Paddling on the Sound- Olympia Free Canoe Trip! 3/30/11

On Wednesday afternoon we had a great paddle around the waters surrounding the Olympia Harbor.  Even with short notice, 15 people showed up so we had a full canoe with eager paddlers.  It was great to have Abby Ruskey, the director of EEAW and Rob Smur an international wilderness guide and Evergreen professor, come paddling with us.  We are excited to take more people and share with them what we do on the Columbia River and other important waterways in Washington State

Free Canoe Trips- In the Rain!

We had a great paddle yesterday on the tranquil yet rainy waters of Budd Bay.  We put our sign "Free Canoe Trips" and the paddlers showed up!  We went on 5 different canoe trips yesterday and took out 36 paddlers!

The whole idea of the day was to get the word our about Voyages and take community members out on the water for free!

Thank you for coming out and thanks to all who donated, including the gas money and food!

Stevens County Library Presentations!

We are super excited to be presenting at 4 libraries in Stevens County.  Come to one or more of the following presentations and learn about the history of Canoes on the Columbia River and what Voyages of Rediscovery is all about.

Loon Lake Library- April 5, 7:00pm
Colville Library- April 14, 4:00pm
Northport Library- April 16, 2:00pm
Chewelah Library- April 18, 5:30pm

Come hear and learn about what the voyageur's life was really like.  Bring your own fur-trade and exploration stories.  We will also be commemorating the bicentennial of the historic David Thompson expedition down the Columbia River.

Upcoming Promotional Trips!

After a highly successful EEAW/WSTA conference we will be taking community members and people we connected with at the conference out on the water.  Come and join us for any of the following trips!

Skagit River- March 26-27.  We will be paddling from Marblemount down to Rockport.  Join us for one or both days.  We will be camping on a gravel beach on the side of the river.  Join us for s'mores and campfire stories!

Olympia Lower Puget Sound- March 30-  We will be putting in at Downtown Olympia.  Join us for an afternoon paddle followed by some food and drinks at Tug Boat Annies.

Hanford Reach, Columbia River- April 4- The stretch between the Vernita Bridge and White Bluffs boat ramp provides tons of educational opportunities with the nuclear cooling towers on one side and the dramatic white bluffs on the other.  We will be taking out Environmental Educators from the Tri-Cities and Wenatchee areas so join us on an "On the River Meeting" to brainstorm ways to get students out on the water!

We hope to see you on the WATER!  Contact us for trip locations and times and tell your friends and co-workers!

Our New Website! www.VoyagesofRediscovery.org

We are super excited to be launching our new website at www.VoyagesofRediscovery.org

First of all we would like to thank Skip in Rice, WA for putting it all together and dealing with our 100's of emails with content, layouts, corrections, etc...  The site is awesome!

We are proud about the site because we believe it truly represents Voyages of Rediscovery.  On the site you can find information about the construction of our canoes, bios of our guides, trip information, and what exactly is an Educational Expedition!

We hope you like the site.  Check back periodically for updates, new pages, and more features!
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment with suggestions, likes and dislikes about the site.  Your thoughts and advice are much appreciated!
www.VoyagesofRediscovery.org

Our New Brochure w/ Maps and Trip Descriptions!

After much work, we have completed our newest brochure.  They will be printed, double sided on 11''x25.5' paper.  We are proud to be offering trips through the entire Columbia River in Washington and Oregon.

This side has general information about Voyages of Rediscovery and details the three sections of the Columbia River that we operate on.  Click on the image for a larger more readable view. 

This side details the three sections of the Columbia River in Washington State.  It also describes some of the trips we run and what a teacher can expect their students to learn on one of our educational expeditions!  Click on the image for a larger more readable view.


If you would like us to mail you a copy of the brochure send us an email!  To save paper, you can also click on the image for a larger more readable view!

Thank you very much for your interest in Voyages of Rediscovery.

David Thompson Bicentennial Columbia Brigade

Come paddling with the Brigade!

This year is the 200th anniversary of David Thompson's expedition down the Columbia River.  In 1811, David Thompson and his crew of voyageurs paddled 1,200 miles from Invermere, British Columbia to Astoria, Washington.  The 2011 Brigade plans of commemorating the historic expedition by paddling the same route this summer!

Voyages of Rediscovery will be collaborating with the brigade once they reach Lake Roosevelt in Mid June.  We will be giving community members at Kettle Falls and the surrounding area the opportunity to paddle with the brigade and experience the Columbia River on the same days David Thompson did 200 years ago.

The Brigade plans on being in Kettle Falls on Friday, June 17th and we encourage you to be there to greet them and cheer them on!  On Saturday and Sunday there will be FREE community event at Locus Grove Campground near the Kettle Falls Marina.  Come meet the Brigade, see history in the making, and paddle our voyageur canoes...200 years later!

The 2011 David Thompson Brigade- www.2011brigade.com

Exhibiting at the EEAW/WSTA Annual Conference

From march 18-20th we will be attending the Environmental Education Association of Washington's annual conference.  This year's conference is a join't conference with the Washington Science Teachers Association (WSTA) and will be held in Paulsbo, WA.  We are extremely excited to showcase our program to all of the science teachers and environmental educators.  At the conference we will have our own table in the exhibit hall.  We will also be offering a post conference canoe trip on Puget Sound.

Environmental Education Association of Washington- www.EEAW.org
Washington Science Teachers Association- www.WSTA.net

If you are interested in attending the conference, register on the EEAW or WSTA website.
See you on the Water!

Two New Canoes!

John and PT just finished building two new 28ft. fiberglass voyageur canoes.  They are just beautiful!  More pictures to come.  They both have wooden gunwales and thwarts, one of the canoes has real wood ribs.

We now have four 30ft fiberglass voyageur canoes and one 25ft. genuine birch bark canoe!

This allows us to facilitate up to 60 people on the river at one time! Woohoo!

Welcome to Our Blog!

This blog is designed to keep everyone updated on what Voyages of Rediscovery does on a daily to weekly basis.

Voyages of Rediscovery is more than an educational canoeing company.  It is a lifestyle.  We are all committed to the Columbia River.  We dream about it, talk about it non stop, and more than anything we fantasize about the possibilities that the Columbia River can provide for us and the entire Columbia River community.

We at Voyages of Rediscovery are honored to be the only program in Washington State offering educational expeditions in canoe throughout the entire length of the Columbia River.  Although we are not currently operating in Canada, where the river begins and travels for over 400 miles, we do plan on eventually offering expeditions from Source to Sea.

Rivers should be free for anyone to explore, experience, and travel on.  With this in mind we strive to make every effort to offer free to low cost Educational Expeditions throughout the Columbia River.  We are routinely holding "On the River" fundraisers, writing grants, and accepting donations.

If you would like to sponsor a class or even just one student to partake on one of our canoeing expeditions please contact us.  We are proud to offer tax-deductable donations.  In the near future we will be rolling out a donation tier program, which will include benefits like free canoe trips, hand made paddles, canoes, and many other interesting items.

Thank you for visiting our blog and please check out the website: www.VoyagesofRediscovery.org.

See you on the River!

On the Upper Columbia river near Kettle Falls, WA (June, 2010) .
With the Havermale Medicine Wheel School, an alternative Native American high school in Spokane, WA.