Americinn Walker

... State Park. After paying a $5 entry fee we made our way to the visitor center located at the northern entrance. I want to share with you some of the interesting facts we learned:

The name Mississippi comes from the Algonquin word Misiziibi which means
'a river spread over a large area'

The Mississippi River travels through 10 states

30% of the distance the ...

... strollers, playing lawn games, grabbing a chair around the campfire and shooting the **** for a bit, eating once again and cracking a few beers while wiling the days and nights away... This year we headed up to Leech Lake in the northern half of MN... it is a big lake with big waves and big fish, as well as big mosquitoes... We stayed on the shores of the lake within a national forest campground... a lush and leafy environment to relax in for a few... and that we did...

... Zoe (along with being allergic to soy!) is allergic to peanut butter, so we have sunflower butter or "sunbutter" instead. We've all grown obsessed with it; it's delicious, although there's some debate over chunky vs. smooth. After our hillbilly lunch, Mirielle announced that because we were behind schedule, we weren't going to paddle today. Is it a bad sign that we all cheered? Finally we arrived at our home for the night, a large ...

... executive decision when Mireille stepped out of the building to put all of the M&Ms in a sack by themselves instead of mixing them into the gorp. I can't wait to snack on that in the canoes! Also, this time we're traveling to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Wilderness (whew), where glass containers aren't allowed, so everything in glass had to go in sacks too. Lacking any other utensils, I used the end of a sharpie to scoop curry out of a glass bottle. A few minutes ...

... kitchen" has a wooden cover. Today was the first day that I ever had to wear my raincoat. Once the tables were set and the rain had stopped, we gathered in a circle and began singing one of our favorite songs while waiting for the parents. They came up just as we were finishing the song. It was very nice to see them so happy to see Seine and Jacques. We had an enormous dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread, cheese, crackers, spaghetti, spaghetti, and more spaghetti ...

Made contact today with Marie Nemec (64), of Grand Junction, Colorado, who, together with her friend, Charlotte Reicks (72), has recently completed a bike trip from Grand Junction to the annual HDSA convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From The Beacon (http://www.beaconinfo.net/): This year's ride will take Nemec and Reicks across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and into Pennsylvania ...

... to the highest point of our base camp, where a fire was waiting for us. We repeated the traditional promises of the Voyageurs, were given our traditional Voyageur hats, and drank mint water to be officially inducted as Voyageurs. Tomorrow, we are leaving for our first voyage. Everyone is excited. We were also all Super Francais once again today. It's definitely taxing speaking in a foreign language all day long. I'll sleep well tonight.

... of the other table a few times. After lunch came camping lesson. We were divided into two groups. I was with Gilles, Simone, and Jeanne. We learned how to properly put up and take down a tent from Thomas and La Framboise. On our first try, we managed to put it up in 4 minutes and take it down in 3. Not bad, if you ask me. Finaly, it was time for our sieste. I once again wrote in my journal. Zoe had already finished journaling and was snoozing away. I think I ...

... in a cheesy way as in a cowardous and relieving "oh thank god I'm not going to die after all" kind of way. Because up to then, I really had felt as if I wouldn't make it out of the next four weeks unscathed. Yes, the challenges that lay ahead of me are terrifying and will be difficult - but I'll take it one day at a time, and I'll make it and have a whole hell of a lot of fun while I'm doing it. I'm very pleased with this group of campers. I can tell we're going to get along ...

... a big breakfast. DH is signed up for many hotel 'points' programs and HI had a promotion that awarded extra points for 3 or more stays within a set period. The extra $10 to stay here got extra points, which will mean a free stay in the future. HIE was in the middle of town, unlike BW. DH and g walked to Village Foods (it seemed like a smaller version of Whole Foods, with more natural and organic products than your average grocery store) next door for some evening snacks for us.