#i spent all day driving my little brother to overnight camp in ?? the middle of nowhere

[eighthmnth-blog]

          -------------- and he shall be levon       ( and he shall be a good man )    and he shall be levon       ( in tradition with the family plan )

and i oop

none of this is going to make sense. im really really tired. ive been in a hot car all day sldjskld baking. crispy. now im going to sleep before work,,, but wrow hi im r, im way too excited to be here. this intro is ?? too long but after all these years ive never learned how to stfu. i COULD have done this sooner but i also turned my brain off last night and watched baby driver for the first time and wow 10/10 would recommend sdksjdlkas i dont have discord because im living in the stone age  but im available via tumblr ims if anyone wants to plot --- ill prop make a proper connection page 2mmrow,, just fuck him up. honestly. ruin him. take out the trash.

basics    

[ luke hemmings. twenty-three. cismale. he/him. | muse 4b. ] levon by elton john just came on the radio and it made me think of august ferland. they’ve been in sundance for their whole life and they’re currently an administrative assistant. if you’re looking for them, try by the sheriff’s office, locals say they’re there a lot. [ r. she/them. 20. est. ]

SUBPLOT       if someone asked who sundance’s bad seed is, most people would say muse 4a. always getting in trouble for one reason or another, muse 4a has just never been one to follow rules. maybe that’s why muse 4b, the sheriffs child, is so drawn to them. muse 4a and muse 4b have been hooking up pretty casually, but muse 4b’s soft nature is causing them to fall for sundance’s baddest seed while muse 4a is only interested in hooking up. will muse 4a break muse 4b's heart? what would the sheriff say if they found out?

nonsensical ramblings    

the world is black and white as a child. a young august planted in front of one static plagued television, soaking up the world of cops and robbers. a mop of blond hair and a missing front tooth, beaming proudly “ MY FATHER’S THE SHERIFF “ , a hero in the boy’s mind. black & white. good versus bad.

then comes middle school, high school, and everything thereafter. it’s living under a microscope. small-town living & dealing out the law don’t tend to equate to a private life. sometimes august knows people’s business before they do —- other times the positions are reversed. it wasn’t the easiest of days, far from the romanticized lifestyle often portrayed on screen. the chill of cold shoulders never fades over the years. children told to steer clear of the ferland boy lest they find themselves under sundance’s watchful eye. the SHERIFF’S SON, an undesired spotlight.  as the years come and go, he wonders how he once wore that title with pride.

they made an angel of him. almost golden. of course, the teenage years are a rocky patch for anyone. the spark of rebellion, even he wasn’t immune. eighteen and sneaking out with his father’s pistol, shooting cans and bottles --- until he puts one single bullet through a neighbor’s window. that summer spent wasting away under a scorching sun, completing mundane tasks to earn enough to pay for the replacements. it’s out of character for him, but they write it off as a minor scare --- a teenager. no one was hurt, so all’s well that ends well. right ?

he tires of daily life. the yearning for something more never dies, it just lays dormant. only rarely given a breath of life. he grows exhausted of the endless pestering and gossip tucked in church pews. of the polite smiles and polished image. ‘ when will you settle down ? find a nice girl ? are you going to take over the station ? look at how much you’ve grown. ‘twenty-three years too long in sundance.

he knew the names before he saw them in ink at the station. his father’s endless rants, the population that put grey in his hair. miscreants, that august was explicitly told never to associate with. words that fell on deaf ears and then he goes the extra mile. he can’t help but feel a hint of shame, but never enough for him to put a stop to the sneaking. the town’s bad seed --- the sheriff’s greatest adversary and the cause of most, if not all, of his migraines. then there was august, like a moth to an open flame. it must have been some ultimate form of karma when he realizes something’s changed. the rules of the game aren’t so simple anymore, there’s more at stake. just like that, he’s damned them all. the heart wants what it wants, and now he’s cast as the fool. play with fire, get burned.

1% more brainpower used here       ( background broken down simply )

his aesthetic is that feeling you get when all your extended family ask about your dating life at the family barbecue. vague ??? maybe so, but it triggers something in me.

he’s dumb, and a tad naive lbh, but this is august.. the sheriff’s son if that hasn’t become,,, really obvious. in the brief readings i did beforehand, it seems like small-town sheriffs can sometimes have a bit of a spotlight on themselves and their family so i kind of envisioned him as being borderline lonely in his youth due to the fact people don’t want to find themselves under the microscope by being friends with the sheriff/’s family.  i think the whole sheriff thing has been a big,,, oof in his life. there are probably places he can’t go because his dad arrested the cook in the back or things along those lines.

he’s bored. he has a wifi connection. if his family didn’t think he wasn’t going to get glimpses of the outside world and want to get the fuck out of dodge then idk my dude.

