Liebster Award Nomination

Amy and I have been nominated for the "Liebster Award" by the lovely Katie & Jessie. This summer they completed their 2 year journey doing The Great Loop aboard their boat, Louise. Pretty awesome, right? We can't wait to swap stories and share a brew or two!

This award is passed on from blogger to blogger as a way to share stories and connect others. Once nominated, you have to answer the questions given. Then you continue the chain by nominating your blogger friends with your own questions.

Questions from Katie and Jessie to Amy and Mary:

If you weren't on this adventure, what would you be doing?

Sadly, we're not on the adventure anymore, so we are doing what we would be doing except sometimes we wish we were doing something else like another adventure.

We talk about going on a new adventure just about every day, but we kinda promised we'd finish writing our book and editing our documentary about our trip around the lake. So until that day comes, we keep busy working on our mini projects and going on mini adventures.

What question do you hate answering the most?

Probably the bathroom question.

What question do you wish more people thought to ask?

"How do I get started on my own 'crazy' idea for an adventure?"

What was the dirtiest job you have been faced with?

Dirtiest activity on the trip: Since our canoe didn't have a lot of room to spare, we packed as minimally as possible. This meant limiting a lot of things, including clothing. So we had one paddling outfit each. Each of us had a pair of quick-drying pants, rain pants, a rain coat, gloves and a long sleeve UV shirt. But to add some variety to our days, we traded the UV shirts every single paddle day. Washed or not. Usually not washed. A little queazy to think about now, but we didn't mind much at the time.

Dirtiest paid job: Mary used to have to regularly do pump outs as a gas dock attendant in college.

What did you bring on your trip that you later realized was ridiculous?

We packed a stainless steel diving knife and a handmade fishing spear. We know those weren't necessary... But they were completely necessary.

Describe a moment when you wanted to quit.

The first day was definitely the hardest. After that, we learned to take it one day at a time.

Whose boat do you secretly wish you could hop on to travel with and why?

Steve Zissou's Belafonte for obvious reasons. 

We nominate the following bloggers for a Liebster Award:


Loreen Niewenhuis, the Great Lakes Queen. She has successfully walked 1,000mi around Lake Michigan, and then another 1,000mi around portions of all 5 Great Lakes, and then she explored 1,000mi of Islands on the Great Lakes. We dare you to ask her any question about the Great Lakes.

Tim Gallaway, the Greenland Kayaking Prince. Kayaker, slack-liner, craftsman, and our friend. We first connected with Tim during our expedition as he was just finishing up a trip of his own that took him kayaking from Sault Ste. Marie to the sea.

Amy and Dave Freeman, America's coolest couple. Fellow MTI Adventurewear supporters and National Geographic Adventurers of 2014, Amy and Dave started an amazing organization called Wilderness Classroom. This nonprofit connects thousands of students with live expeditions throughout the world. We followed along for their North American Odyssey (11,700 mile canoe/kayak/dogsled expedition) and their most recent Paddle to DC adventure.  

And the questions our fellow adventurers must answer:

* If you could have brought one celebrity on part of one of your adventures, who would that have been?
* What surprised you most about choosing this lifestyle?
* What's the stickiest situation you've found yourself in on one of your adventures?
* If your journey had a soundtrack, what would it's signature track be?
* What's your dream trip?
* What's the most valuable lesson you've taken away from your travels?
* What pet would you bring on your next trip?

Book and Film Progress

We just created a new tab on this here blog - BOOK & FILM! We are so excited to be nearing the finish line...we initially thought we crossed that finish line way back on October 1, 2012, when we finished our circumnavigation, but we quickly realized that following these creative outlets to tell our story was also in the cards for us. We have been working for over 2 years to complete these projects and the end is in sight.

On any given day, the process of working on these endeavors has been exciting, daunting, exhilarating, terrifying, inspiring, petrifying, grand, overwhelming, weird, hair-raising, beautiful, unyielding, laborious, and deeply gratifying. Simultaneously writing a book and editing a documentary sometimes causes us to switch between these emotions in a matter of days, or hours, or minutes. Sometimes these feelings seem to impossibly happen all at once (How is that possible?!), but mostly this experience has proven to be endlessly rewarding. To be able to share our story with so many more people than we originally envisioned is a real dream come true.

Be on the lookout for how to get your hands on the book and documentary! To hold you over, learn the answers to all your FAQ's here.

 

Random Fall and Winter Happenings

The months have flown by since our last update...time for some sharing! Do you remember this guy? And this boat? Back in late September we were able to get back up to Saugatuck, MI, to see some of our favorite friends that we met on our Lake Michigan adventure.

Dave, sailing the infamous Phagawi.

Mary, enjoying the blue.

We stayed on the Phagawi for the weekend - just like the good old days. This trip brought back many fond memories of when we were weather bound on this same dock for 9 days...

Good morning, sunshine.

Mary and Tim, just being clothes and hair twins.

Jam session with friends!

We saw this old wooden sailboat up on blocks in a parking lot in Saugatuck. Amy really wants it.

We're pretty sure it's impossible to restore into a functioning water vessel, but we do think that this boat would make a fantastic treehouse if it were hoisted up in a tree...'Two Girls and a Treehouse Named Boat?"

Time for some playtime! More Phagawi sailing, hammock hangouts, dinghy rides, kayaking, and greenland style rolling lessons.

For our rolling lesson, we put on the traditional tulik and hopped in Gina's skin-on-frame kayak.

 

Tim is well versed in anything having to do with greenland style kayaking, so he was the perfect teacher for our first ever rolling lesson.

Butterfly rolls and balance braces in 20 minutes flat!

Good job, Mar!

Your turn, Amy. Now get in that tulik!

Roll, Amy, roll!

Then Tim showed up everyone with a beer roll. Someday we'll be able to add that to our resume as well.

Our two year tripversary was celebrated on October 1, 2014, by completing a long dune hike and taking a chilly dip into our favorite Great Lake.

This fall was also full of new boat projects. The Blue Heron is coming together nicely with it's new paint job. We cannot wait to take it on Lake Michigan next summer! We might be going on a round the lake book tour in this boat...

We also acquired an old Hobie Cat. Amy wants to call it the 'Banana Hammock.'

We had some fun surfing as the weather changed.

Mary between peaks!

Halloween was our last hurrah...at least until Amy gets a warmer wetsuit!

We also attended the Sandhill Crane Paddle, hosted by the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association. There were many friendly and familiar faces seen paddling down the Kankakee River that day.

Mary in the stern and Amy in the bow, as per usual.

Our friend, Jackie, enjoying the falling leaves and bright colors.

The day ended at the Jasper Pulaski lookout where there were thousands and thousands of sandhill cranes flying in to roost for the evening. Pull out your binoculars everyone!

Another random day after a Lake Michigan storm, Amy stumbled upon this log riding in a Sunfish. My, my, my, how the tables have turned...

In December, we finally took a trip up to Muskegon State Park. We won a 2 night stay in their yurt, so we thought we might as well take advantage of the new snow!

We invited our friend Jackie along - luckily she's a barista. Camp coffee.

The essentials. Food, drinks, and good friends.

The Muskegon State Park has some great hiking trails!

Uh-oh, Mary might be stuck.

Best seat in the house.

Nutella. Always Nutella.

A cold winter day on Lake Michigan before the shelf ice rolled in. There was still plenty of ice covering the sand on shore though!

Frozen clay, ice, and sand.

Breaks are always needed from book writing and documentary editing. Some of our favorite work breaks take us outside on long hikes, cross country skiing, and ice skating.

And on occasion dancing. Please enjoy this interpretive mom dance by Amy. She's good, right?