500

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Need to pry Boo out of the QCC 500 for a road trip to Michigan; The Kruger Memorial Dedication is this weekend.

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Loading up the Cruiser; we'll be joining many others on the memorial paddle on Saturday and hanging with the "Kruger Krowd" swapping stories of adventure. Many have paddled with Verlen on extended weekend trips ( 300 - 500 mile paddles) Others have done trips in the 1000's. It's a who's who of adventure paddling this weekend.

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Travelling by canoe is a unique and grounding experience. It slows the mind and connects you with your surroundings. The key is to let it happen, staying in the moment, enjoying ever second.

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Pictures of the memorial being built at: Kruger Canoe Adventures

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The Capt'n

Family

Been pretty busy these past weeks with Emily's graduation the family reunion, not to mention sprinkling in a bit of work; the blog gets neglected. From left to right; Elizabeth (sis), Me, Mike (dad), Jenny (sis). There were about 60 other family and friends running around causing havoc.
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We brought over a few boats for the kids to paddle. Here is a shot of Marissa and her friend Helena working there way up the shore of Lac La Belle. The weather was perfect and the water warm.

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Big Mahalo to Patti and Bob (cousins) who hosted this year; lots of work and prep on their part.

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The Capt'n

Shorewood Graduate 2010

Emily graduates from Shorewood High School!

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The smile says it all; Outstanding evening!
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More pics - Graduation 2010

Dancing with...

Dancing with the stars it was not, but it was quite a gala attending the Shorewood High School Student Parent Senior Dinner Dance.
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There was the father daughter dance which opened the dance portion of the evening, where I really cut loose; I got the moves babe e.

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Emily's at the end of the road, her high school years are coming to a close. Not missing a beat she's already got a job for the summer (started a week ago at Kohl's Department Store) before she's off to college in the Fall.

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Graduation is this Thursday evening; I can hardly believe it!

Decorah or Bust

Marissa and I made our way up to Decorah Iowa to paddle on the Upper Iowa river. It's an excellent river for canoeing and just hanging out. The river was busy over the Memorial Day weekend, but still worth the drive.
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The Upper Iowa is in scenic bluff country and driftless zone of Iowa. This region was ice-free during the last ice age and was not flattened by glaciation or covered in glacial drift.
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Two years ago they had a pretty substantial flood, the picture shows the force that a river in rage can inflict
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The days were beautiful, catching some sun on river's edge grabbing a bit of lunch, temps. were in the 90's. This is the face one makes when a wet dog shakes next to you in the heat of the day.
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A shot of chimney rock as we make our way down river; bluffs line most of the river down to the Mississippi.

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Lots of history to be had too. Chief Waukon Decorah, (Winnebago Tribe) moved to this area from Wisconsin. He and his tribe cooperated with American settlers during the Black Hawk Wars and was pretty much left alone until they too were removed for white settlements in 1848.

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Our nights were filled with dinners out in Decorah and hanging with others at the campground. We caught some great sunsets while Boo ravaged smores and Koa ran a muck with other dogs down by the river.

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These are the days to be remembered.

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The Capt'n