he works as an administrative assistant at the station,, so he’s mainly handling the paperwork and stuff, but id imagine he's a bit of a jack of all trades in the field. takes calls, but also probably gets sent out for the really shitty jobs like the old lady who calls ten times a day for nothing, or that she’s getting calls from scammers :))) but he ain’t going out arresting anyone or doing anything serious. just the “my cat’s in a tree” bs and getting coffee.

in the public eye, he’s probably a real golden child. volunteering, going to church, helping out wherever he can. does he have a genuine interest in any of that ? absolutely not. but it reflects well on his family and on himself. he has a reputation to upkeep. he only went up to high school education-wise, and in a town that probably isn’t too fast crime wise, he has enough free time to be active in the community.

i dont know what suffers more his brain or his heart

n sync vc: bi bi bi

before my dumbass forgets, he does have a good relationship with his parents,,, when he’s not being a fucking moron. follow your heart?? not good advice for him. his mom is currently abroad. aug probably gets his desire to run from her, she’s currently teaching english abroad. he’s v proud of her tyvm. his dad?? yeah. i mean obvs aug isnt very honest about EVERYTHING. he’s gotten good at telling white lies, but he still loves his dad.  he’s also an only child so all eyes on him rIP.

i have a shitty pinterest board for him HERE there's barely anything there but yknow

he’s currently being sized for his clown shoes

thats all folks

[tobythewise]

D for Djinn for your ABC Prompt thingy :)

Here’s my Djinn story. If you’d like to suggest some letters in the future, leave them in my ask box! :)

Dean woke with a start. His heart began to bang in his chestwith uncertainty of where he was. He quickly took in his surroundings. Hecalmed when he realized he was in the passenger seat of the Impala. A hand onhis shoulder alerted him of someone driving. 

“Dean. Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?” Deansnapped his head to the left to be greeted with familiar blue eyes. He felt thetenseness in his body slowly dissolve as he looked over at his friend. 

“Nah. I just didn’t realize I’d fallen asleep.” He self-consciouslywiped the sleep from his eyes. He tried making out their surroundings but itwas too dark to really see anything. “Where are we, Cas?”

“We are about an hour away from town. We can get a motelroom for the night and get everything ready to go by tomorrow afternoon.” Thelast thing he remembered before falling asleep was being on a hunt with Sam.Something was kidnapping people and then leaving them dead, drained of theirblood. Dean felt a headache coming on.

“Where’s Sammy?”

Cas looked over at him with a worried look on his face.“He’s at the bunker with Eileen. Are you sure you’re okay, Dean? I knew weshould have let them take this one so you could rest a little longer.” Deanofficially felt confused and his headache was getting worse the more he triedto piece everything together.

“Why would I need rest, Cas? And where are we going exactly?I don’t even remember leaving.”

“Dean, the last hunt, you got thrown across the room and hityour head. It was really bad. You were with Sam and I wasn’t there to heal youright away. By the time I got to you, you were in a comma. I have been slowlyhealing you but sometimes you forget things and you get headaches. Do you havea headache right now?” Without waiting for an answer, Cas reached over to placehis fingers on Dean’s forehead. Dean was surprised when instead of simplyplacing his fingers as usual, Cas carded his fingers through Dean’s hair andrested his hand on the back of his neck. Before Dean could complain, he startedfeeling the warmth and security that came with Castiel’s healing touch. Deanfelt him slowly rub the back of his neck and finger the short hairs that restedthere. And just as quickly as he started, he pulled away making Dean miss thetouch.

Dean slowly remembered the things that Castiel was sayingbefore. He remembered the last hunt and how he got hurt. He remembers Sam andEileen becoming an official couple which included her moving into the bunkerwith them. He remembers starting to go on hunts with Cas and Sam going withEileen. And most importantly, he remembers that they were on their way to takecare of a haunted house that took the lives of anyone stuck in it overnight.This has happened every year on April first since the year 2000. Every yearsome stupid kids would camp out in the house as a joke and unfortunately, everytime they wouldn’t be there when morning came.

Dean looked over at Cas with a small smile tugging at hislips, “Thanks Cas. My head feels better and I remember everything. So what dowe know about this ghost?”

“Of course, Dean. The house belonged to a man named GarySilverman. When he was alive, he was accused of kidnapping several women butthey could never find enough evidence to convict him. In 1999, accounts saythat he hung himself in his basement. The next year the hauntings started tohappen. I suggest we go to the graveyard tonight and burn his bones and thenspend tomorrow night in the house to make sure that it’s taken care of.”

The graveyard where Gary was buried wasn’t hard to find.Since it was already nighttime when they got there, they made quick work ofdigging up his grave. This was a simple salt and burn and it went by withoutany hitches. Once done they made their way to the motel in town.

The next day they spent the night in the house which wasvery uneventful. They spent their time laying around in the living roomtalking. Dean ask Castiel questions about the last few hunts that they tookcare of which he was still having trouble remembering. In the middle ofrecalling the hunt where Dean got hurt, Cas abruptly stood up and turned hisback to Dean. He drew in a long breathe before speaking again.

