Richland WA

After a long paddle yesterday (which, thankfully, I only did the first bit) we stopped in Richland. We'll be here for Canada Day and we're throwing a party, complete with Canadian songs and fireworks!!! It's going to be fun! So Happy Canada Day to all those following the blog!!

Andrea

Vantage, Washington

Some days 30 km is a nice days paddle. Today was one of those days. Yesterday was not! We paddled 67 km yesterday to arrive in Vantage. The last stretch (30 km) following a partial crew change was a challenge. Extreamly windy conditions left us exhausted. It was not all bad news. The canyon we were travelling through was very scenic.

Wenatchee WA

Here we are, spending a well-earned day off in Wenatchee. We came into the town yesterday and were welcomed by a huge amount of people, followed by speeches and a BBQ supper (which was delicious). Afterwards, there was dancing, led by No Way Corvee (of course), and music supplied by our bag pipers and a band called "All Strings Considered".

Dave left us today and we miss him already. However, we do welcome Jim Archer into team Boona. Boona's team is small, but we get by well enough. A great big shout out to all those members from other teams that helped us out when we needed a couple extra paddlers!!!!

Also another shout out to Tonya's Mom: Your baby was on the front page of the Wenatchee paper!!!

Andrea

Pateros WA

So we haven't had the chance to update for the last little while due to lack of internet. Especially in the last couple days. Turns out there's not a ton of wifi in obscure campgrounds and farmer's feilds. However, now we're in Pateros, which is a cute little town of around 600. For a small town, they have wonderful reception and facilities. We got the honor of attending the opening of their museum, which even had a corner on David Thompson and his journey on the Columbia!

-Andrea

Kettle Falls

So we've been staying at Kettle Falls for a couple days. It's nice to stay in one place and rest for a little while, isn't it. Today we'll be racing against each other and some teams from Kettle Falls. Some of the these teams have real birch bark voyageur canoes! That would be so neat to paddle.
 Dave Watts joined us yesterday and Ray, Dennis, Nan, and Oleg have to go back home. So we'll bid them farewell and welcome Dave with open arms.

-Andrea

Doug Linton relaxing

Doug Linton relaxing.

Brook at Fort Steele June 6

Team at David Thomson Statue

Heading out to Noxon

We bid Thompson Falls a sad farewell. What a beautiful town!!! Not to mention great people. Staying at Thompson Falls was a great experience. Thankyou for the amazing supper and breakfast!
Our next stop is Noxon. After a day of paddling, we will be stopping there for the night.

-Andrea

Thompson Falls, Montana

Yesterday was full of celebration. The Community of Thompson Falls welcomed Team Boona and the rest of the brigade. Team Boona welcomed Janis, Andrea, Emma, Oleg and Nan. There were many shared stories, laughter and smiles. The new members are eager to get started!

Another picture from Invermere

Jean and Dennis join other voyageurs in Invermere

Day 2 Canal Flats to Wasa

Boona was on the water for just under five hours today. The crew paddled 47 km, so they are averaging 10 km/hour. They packed up camp in Invermere this morning and relocated to Fort Steele where they will stay for the next two nights.

Invermere

May 31 to June 1 saw 9 Boona members arrive: Doug, Jean, Ray, Dennis, John, Tracy, Sam, Christine, and Brooke. We are here! Training lots of us in the bow and stern and learning figure of 8 paddle demonstrations with 9 other boats, then a parade up to the statute of David Thompson and wife, Charlotte Small, filled up June 2. On June 3, at 7:30 a.m. we arrived at the put in, and off we go.

Follow our progress using SPOT!

Brooke is on her way to Invermere trailering Boona. The SPOT Emergency Locater she has with her will let you know where Boona is every ten minutes. Here is the link:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0bP3ktQpUAqxvMEGqQEctKZB3nCjPpdtv

You can follow us all the way to Astoria!

and so it begins!

The crew is beginning to congregate in Invermere and I wish we were there too. What kind of captain remains behind when the crew hits the water? Andrea and Emma still have another week of school before we can depart, so I just have to hope that my preparations were enough and that my crew will manage without me. Is there any doubt? I have still have million things to do, most of the team arrangements have been made so now I can focus on getting myself and the girls ready. I'm still sewing costumes.....

The first entry in this blog should have been an introduction to Boona and her crew.....but other things have taken priority. So here is a short summary of who we are and how we got here.

Boona is a 29 foot Langley style voyageur canoe. She was purchased by Totem Outfitters for their team entry in the 2008 David Thompson Brigade. Although many people remember this bright yellow canoe, Boona left the brigade before I arrived so I wasn't aware of her existence until Brooke became her new owner in 2010. We were introduced last summer when Brooke was passing through on her way to Thunder Bay to complete Boona's journey to Montreal! Brooke and I had already decided to enter Boona in the Columbia River Brigade so I was very excited to paddle this fantastic canoe.

So that is where we started. We had one canoe, two friends and my two daughters. Not quite enough to paddle an eight seat canoe 1800 km down the Columbia River. My schedule was more open so I was nominated as captain and I began the search for new crew members. It has been an interesting journey. Jean, another 2008 DTB alumni was quick to join us and has been an invaluable asset. Doug followed not long after with the offer of a support vehicle so we had the foundation of a crew. Others have joined and we now have 20 members who will paddle some or all of the 45 day brigade. Our members are from BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Wisconsin and Illinois. Some of us have met before others will become new friends as we share this experience. Everyone is excited to get started.

Tomorrow is registration and orientation day in Invermere. Thursday is training day and the official launch of the 2011 David Thompson Columbia River Brigade will take place on Friday June 3.

Getting Closer ....

Will be arriving in Kettle Falls in a couple of weeks, starting to finalize my packing. See you all soon Dave W

Getting Ready

May 25 - Out west on Vancouver Island, Doug and Jean are nearly ready to leave for Invermere.  Excitement grows as is all looks more plausible.