Somewhere in Minnesota – November 1, 2013
“No, you have to post something!”
Calm down, Wally!
“I’m not going to calm down. You can’t just wait until Monday to keep posting.”
Why not? I have to think about what I wrote. I have to edit it. I don’t want to rush it.
“I have three reasons. Snow flurries. Highs in the low 30s. Water turning to ice.”
What does that matter now?
“It matters because you’re from Florida and people will think you’re dead.”
Awe, that is sweet, Wally, you’re worried about people worried about me?
“No, I just want to make sure everyone knows you aren’t dead. I’ve got a reputation to keep.”
You do?
“I can’t have people thinking you died out there. That is bad for business.”
Oh, you think they’ll blame you for the end of the trip?
“Easy now, don’t even start that rumor. Wally had nothing to do with the end of the trip, hear that people?”
Fine, now they know.
“Good.”
Good.
“Now get back to writing.”
Predictably Lost 
Looks like winter has arrived in northern Minnesota. That Florida sun is going to feel good later this month.
You could wait for thick ice and skate your way to Angle.
Thanks Daniel. I’m sure you made it across lake of the woods and you are probably on your way back to Florida. Thanks for the daily blog. It was a great daily read. I wish I had been there with you the whole way. Reading your blog day by day was the next best thing. Thank you for being consistent with your writing and thus generating a very consistent day by day blog. I’m working on having my home schooled kids will be doing a geography paper using your blog (or hopefully, book) as a basis.
Chris, Hibbing, MN
Wow! That is so sweet!
Cold brrrrr. Best wishes! I agree that the Florida warmth will welcome you home 🙂
Is there a surprise ending to this incredible journey —- does Wally have a heart? And I really like Chris’ idea. Daniel’s trip has been presented to a number of schools in Florida with outstanding results.
Thank you, Wally, for encouraging Daniel to write this post. I wondered how you guys were doing, especially since the weather has been cold and the posts are a week or so behind.
Thank you, Wally! We’re trusting you to make Daniel keep us aware of what happened. Hope he gave you some candy for Hallowe’en!
Brrrrrrrrrrrr!
Yep ..been keeping up with yu for 16 months now – I wanted to meet you when you came thru PNS last Christmas….and I know it’s cold there ….so stay warm and dry ..My brother lives in TLH so maybe I can get over there when you get home …Jeff
Hi Daniel, I’d like to tell you how much I’ve looked forward to your postings. I’m impressed with your determination and willingness to take the path less traveled to challenge yourself on the journey. It’s obvious that the journey is more important to you than reaching your goal. When I met you in the Everglades, just three or four days from Key West, you seemed reluctant to finish. It took me a few days to realize that you were sad the journey was almost over. When John Buckley told me you started back I wasn’t surprised. I’ve followed your journey since then.
It seems that you have stalled because winter set in northern Minnesota. If you don’t get to finish this year, just look at it as a starting point for your next adventure. If you want to continue traveling by boat, I would like to suggest you paddle to Pacific Ocean via Lake Winnipag, following Peter Pond across the Methye Portage to Lake Athabasca, then following in Alexander Mackenzie’s footsteps down the Slave River to Great Slave Lake, then down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.
Follow Verlen Kruger’s route back up the Peel river to the Rat River which will challenge your perseverance. Once over McDougall Pass and into Alaska, you head downstream to the Yukon River. Up the Yukon to Bennett Lake, over the Chilkoot Pass to the Pacific Ocean finishing near Seattle.
After that last post I think Wally might be in tears 🙂
Waiting expectantly for the rest of the story. I was in Ely MN a couple weeks ago and thought of you often, cold is cold and there is no break once winter sets in.