“Dean, I was so scared I was going to get to the hospitaltoo late. I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

“Buddy, it’s okay. I’m fine.” 

“That’s not the point. You were fine that time. What happensnext time I’m not around?” Cas turned to look at Dean again. “I can’t lose you,Dean,” he whispered. 

“Cas.” Dean couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wastrying to punch down the fluttering that was happening in his stomach. Hedidn’t want to get his hopes up. There was no way Castiel, angel of the Lord,could even return the feelings that Dean secretly harbored. “You’re an angel.When I’m gone you will keep going. I’m just a speck on your timeline, man.”Dean couldn’t hold Cas’ eyes anymore. It was his turn to look down at theground. Castiel made his way over to Dean and gently lifted Dean’s chin so theycould look into each other’s eyes once more. 

“You mean everything to me, Dean. I have lived for so, solong. And yet, I have never felt like this. Knowing you has been the best partof my life.” he paused and took in another deep breathe, “When I touched yoursoul in hell, it changed me. It changed me for the better. You’ve taught me somuch about life and humanity and free will. Dean, you’re not some pit stop inthe grand scheme of Castiel. You’re my everything. You are and will forever bethe Righteous Man to me.”

Dean could feel his face heat up. He couldn’t look away fromthe blue eyes trapping him. He couldn’t believe what Castiel was saying. “Cas,you can’t mean all that. I’m broken,” he tried saying but his voice began tocrack. Castiel placed his thumb over Dean’s lips to stop him from speakingfurther. 

“We are both broken. Why can’t we be broken together?”Dean’s heart was beating so frantically he was sure Cas could hear it. Hecouldn’t think of an argument. He didn’t want to anyways. He reached forwardand grabbed Castiel’s neck to pull him forward into their first kiss. It waschaste and sweet. Both men smiled at the end of it while blue and green eyesmet again. 

“Is this for real, Cas?” Dean whispered into his friend’slips. 

“It’s for real. This is real. Stay here with me, Dean.Please.” Cas’ tone sounded frantic and slightly panicked. Almost like he wasafraid Dean would change his mind and leave. But that was not going to happen.

