5 months from 6 days ago...

...Jordyn and I will be slipping our sea kayaks into the little traveled waters of the Northern Susquehanna just below Ostego Lake in Cooperstown, New York. In the mid-Atlantic states, it's called the "Mighty Susquehanna." It's the largest river lying entirely within the United States that drains into the Atlantic Ocean and the 16th largest river in the United States. The River's 27,500-square-mile watershed covers parts of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. This is about 43 percent of the Bay's 64,000 square miles of drainage basin.

Where did this idea stem from?  Who knows.  A little bit of boredom, a strong sense of adventure, and a test of wits both mine and my wife's.  Initially, I was just thinking about how little I knew about the Susquehanna River.  Every time the news comes on and the mention the Susquehanna Valley, I was like, "Huh...what is that exactly?" I wondered if other people thought the same thing? So I started my dive into the information superhighway and started bookmarking Wikipedia sites, photos, books, etc. I even found a cool online journal about "Two Jay's" who had completed the identical trip I was conjuring in my head whilst I was researching.

It didn't take long, after I had read the journal, for my ideas to formulate into a pitch to my lovely lady Jordyn...and at the slighest twitch of enthusiasm- I started envisioning our triumphant and heroic meander down the Sus-e-Q!

Since August 2010, I have spent a large amount of time reading about the history of the river itself and the area known as the Susquehanna Water Shed.  I've aquired online journals, news articles, maps and anything else I could get my hands on to either learn more about the region, equip ourselves with the proper gear, and convince Jordyn's parents that everything should be "just fine". 

Over the next could of weeks, nay months, I will blog here about our planning for this trip including gear lists, purchases, and gear getting adventures.  We are also sure to have plenty of mini adventures along the way as we prep our boats, bodies, and basement for the great launch.