Charlene's Birthday Party–May 16, 2014 (b. 1944)

My flight is booked, I AM going to Hawaii. I won't eat for the next two weeks, until my next payday 2/19, but I AM going to Hawaii and will be staying at Kahana Beach Resort, 4221 Lower Honoapiilani Highway, Maui part of the time.

My 70th Birthday is May 16, 2014. Please join me for this epic event. The only reason this event is epic is that I was shopping for a wheelchair in 2006 because I could not walk and weighed 300 pound. Since then I got new knees thanks to David Swankie and a boat… than a new life and have kayaked 49 states, only leaving Hawaii to kayak, our 50th state, my 50th state to kayak and on my 70th Birthday.  No I don’t feel 70.  I feel better than when I was 40 and that truly amazes even me.

The maiden voyage of my new Kayak was on Lake Tahoe in the company of Ellie Beals who paddled with me that day in 2009.

There is time if you care to join us... to make your own arrangements.
Hope you can join me to celebrate this great day and great achievement.

My Schedule:

5/13 - 8am depart San Jose, CA, arrive in Kahului, HI at 10:20am
5/13-15 staying with Matt and Cherrish
5/16- at Kahana Beach Resort, 4221 Lower Honoapiilani Highway, Maui
5/16 - KAYAK HAWAII - my last of 50 States to Kayak
5/17 - at Kahana Beach Resort, 4221 Lower Honoapiilani Highway, Maui
5/18 - at Kahana Beach Resort, 4221 Lower Honoapiilani Highway, Maui
5/19 - check out from Kahana Beach Resort, 4221 Lower Honoapiilani Highway, Maui
5/19 - staying with Matt and Cherrish
5/20 - depart HI at 12:30pm and arrive back to San Jose, CA at 8:30pm

Paddling with me will be son Richard Bailey, Matt and Cherrish Beals, and hopefully others.

CREAM of the Crop… L-R: Richard Bailey, Elle Beals, Matt Beals, Chris Bailey, and Andy Beals.  (Their initials spell CREAM).  Beals children are children of my best friend of 40plus years, Betsy Beals Stafford.

It's gonna be a grand party. A once in a life-time happening.  I sure wish all five could be with me, but 2/5 of the gang will be swell.

Can’t go, but want to help????

Anyone who helps will receive a post card from Hawaii after the paddle and I hope it will be a photo of me in the kayak, if I can arrange that there.  If you donate, order art work or buy from my store and want a post card, be sure to send me your mailing address to charlene.swankie@gmail.com. 

Wishing everyone I love could be there with me
for my 70th birthday party.

By helping a friend, Possum Hunter, out after he lost all he had Christmas night in an apartment fire, and having a front tooth break off and needing to have it extracted and an implant in last week, I am very very low on funds.  I could sure use some help making this dream come true and in accomplishing the goal I set out on in 2009, of kayaking all 50 states. See Index of States Kayaked.  Click on the donate button in the upper right corner of this site, if you can help a little bit, even if only a dollar or two.  Or click on the Art Work tab above if you would like to commission me to do some Art Work for you. All art work will be completed before I go to Hawaii.

You could also help by buying through my Amazon Store http://astore.amazon.com/kayakin-20
- a portion of your Amazon purchase will go to supporting my kayaking
adventure or for my next adventure, hiking the Arizona Trail in 2015 (820 miles from Mexico to Utah).

Thank you for your support and Aloha
Charlene Beaty Bailey Swankie

--
"It's not the destination that is important, it is the journey. It doesn't
get any better than that, until tomorrow." Swankie

On-The-Road-Again

June 20, 2010

I left Monterey CA yesterday after having breakfast with my friend, Betsy, at Sweet Elena’s.  Anyone visiting Monterey, CA should try and find this place.  Really great food, especially the pastries.

Then I drove to Camping World between Gilroy and San Martin, CA.  There I found the map I’ve been looking for… that I will mount on plexiglass and then put on the inside of one side door.  There are little state stickers that I will put on the map for each state I kayak.  I was tired from not sleeping well my last night in Monterey, so I spend the rest of the day in the Camping World lot… and even slept through most of the night.

I am writing this from San Luis Recreation Area/Reservoir where I stopped to replace the fuse for my trailer lights (again) but am unable to find my wiring/fuse kit I so carefully put together.  It is not in the space I allotted for it… so I’m going to drive on in to Los Banos Ca and try to find fuses.  There I also hope to catch up with Betsy’s granddaughter, Deanna, who is in the area training horses.  She is a budding young horse whisperer just starting up her own business, Natural Horsemanship.  I’ve known her since she was a baby, and in fact knew her mother Elle when she was only 6 years old.  Hope to take Deanna to dinner when she is done with the horses.  Then find a quiet place for another night’s sleep…. quietly.

Last thing I did in Monterey was to track down my favorite motley geese.  A Canadian Goose crossed with a white domestic goose and they had five gosslings.  I’ve been watching them grow and they are now as large as their parents.  Below is a picture of the five, the domestic goose parent is in the upper right corner.  Four of the babies are off white in color and the fifth looks like a washed out faded Canadian Goose.  They are much tamer then Canadian geese… their domestic parent’s genes are coming through.  Wonder if they will fly off when the Canadian geese do???

O.K. I’m on the road again in search of a grandson.

 

Darling Zoey seeing her baby brother, Will, for the first time.  O.K. it’s my turn.