“I’m here. I’m staying. I promise, Cas. I need you,” Deanurgently stated back. He just hoped Cas knew the meaning behind that phrase. Heapparently did because the next thing Dean knew he had an armful of angel. Theyremained in their embrace for who knows how long, enjoying to feel of the otherin their arms.

 ~~~

Life back at the bunker was great. Dean dare say it was downrightblissful. He had his brother by his side who was finally happy and content. Samhad a great girlfriend/hunting partner in Eileen. The woman was absolutelyamazing and he couldn’t be happier for his brother. And most importantly, hehad his angel by his side. It was mornings like this that took his breatheaway.

He walked into the kitchen smelling bacon and coffee. Whatcould be better than that? 

“Good morning, Dean,” Cas said as he walked over to Dean andhanded him a mug of coffee and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I madepancakes and bacon for you.” And somehow it got better, Dean thought. 

“Morning, Angel,” Dean replied as he sat down his mug andgrabbed Cas around his waist. He nuzzled the back of the angel’s neck andshowered the area with little kisses. He sighed feeling content and warmholding his angel. It had been about two weeks since the two men had confessedtheir feelings for each other and things have been going great. Cas spent themajority of his time in the bunker and Dean was getting used to the pamperingCas was giving him. He was so used to being the one who took care of his partnerthat he absolutely loved the feeling Castiel gave him of being taken care of. 

“Once you’re done with breakfast I want you to meet me inour room,” Cas punctuated his request with a heated kiss. Dean’s dick peeked upat the request and a fire lite up his veins. They had been taking everythingslow so far. Dean was so used to his relationships starting with sex but withCas he wanted things to be different. He wanted everything to be perfect. Hecared so much for the angel and he wanted their physical relationship toreflect those feelings.

As he finished his breakfast as quickly as he could he washit with a sudden sense of nervousness. He huffed in frustration. It wasn’tlike he was a blushing virgin or anything. It was just that Castiel had neverdone this before and maybe he didn’t even want to do anything like that. Maybethey were just gonna hang out and watch a movie or something. But that kisssuggested something to come. Crap. Get a grip, Winchester. 

His inner monologue of nerves continued until he opened thedoor of his bedroom and found Cas sitting on their bed reading a book. Castiel slowly closed the book and set itdown on the bedside table. He then slowly scooted down so he was laying down onthe bed. He opened his arms in invitation, “Hello Dean.” God, did that voiceand phrase always do something to Dean. 

Dean made his way over to Cas and slowly crawled up his bodyuntil he was hovering over his lover. “Heya Cas,” he answered as he bent downto kiss Cas. The kiss that started out as a simple greeting quickly evolvedinto something heated and needy. Both men began to frantically reach theirhands for anything they could hold onto. Dean’s hands landing on the hem ofCas’ shirt and he quickly got the idea and broke the kiss so they could losetheir shirts. 

The feeling of skin on skin touching was amazing. This wasas far as they had gone so far. Making out while dry humping like teenagers.This felt safe but man, did Dean want more today. He was feeling bold so heslowly rubbed Cas’ flanks until his hand came down to the angel’s belt. Heslowly started to undo it, keeping his eyes glued to his lover’s looking forany kind of negative reaction. Cas gave him a slight nod. Knowing Cas wantedthis just as much as he did, Dean pulled the belt through the loops and peeledhis dress pants down. Then he quickly made work on his own pants. 

Castiel grabbed him by the back of the neck to pull him downto continue their kissing. Dean gave himself over to the feeling of Cas kissinghim and writhing beneath him. It felt so amazing even with two layers of boxersbetween them. Feeling their hard cocks rubbing against each other made Casgroan. Dean could feel the wet spot his precome was making but he could reallycare less about that right now because he had a gorgeous man that he lovedbeneath him. 

“God, Cas. This feels so good,” Dean moaned. Cas startedlavishing Dean’s neck with open mouth kisses that became nips and licks. Deanwasn’t sure how long he was going to last. All of his nerve endings felt likethey were on fire. Dean sat back on his haunches and Cas immediately made anoise of complaint at the lack of contact. “Don’t worry, we’re not done yet,baby,” he stated as he slowly pulled Cas’ plain white boxers off. He lookeddown at the angel and couldn’t help the groan of appreciation that left hismouth. The angel was on his back with his legs slightly open. His chest andneck were blushed with arousal. His lips were puffy from kissing and his pupilswere blown wide with lust. 

“Well, are you going to join me down here or do I have tofinish myself, Dean?” Cas raised his brow in challenge. Dean doesn’t rememberever ripping his boxers off faster than this moment. He scrambled back to hispost above the angel and slowly lowered himself until their bodies met. Whentheir cocks brushed for the first time they both moaned. 

Their lips reconnected in a heated kiss and they both beganto move their hips. “Cas, you’re so perfect for me. You’re so beautiful,” Deanbegan to mumble in between their kisses. Cas brought his hand between them andwrapped it around both of their dicks. Once he had a good grip he jacked them,throwing his head back at the new feeling. 

“Dean, I’m not going to last long. It feels so good.” Theyboth began to pant into each other’s mouths, unable to fully kiss anymore, toocaught up in each other’s pleasure. “Dean,” Cas moaned as he bit down on Dean’sshoulder to muffle some of his groans. 

“Castiel, I love you!” Dean yelled as he came all over Cas’stomach. Hearing Dean say those words sent Cas over the edge only moments afterDean.

Dean collapsed down onto Cas, not caring about the messbetween them, only needing to be closer to his lover. He clung to Cas and Casjust held him tight as they both tried to regulate their breathing.

Once they were both settle and their hearts were back tobeating at a normal pace, Castiel pulled Dean back so he could look into hiseyes. Dean didn’t even realize he was crying until Cas wiped his face andpeppered his face with feather light kisses. “Dean,” Cas whispered, “Do youreally mean that?” 

Dean just nodded, “Of course, Cas.” 

Castiel’s face lite up with a breathtaking smile and heshowered Dean’s face with even more kisses until they were both laughing. “Ilove you too, Dean. Always.”

And just like that the illusion was shattered. Dean lookedover and his bed was empty. Dean frantically looked around, “Cas!” he screamed. 

“Dean!”

“Cas, I’m right here!”

“Dean! Come back to me!” And Dean followed the voice that heknew and trusted and loved.

~~~

Dean woke with a gasp. He felt like a weight was weighing onhis chest and his senses were all over the place. Everything was too bright andtoo loud and his body felt overstimulated yet groggy. He didn’t know what thehell was going on or where he even was. But he heard the one thing that madehim at ease, his angel’s voice. 

“Dean? Are you awake? Are you with me?” He reached uplooking for Cas’ hand and was rewarded with it clasping on to his own. With thefeeling of Castiel’s hand in his, he found the strength to open his eyes. Hewas in a hotel room, laying on the bed with Castiel standing to his sidelooking worried. 

“Heya, Angel,” he flinched at how dry his throat felt andsounded. He gave Cas a weak smile and pulled their hands up so he could kiss hislover’s knuckles. Cas’ brows furrowed in confusion at the action. “Where arewe, Cas? Last thing I remember, we were in bed talking. How did we get here?”

“Dean, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Now itwas Dean’s turn to look confused. Just as he was about to ask Cas, the door ofthe room flew open and Sam walked in. He saw that Dean was awake and rushedover to pull his brother into a hug. Cas quickly dropped his hand and Deandidn’t hide the hurt that played across his face.

“Oh, thank God you’re awake!”

“What do you mean? What the hell’s going on you guys?” 

“Dean, you don’t remember?” Dean just shook him head. 

