Blogs from Minnesota, United States, North America - page 73

Odometer: 32065 Weather: Clear and hot with lots of wind. Rain overnight. I was up early and off to my favourite coffee shop for a light breakfast. I had what they call an English Muffin. On the west coast, in Seattle, they properly called it a crumpet. Is that an indication of the diversification of cultures in the US? Sitting and looking out over the idylic scene from the coffee shop, I was tempted to stay in Duluth for Independance Day, but that was to be a day away and would mean two more nights in the motel and a lost travel day. I decided to carry on and aim for my previous plan, which was to be in Marquette for Independance Day. By the way, last night I reduced my load somewhat by throwing away ... read more

I'm home in Minnesota, getting ready for the oncoming 2 months. This means buying last minute stuff and packing! I'm not nervous yet, except for the threat of getting sick. I just got off of a phone call planning the group's trip to New York for our orientation, and I'm starting to get really excited to meet my group and get off the ground. I'll be heading first to NY, then to Amsterdam for a lovely 2.5 hour layover. Then, to Nairobi, Kenya for a night. The group travels to Moshi, Tanzania, which is right near Mt. Kilamanjaro. We'll be there for 10 days. Then, we head back to Kenya and stay in Nairobi for 2 days, and then to Eastern Uganda, near Mt. Elgon and Mbale. The group will be there for another 10 days. ... read more

Hi everyone, Well...we think we have enough money to make it four weeks in Europe, but I guess we will find out when we get there! We are having our graduation party today since both of us just graduated and it will be nice to see family and friends before we take off. Our next entry will be from Europe, so we will say goodbye for now. Matt and Nicole... read more

Welcome to "planning and preparation" update number two.... Classes are officially over at MSU. Thesis turned in, and Steph's graduation garb is pressed and ready to go. Three workdays left on the calendar. For most, this would be a time to cut loose and celebrate! For us, it is time to get down to business. We have until May 13th to finish purchasing, rationing, and packaging our expedition food, gathering the necessary gear for our trip, to say goodbye to our friends, and pack up and move out of our apartment. We're surprised that no one has started a pool on how many hours of sleep we'll be getting this week! Since our last update, we have had many exciting developments: We recently made a trip to the St. Peter Co-Op to make some enormous bulk ... read more

Greetings, and welcome to the madness that is expedition planning! This trip has been two long years in the making, but with a mere 47 days until we launch our kayaks in Skagway, Alaska, we are coming down to the proverbial wire with working out all of the ever-so-complicated logistics of making this trip happen. Our apartment has been a bit of a mess these days (for those of you who have visited recently, you can insert your own description). Since January we have had three food dehydrators running nonstop, heating our house and drying everything from indian curry to spaghetti sauce to blueberries to beef jerkey. We will be bringing over 600 lbs. of rations, divided into 3-week caches, so we truly are faced with the challenge of drying, vaccum-bagging, measuring, repackaging, and dividing mostly ... read more