Two4adventure at the Quiet Adventure Symposium

Two4adventure Attend the Quiet Adventure Symposium Lansing, Michigan Saturday February 28th, 2020

To begin, here is a link to Quiet Adventure Symposium https://www.quietwatersociety.org/. We encourage you to check it out and attend this event if you have never experienced it before.

Our trip to the the Quiet Adventure Symposium began on the day before the actual event. Despite the ominous weather forecast Hiker and I loaded into the van after my work day and began our road trip West. We had arranged accomodations with our friend Grant, in St. Thomas for the night, to cut down on drive time for that evening and also visit with our friend.

In our driveway getting ready to leave for St. Thomas

Right from the get go driving conditions were not ideal to say the least and as we made our way onto the 407 via the 115. The weather worsened with heavy snow fall and white out conditions. At this point I wasn't too concerned as there was no other traffic on the highway however as we approached the city of Toronto traffic became much more congested, a real white knuckle experience. I thought of turning back a couple of times but just decided to take our time and forged on. I wanted this experience for Hiker. There would be some key speakers at the event, one being Cliff Jacobson who I very much wanted Hiker and myself to see. We braved the conditions all the way to St. Thomas and arrived at our friends just after 8:00pm. Grant and I discussed our upcoming "Meanest Link" trip well into the night with Hiker and I getting to bed around the 12:30am mark. The visit and conversation was great but heading to bed that late only gave us four and a half hours of sleep before having to get up at 5:00am to make the opening of the event.

Our alarm went off, as 5am came quick. Looking outside we were faced with more falling snow. We thanked Grant for the hospitality and after hitting the local Tim Horton's for breakfast we battled snow squalls on the 402 highway for over an hour. Being an 8 year old Hiker was laughing, chatting and singing as we made our way down the highway, oblivious to the many dangers of these driving conditions; that or he just had complete faith in his father's abilities. As we reached the border conditions improved and with no other vehicles going through, it was a quick and painless border crossing.

This was our first time in the state of Michigan. As we ventured into the state, the roads were clear and it made travelling much more enjoyable. We even had the sun come out, sweet! We arrived at the University where the event was being held just a few minutes after the doors opened. Hiker and I merged with the long winding line to get in and after a short wait received our program for presentations including a map and layout of the booths. There was even a kids corner with activities for Hiker. We entered the large area that held all the booths and upon entering quickly noticed the lads at Paddling Adventures Radio setup https://paddlingadventuresradio.com/ . Hiker and I announced our presence as they are friends of ours, had a quick chat as they gave us info on the event as well as the inside scoop that there was a rabbit and guinea pig auction taking place just next door in the same building. Hiker and I had laid out our plans for the day and with a bit of time, we went over to check our the furry critters. Mixed in with the sounds of squealing guinea pigs were large, actually massive, bunny rabbits. Hiker was ecstatic as he absolutely loves animals. We toured the entire exhibit checking out all the different breeds. Hiker even asked if we could purchase one of the large bunnies. I did not know the logistics around getting  a rabbit the size of a medium dog across the border, nor was I interested in that process. That's a hard no!

We returned to the the QAS and seated ourselves in the Grand Room to attend Cliff Jacobson's first of two presentations. This one was on camping tip's and tricks. As we entered the room Hiker immediate positioned himself in a seat at the front of the room right in front of where Cliff would be presenting. This turned out to be a wise decision as during the presentation Cliff asked Hiker to join him in helping with the presentation. Hiker was required to hold a miniature tent so that Cliff could go over key materials and proper ways of choosing and setting up a tent that could withstand heavy rain and wind.

I snapped a couple of photo's and at the end of the presentation the man involved in introducing Cliff texted me a picture he took from a different angle. A truly great experience for Hiker to assist a paddling legend. Later we would purchase his newest fiction book " Justin Cody's Race to Survival" which Cliff would sign for Hiker.

We exited the Grand Room and meandered our way through the exhibits visiting with other friends who were at the event. Susan Sheppard from Sue's Outdoor Crew http://suesoutdoorcrew.ca/ was helping John Van Barrigar with his booth http://theoutdoorkind.org/ so we chatted with them and I purchased a paddling moose sticker to put on our canoe trailer this Spring after it gets a fresh coat of paint. We ran into Mike Burn's who we were finally able to meet in person as well as his dog Willow. Then we crossed paths with the man with the van, Yukon Steve. Traveling from the Yukon in his awesome van conversion.

Hiker pictured with Kevin callan. One of there many pictures and meetings.

There was enough to see and do for the entire 9:00am-5:30pm day. Hiker had a fly fishing tutorial which he absolutely loved, which I now see Father and Son fly fishing in our future. We watched "The Happy Camper's" presentation, Sean Rowley from the above mentioned Paddling Adventure Radio's Podcast " Redefining Adventure" presentation that we missed at the OAS (Outdoor Adventure Show) and a second Cliff Jacobson presentation on portaging and packing for canoe trips. The fun didn't stop there. After the show we checked into our hotel. Hiker and I went out for dinner together, grabbed some munchies and returned to our room to hangout. Later that night I received a message to hangout with some of the outdoor crew. There was some great conversation that ensued over a couple drinks before we retired for the night, with an agreement to do a special instant coffee tasting podcast for backcountry use in the morning. After a not so good nights sleep I arrived at the hotel room traveling podcast studio. You can tune into the Paddling Adventure Radio Podcasts website to connect with that podcast and it's content, as it hasn't aired yet. There is also a video that Kevin Callan posted on his facebook page that previews the shenanigans that took place.

Chill time, gaming in the hotel room.

Lots of fun was had in such a compressed weekend and after saying our goodbyes after the podcast, Hiker and I made the journey back home with mostly clear skies and great driving conditions. A stark contrast to the conditions on the way there and a welcomed sight. As I write this I look forward to the release of the podcast and more experiences like these. The outdoor community continues to be a great bunch, and as always, these experiences are for Hiker to take in, so.....

Until next time, adventure awaits!