“You were taken by a djinn,” Sam slowly said, waiting forDean’s reaction. 

Dean’s head was spinning, “No no no no no. That can’t beright.” He looked over at Cas with pleading eyes. “Please tell me that’s nottrue.” 

Sam tried to calm him down, “Easy Dean. It’s okay,” herubbed his brother’s back. “What kind of world did you live in this time?” 

Glassy eyes never left Cas’. “Cas, do your mind trick onme.” 

“Dean,” Cas tried to argue but Dean just grabbed him by thewrist and brought his hand to his forehead. 

“Do it.” And he did. Cas let out a gasp as he saw what hadtranspired in Dean’s dream world. Dean was trying to hold back his tears andfight the blush that threatened to heat up his entire face. He was so scared ofCas’ reaction but he had to take a shot. If there was even a sliver of a chancethe djinn world could be real, he HAD to take that chance.

Castiel began to open his eyes and set Dean with one of hissoul searching stares. He slowly moved his hand from Dean’s forehead to theback of his neck. He pulled Dean’s face towards his and rested their foreheadstogether in an extremely intimate matter. 

“Dean,” Cas whispered. “Is that how you truly feel?” 

Dean took a deep breathe. He was ready to come clean to hisangel. “Yes.” Then he closed his eyes and waited for Castiel’s reaction. Hestarted to pull back and Dean’s heart sank. He knew it was too good to be true.He knew he would get his heart broken. He knew… 

“Sam,” Dean’s head snapped up at the sound of Cas’ voice. “Ithink you should get a separate room for the night.” 

“Are you guys okay? I feel like I’m missing something here?” 

“Dean and I are about to have sex and I think we’d bothprefer if you weren’t in hearing distance.” Dean didn’t even notice Sam sputterat that comment or the way he scrambled to leave. His main focus was on the manin front of him and what he’d just said. He wasn’t rejecting him. Pretty muchthe exact opposite really. He felt his face split into a huge grin and hecouldn’t control the millions of butterflies that were trying to split open hisbelly. 

He grabbed Cas’ hands. “You love me too?” 

Cas brought their hands to his lips and kissed Dean’sknuckles. Then he gently leaned in and brushed their lips together in a chasteand adorable way. “Of course, Dean.”

[dannofaust]

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I am excited to begin the new year because in just four months I will officially be retired and in just over six months my Mississippi River trip will begin. At least I hope it will begin. We will have to wait and see what Mother Nature has to say about that. River levels and overnight temperatures will dictate my actual starting date. My tentative starting date is June 15th.

This seems like the perfect time to look back at the previous year and ponder my journey of preparation during 2019. It’s been fun writing this blog. I’ve learned a lot and grown a bit, but I think the most rewarding thing about the Glory Days blog is being able to go back and relive this experience. Without this written record of the things that have happened over the last eighteen months or so, many of the details and memories would be lost. I probably already forgotten a million little details that I didn’t write about, but having these few memories preserved is quite nice. They may not mean much to anyone else, but they represent a little part of my life that I want to remember.

In January there are pool sessions. Just like last year I will be traveling to Peoria for pool sessions with the Mackinaw Canoe Club at the Central Park Pool. It seems like a long time ago, but last year at this time I was still paddling my beloved Vesper kayak. Looking back now, it’s hard for me to believe I had actually intended to use that kayak for e entire trip down the Mississippi. The Vesper is a fine recreation kayak, but it has no bulkheads, no perimeter lines, minimal interior space ( aka volume ), and simply wasn’t a good choice for what I am planning to do. It’s kind of scary to think that I had let my ego talk myself into using that boat. Oh, it could be done. People use recreational craft even less well suited to the task each year. Some of them make it all the way to the Gulf. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I don’t really want to be one of those people and I am thankful that Bob Alexander and Karen Kyle talked some sense into me. I also appreciate the gentle and patient way they nudged me in the right direction. So I guess I learned a lot more at those pool session than just rolling my kayak.

March brought back the annual pilgrimage to Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin. I hadn’t been to Canoecopia in quite a long time prior to 2019. It was good to get back there and immerse myself into the paddlesports culture again. There was so much going on in such a short amount of time. Canoecopia is always sensory overload for me. There is just no way my little brain can process it all. Looking back on it now I think, why didn’t I take a bazillion more photos and talk to more people while I was there. The truth is, I’m never very comfortable in a crowd, and Canoecopia is always crowded. It’s a super popular event, and for good reason. I think my brain had kind of shut down a bit and I was just trying to cope with the situation.

