Hi Folks,  I wasn't going to get into this one, everyone knows I'm not at
all adventurous when it comes to cities.  I have an entirely different view
when it involves the wide open spaces.  Keewaydin is a great experience for
young people.  Also look into canoing down the length of the Connecticut
River.  There are places where you will need to portage around natural
falls, including one near me in Bellows Falls, Vt, as well as the man made
dams.  There are not any cities on the CT till you get to the Springfield,
MA area and even those are relatively benign and there is enough open space
between that one could camp away from them.

 When you go through Bellows Falls/ Walpole, NH area you can stop and give
a shout to KEN Burns--not Rick, who does the documentaries.  He lives high
on a hill in Walpole, next door to my aunt.  I see him in the local grocery
store occasionally.

Ruth





At 10:20 PM -0500 1/16/02, Mary Krugman wrote:
In a message dated 1/16/2002 9:51:49 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

This coming summer, between my senior year in high school and my freshman
year in college, I have a plan brewing. I want to drift down the Mississippi
River on a wooden raft.



Peter,

Not to throw cold water on this idea, but I have to agree with Ralph. How
about a two-day trip canoe trip on a smaller river -- with a stopover at a
public wilderness area? How about an Outward Bound program ... they have
rafting trips. Keewaydin in Vermont has all-summer canoe/hiking trips --
they go for weeks at a time in the Adirondacks. Don't even consider going
alone ... whatever you choose. Stay in contact and take a 2-way radio. What
about shelter in storms? Also imagine that there would be few places to go
ashore, since every blessed inch of this country is now papered with "NO
TRESPASSING"  signs. And.... If you have been watching the Rick Burns
series on Mark Twain, you may have some inkling of the treachery of the
Mississippi currents and the scurrilous characters that hung around the
river ... even in 1858! Besides, isn't building a raft part of the fun? Ask
Tom Hanks.

A nice dream. But best it remain a dream.

Sign me,

A Worried Mom

--
Ruth Barton
[log in to unmask]
Westminster, VT