About “Us”!

"Us"

“Us.”
Webster defines “us” as
“… the speaker and another person or group of people as the indirect object or direct object of a verb
: people in general

Well, I guess we fall into the “people in general” category. We both grew up in the nation’s kitchen (i.e.the flat; featureless; utilitarian; corn and manure-filled Midwest). No mountains, whitewater, or remote desert trails here. (We would likely consider those places the nation’s family room or game room.)

Who are we? We are “us”. Let me tell you a little about “us”. We are two ordinary people. John spent the last twenty + years working in the automotive industry and now runs his own consulting firm. I write and take care of our home and garden on a 32-acre wilderness property consisting of forest, native grasses, and pollinators. From the garden I can, dehydrate, and freeze produce for the rest of the year. Believe me, I am sooo busy. I don’t have time to have a job! See, we are ordinary; we are not exciting; we are very boring, actually!

We are ordinary people who live ordinary daily lives, but take a few adventures now and then. We have taken three interior Canadian trips to the end of the road—even to the Arctic Ocean. Our kayaks (separate boats) have traveled with us on each of these trips.

We have four grown children between “us” and are blessed that our blended family gets along so well. We even have grandchildren—eight. It does not surprise our family when we decide to leave our ordinary daily life and venture beyond our ordinariness.

Thus, they were not totally shocked (maybe freaked out a little this time) when we announced we were planning another trip. This time we will paddle the 1300 miles of the upper Mississippi River, which we missed on our previous source-to-sea trip.

In spite of these periodic self-fulfilling adventures, we aspire to put God first, marriage second, family third, and everything else fourth. Follow along and see what shenanigans we can get into and maybe we’ll all learn something along the way.

11 Comments

  1. Chad Studebaker said:

    John, I really like the blog and the description of your adventures

    August 29, 2014
    Reply
  2. Michelle Seibold said:

    Love the site! I’m excited (and definitely a bit nervous) about your adventure. Always really enjoy your visits!

    February 12, 2015
    Reply
  3. Beth Felton said:

    Hi, you don’t know me but I met your daughter yesterday at her work. We struck up a conversation and she told me about your adventure, endeavors and your website. I am intrigued and inspired. I look forward to following you on your website, you have my hopes and prayers. Good luck and be blessed!

    March 29, 2015
    Reply
    • Thank you so much for the kind words. Your prayers will be greatly appreciated. Be sure “follow us” and receive e-mail updates when new posts are published by entering your e-mail and clicking follow on our home page. You can also get photo updates by following us on Instagram @ seperateboats.

      March 29, 2015
      Reply
  4. Doug Peterson said:

    Very cool!!!! Just got a text about your trip from my sister who lives in Ohio, never expected to know who it was. I will follow your progress.
    Good Luck and God Bless!

    April 3, 2015
    Reply
    • Thanks Doug! We are excited to have you along. For ease of following, enter your e-mail address and hit follow on our home page.

      Also, we appreciate your support for The Fortress – it’s a good organization with a great cause.

      April 3, 2015
      Reply
  5. Wade Jones said:

    Hey guys I just read you ported in Clinton to camp and wanna say you Guys are doing my dream of kayaking the length of the river. I’ve kayaked all of brouilettes creek to the wabash to terre haute but I was under equipped! I also keep my road bike with me on my yak so I can ride to wherever I need to go and get my kayak after! Just wanna say hi and safe journies!

    April 25, 2015
    Reply
    • Thanks for the well wishes Wade. We feel fortunate that our gear and food prep seems about perfect so far. We will publish a “gear” page on our website in the near future.

      April 28, 2015
      Reply
  6. Neil and Connie Potter said:

    We are absolutely amazed by what you have accomplished in the last 100 days. You two are truly awesome!!!

    July 5, 2015
    Reply
  7. George Tate said:

    I read about your Wabash to the Gulf trip in Outdoor Indiana magazine. FASCINATING

    January 19, 2016
    Reply
  8. Ken Remenschneider said:

    LaNae,
    Our Wabash River Greenway is being planned from Logansport, Indiana, then on to Delphi, Lafayette, Attica and Covington.
    I am glad to now know John survived going over the unanticipated bank of rocks in the Wabash!
    Looking forward to you next release.
    Ken

    September 29, 2019
    Reply

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