Overall though, Canoecopia 2019 was a great experience. One of the best parts of the weekend was meeting Traci Lynn Martin. She was so sweet to me. I can’t imagine the courage and determination it takes to peruse the circumnavigation of the five Great Lakes in a single calendar year. I also can’t imagine the heartbreak of coming up just a little bit short few years earlier. One thing that Traci has been through that I can relate to is the loss of her mother. It was a turning point in Traci’s life and a big influence that lead her to her quest to paddle the Great Lakes. Traci has such a wonderful story to tell and a powerful message for anyone who suffers from chronic pain. I wrote four blog posts about my Canoecopia 2019 weekend. The post that included meeting Traci was by far my most popular post up until that time and is still in the top two or three posts so far. Traci is scheduled to tackle the Great Lakes again this year ( 2020 ) and I will be watching her progress and cheering her on, even as I start my own trip.

March brought about one of the biggest changes of the year for me, the acquisition of my Wilderness System Tsunami 145. I had been thinking about the need for a better kayak. Bob and Karen’s message was slowly sinking in through my thick skull, and then … out of nowhere … I see this beautiful kayak listed for sale in a FaceBook post. I had a little bit of money in my budget from the sale of surplus canoes in our fleet, so I literally jumped at the opportunity and within a couple of hours I was returning from Galesburg, Illinois with a nearly new boat. Always cautious and slow to change, I wasn’t entirely convinced that I had made the right decision, but it didn’t take long for me to begin to grasp what a wonderful upgrade the Tsunami was. The tracking of the Tsunami is phenomenal compared to the Vesper. With the addition of two sealed bulkheads, perimeter lines, better bungee lines, and much more interior volume the Tsunami is far superior for the task at hand. My one last area of concern was how easily would it be to self rescue in the Tsunami? I needn’t have worried. The Tsunami rolls easily and is much easier to deal with should I ever have to exit the boat in deep water and then self rescue.

April is always a month that I look forward to. My birthday is in April. April means warmer weather and all the glories of Spring. This year I am a little extra excited about April because I will be retiring at the end of the month. I can hardly wait for that. Last April brought about a bittersweet experience though. It was time for me to part ways with my trusty Vesper kayak. I had paddled that kayak for hundreds of miles on many different rivers and streams, large and small. We had been through a lot together. I knew the time had come though. We don’t need an extra kayak right now and I had spent almost all of my Mississippi River trip budget on the Tsunami. Sadly, the Vesper had to go. She was already all cleaned up from doing pool sessions, so I snapped a few photos and listed her for sale. I was quite gratified to almost immediately receive some responses to the ads. The most enthusiastic of those responses was from a young lady in Michigan. Her name is Katie. The whole process happened very quickly with a flurry of messages going back and forth. We settled on a plan and met at a McDonald parking lot near Joliet, Illinois. As I drove north on Interstate 55 to meet Katie, I began to worry that she wasn’t the person I wanted to sell my kayak to. I worried that she didn’t have enough experience and didn’t really know what she was buying. I worried that she wouldn’t want to pay the price we had agreed to. I even worried that she wouldn’t have a proper roof rack to haul the kayak or know how to secure it properly. Boy, was I wrong. I was worried about nothing. Katie knew exactly what she was doing and had the situation well under control. We completed the transaction even quicker than I could have imagined and suddenly the Vesper was gone. I was sad to drive away without her, but I felt great about the new home she had with Katie.

April was also when I wrote about “Energy Bars” and we did our big energy bar taste off. I roped my daughter, my sister, and my brother-in-law into sampling more than a dozen different energy bars and then giving their opinions of each one. It was a fun ( I use that term loosely) and interesting experience that we still talk about. The best part was that it was a shared experience. By the time we got to the end, even my wife had joined in. Doing things with the family is always great. I’m glad We did that together and that I wrote about it. It’s one of those memories that I want to hold onto.

May meant that the weather was getting warm and paddling season was underway in earnest. I had just finished a short day trip on the Vermilion River not far from home at the end of April. With the weather getting warmer and an upgraded kayak to become more familiar with, I was eager to get out on the water. More day trips close to home soon followed. My first big trip of the season was the Des Plaines River Canoe and Kayak Marathon.

  I followed that up with an epic trip from the headwaters of the Vermilion River back to my home here in Pontiac, Illinois. That trip covered just over 40 miles in a single day. That’s the most river miles I have ever done in one day. It was a day where everything seemed to fall into place and just work perfectly with very little effort from me. The current was swift, but there were few obstacle to make things difficult. I had my kayak fully loaded so that I could experience what it would be like to paddle it that way. It handled great. The wind seemed to always be at my back. The water level had even dropped just enough to allow me safe passage under a low railroad bridge that had required a portage just the day before. The sun was shining and the air temperature was very pleasant. Every day on the river is great, but I have rarely experienced such a perfect day of paddling. I had no intentions of paddling that far when I started the trip, but with everything in my favor, it just worked out that way.

    June saw me paddling 18 miles through the scenic Fox River Dells with a group of Northern Illinois paddlers and then doing multiple trips on the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River Danville, Illinois. Those were some memorable trips for sure. My wife and I and our daughter Jennifer did our only camping trip of the year at the Kickapoo State Recreational Area. So many wonderful memories. The blog posts I wrote about those trips became the most popular so far. I could write several more posts based on those trips.

July was time to celebrate a great paddling tradition here in Pontiac, Illinois. That’s when the Vermilion River Canoe Race takes place. 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of this great event so I felt like I had to enter the race. Who could pass up the opportunity to be part of a historical event like that. I’m not a racer and it showed, but it was still an awesome experience with wonderful camaraderie. I was completely exhausted at the end of the race, but I was still smiling and had fun. I also slept very well that night.

August was a time where my paddling slowed down a bit. Even though I didn’t write about it, most of my paddling happened close to home. I did get a chance to try Stand Up Paddle Boarding on Lake Erie near Cleveland, Ohio while on vacation with my wife and daughter. We all tried it and had a good time. I fell of just once. It was more difficult than I had anticipated.

September started a trend that has continued right through to the end of the year on the Glory Days blog. That trend was “Food”. I had touched on the subject earlier in the year with the energy bar review, but I didn’t realize how much I needed to discuss this subject or how reader would react to it.

October was consumed with more of the same discussion about food, budgeting, and nutrition. It has been surprising to me to see how those three things are so closely s related for my trip. Food and nutrition obviously go together, but budgeting is a big factor that ties it al together. Those three things effect nearly every other aspect of the trip, in one way or the other, too.

November was time when I looked back at some of the paddlers I had been following as they did their trips down the Mississippi. I learned so much from following along via Facebook and the Mississippi River Paddlers Group. If there is any one piece of advice I could give to anyone else thinking about doing a Source to Sea Mississippi River trip, it would be to join that group, follow along with every post, and ask plenty of questions. In my humble opinion, there’s no better way to learn than from the people who have done it and/or are doing it currently ( pun intended ).

    December was another slow month for paddling because of the holidays, but unseasonably warm weather did allow me to get out and do a fell local day trips. The most notable of these was my last paddling trip of the year with an old friend and paddling mentor, Gene Grider. I hadn’t paddled with Gene in a long time. There had been a lot of water under the bridge and a lot of changes in each of our lives since the last time we had seen each other, so it was very rewarding to catch up and enjoy a beautiful late December day on the river together. A great ending to a great paddling year.

2019 was a good year. I can hardly wait to see what 2020 has in store. I wish you all the very best for this coming year! Cheers for a great start! Thanks for reading!

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison

Previous Post: “Nutrition – Part 2”

Next Post: “2020 – A Year of Discoveries”

2019 Year in Review Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I am excited to begin the new year because in just four months I will officially be retired and in just over six months my Mississippi River trip will begin.

[jonathanbelloblog]

Surf and Safari with the 2018 Jaguar E-Pace Along South Africa’s Sunshine Coast

JEFFREY’S BAY, South Africa — “DAMN, SKUNKED,” I thought as I looked at the nearly flat water of the famous World Surf League championship tour spot. That’s the risk you take when you travel to the other side of the world and plan just one day to score some waves.

Not all was lost. About 30 minutes down the road from J-Bay is St. Francis Bay, a co-star in one of the most famous scenes of 1966’s legendary surf film, “The Endless Summer.” While there wasn’t much on offer there, either, a nearby rocky point further south at Cape St. Francis served up head-high waves supported by strong offshore winds—the surfing equivalent of a perfectly paved twisty mountain road. And with only two other surfers in the water, it was the equivalent of that road with no other cars to be found.

Photographer Robin Trajano and I needed roughly two and a half hours to get to these famous surf spots from our base camp in the scenic town of Knysna, a place famous for its oyster festival and, more recently, the annual Jaguar Simola Hillclimb taking place that weekend. The upside of the long drive was that we had time to get acquainted with our chariot, a Caesium Blue 2018 Jaguar E-Pace.

This was our third day in South Africa, which began with an overnight stay in Johannesburg—the nation’s equivalent of New York City. The next morning we caught a flight to the coastal industrial hub of Port Elizabeth, where we collected the E-Pace and set off for our first destination: Shamwari Game Reserve.

South Africa is a left-hand traffic country due to its British colonial heritage; fortunately, it largely uses the same road signs as Europe, save for region-specific ones like “elephant crossing,” and it didn’t take me as long to wrap my head around driving on the left side of the road as I thought it might. Trajano appreciated the quick adaptation, as neither of us fancied the thought of a wrong-way head-on collision.

My previous experience with the E-Pace was spent primarily during a pouring rainstorm on the autocross-esque mountain roads of Corsica, which didn’t allow the small crossover to put its best foot forward. Like its F-Pace big brother, the E-Pace handles corners by rolling into them and then rolling back out, going with the flow of gravity instead of fighting it, making the conditions in Corsica akin to riding on a small boat during a storm.

South Africa’s smooth highways, on the other hand, offered a comfortable proving ground. Our range-topping P300-spec E-Pace packed the 296-hp version of Jaguar’s 2.0-liter turbo-four, which comes mated to a nine-speed automatic that sends power to all four wheels. The engine also puts down 295 lb-ft of torque starting at just 1,500 rpm—more than enough to briskly shove the hefty-for-its-size 4,175-pound vehicle.

The E-Pace’s sporting pretensions mean its ride isn’t exactly cushy and tire noise levels are elevated, especially on rougher pavement. But during the hourlong drive from the Port Elizabeth airport to Shamwari, neither the ride nor interior NVH proved uncomfortable or out of character for a vehicle in its class. In fact, with a phone streaming our favorite Spotify playlists into the Meridian audio system using Bluetooth (with our international data plans conserved thanks to in-car Wi-Fi), we didn’t hear much else anyway.

What was obnoxious, however, was the incessant whistling coming from the roof rack and twin-board coffin case strapped to it. It wouldn’t have been that bad had the rubber grommets typically found in the middle of each crossbar not gone missing. Thankfully the presence of cargo on the rack mitigated the racket, so we mounted at least one surfboard for each long drive even though the compact E-Pace comfortably fits most shortboards inside when it’s not stuffed with luggage.

The Jag also acquitted itself well over dirt roads on the way to the reserve’s entrance and from the main gate to our lodge. We stayed at the reserve’s Long Lee Manor, an Edwardian complex that once served as, well, the manor of the former farm that has since become the game reserve. Because the area was once farmland, wild animals had to be reintroduced from elsewhere; the original wildlife had long since been wiped out.

While there are still places in the world where you’re allowed to don the pith helmet, load the fourbore elephant gun, and party like its 1869 for the right amount of money, Shamwari, which spans an area of 25,000 hectares (or 96.5 square miles—roughly the size of Sacramento, California), is all about conservation, and the reserve expends considerable resources on anti-poaching efforts.

We arrived at our lodge in the early afternoon and had a little bit of time to get situated before the evening’s game drive—the technical term for the “photo safari”—we came for. Our ranger was an affable fella named Abel who has spent his entire career at Shamwari and clearly enjoys his job. Of course, it’s hard not to when a day at the office consists of off-roading a diesel Toyota Land Cruiser through beautiful terrain looking for animals. The reserve’s trails aren’t particularly challenging, and we had no trouble navigating some of them in the E-Pace during a photo shoot later in our stay, but daily use of them would surely wear out most road-oriented crossovers in a hurry.

Shamwari’s modified Land Cruiser 79 pickups feature an open cab with a folding windshield and a three-row people carrier in the back with enough space for nine tourists. The open configuration is excellent for game viewing but doesn’t have a lot of protection to keep animals—say, baboons or lions—from jumping into the cab. This is where a good ranger comes in. Although the animals are familiar with the sight and sound of the vehicles, they’re still wild animals; it’s the ranger’s job to avoid startling them or triggering aggressiveness—and also to know when it’s time to book it.

Sharing the observation cab with four other adventurous patrons, we came across our first find, a sleeping lion, minutes after departing the electric fence that forms the lodge’s perimeter. The lion didn’t react aggressively to our presence, but the engine and camera shutters annoyed it and it soon moved to the top of a nearby ledge. More lions were on the sightseeing menu later that evening, including a particularly rare treat: a literal catfight that broke out between a group of females and a younger male attempting to insert himself into their pride, with an older male running in to sort matters out once he heard the commotion.

The biodiversity proved greater on the next morning’s game drive. Sightings included numerous herds of warthogs, zebras, giraffes, springbok, several rhinos, various birds, a cheetah, and an elephant.

Once back at the lodge, we met up with a different pair of rangers assigned to be our escorts for the E-Pace photo shoot, one to drive a Land Cruiser with Robin in the back, the other to guide me as I drove the Jag. Although the animals we encountered weren’t used to the crossover’s blue paint or the sound of its gasoline turbo-four, they didn’t immediately scatter the way they would had it been a flesh-eating feline.

After we wrapped for the day, we strapped the surfboards back on the roof and set off on the roughly three-and-a-half-hour trek west to Knysna. All in all, this region of South Africa is an exceptionally beautiful part of the world with friendly people, unique wildlife, and amazing topography that is absolutely worthy of your hard-earned vacation time. Despite the long travel time from Southern California—at least 30 hours one way when you include airport lines and layovers as well as flight time—I’ll definitely be back someday. Next time, though, I’m giving myself more than just one day at J-Bay.

2018 Jaguar E-Pace P300 Specifications

ON SALE Now PRICE $47,250 (base) ENGINE 2.0L turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4/298 hp @ 5,500 rpm, 295 lb-ft @ 1,500-4,500 rpm TRANSMISSION 9-speed automatic LAYOUT 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, AWD SUV EPA MILEAGE 21/27 mpg (city/hwy) L x W x H 173.0 x 78.1 x 64.9 in WHEELBASE 105.6 in WEIGHT 4,175 lb 0-60 MPH 5.9 sec TOP SPEED 151 mph

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