Index of States Kayaked by Charlene Swankie

I DID IT!  Finished the 50th State, Hawaii, on my 70th Birthday, almost a year ago now.
This is a work in progress… I will also add elevations.  I am also updating the state pages with more details.  (updated 5/7/2015)

State	Order	Date	Location	Elevation
Alabama	46	10/23/12	Justins Bay, AL (solo)
Alaska	49	8/20/2013	Holgate Glacier, Holgate Arm near Seward, AK
Arizona	2	06/2009	Watson Lake / Vickie Walker; Cibola NWR (N.P.)
Arkansas	43	10/7/12	Beaver Lake (solo)
California California2	1	3/2008 ? ? ? 08/30/2009 08/03/2009	1) Monterey Bay(many times) 2) Morro Bay (fb) 3) Spooners Cove @ Montano de Oro State Park (fb) 4) Elkhorn Slough 5) Gold Lake (fb) 6) West Shore of Lake Tahoe(*maiden voyage) / Elle Beals (fb)
Colorado	39	10/11/11 and Summer 2012	Jackson Lake State Park nr Orchard (solo) (*Pelicans) Meadow Creek Lake nr Rifle (solo)
Connecticut	20	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo) (*Swans)
Delaware	23	11/02/10	Cape Henlopen @ Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge-put in @ Boat Ramp Access Rd. (solo)
Florida	29	11/26/10 12/19/10 12/30/10 10/?/12	1) Santa Fe River @ Columbia State Park, High Springs / Judy Luke family 2) Cedar Kay /Gary Lepak 3) Ichetucknee Springs State Park/Gary Lepak 4)   (solo)
Georgia	28	11/16/10	Tybee Island (solo)
Hawaii	50	5/16/2014	Off Maui	/sons
Idaho	6	10/18/09	Upper and Lower Priest Lakes (solo), Priest River, ID	Moose Family Video
Illinois	36	09/23/11	Lake Shelbyville (solo)
Indiana	35	08/19/11	Lake Monroe @very large boat launching area off Hwy 446 (solo)
Iowa	37	09/28/11	Clear Lake @ McIntosh Woods State Park (43.12237,-93.45856) (solo)
Kansas	41	10/02/12	Wilson Lake @ Wilson State Park – Otoe Launch (solo)
Kentucky	34	08/18/11	Fredericks Landing, Wilder, KY Boat Launch (solo)
Louisiana	47	10/25/12	Small unnamed pond/marsh nr Hwy 190 and Hwy 90(Chef Menteur Hwy) east of Slidell (solo)
Maine	17	10/12/10	Long Pond on Mount Desert Island, Arcadia National Park (solo)
Maryland/DC	24	11/02/10	Put in @ Ocean City Municipal Airport on Sinepuxent Bay… near Mystic Harbor & paddled across to Assateague State Park/Island (solo)
Massachusetts	19	10/21/10	Secret Lake in Athol / Kay Gleason
Michigan	14	08/31/10 09/05/10	1) Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary @ Alpena (solo) 2) Launched @ Gross Isle (solo)
Minnesota	12	08/03/10 08/07/10	1) St. Louis River @ Floodwood (solo) 2) Ely – Boundary Waters Canoe Area (solo) (write up BWCA)
Mississippi	45	10/12/12 10/24/12	1) Sardis Lake @ Engineer Point Public Use Area 2) Pearlton
Missouri	44	10/09/12	Coombs Ferry Public Use Area, Blue Eye, MO (solo)
Montana	7	10/19/09	Flathead Lake (solo), Lakeside, MT
Nebraska	38	10/10/11	Lake McConaughy, Ogallala (solo)
Nevada	3	08/25/09 12/03/09	1) Cave Rock, NV (solo) 2) Callville Bay Marina @ Lake Mead (solo) fb
New Hampshire	16	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir in S.W. corner of state. Rt. 9, Molly Stark Trail.
New Jersey	22	10/27/10	Sandy Hook nr Fort Hancock @ Gateway National Recreation Area (solo)
New Mexico	40	10/15/11	Lake Caballo nr Truth or Consequences  on Rio Grande River (solo)
New York	15	09/25/10	Grand Island @ Beaver Point / Matt Beals
North Carolina	26	11/10/10	Jordan Lake / Judith Sookne
North Dakota	11	07/28/10	Langlier’s Bay on Lake Oahe (solo)
Ohio	33	07/28-29/11	1) Mad River / Cheryl and David Simmons (6.5 miles) (fb) 2) Buck Creek State Park lake (solo)
Oklahoma	42	10/06/12	Robert S. Kerr Reservoir @ Sallisaw Creek Park (Cherokee Nation) (solo)
Oregon	4	08/31/09	Siltcoos Lake, OR (solo)
Pennsylvania	32	07/24/11	Loyalhanna Lake. Camped @ Bush Recreation Area (solo)
Rhode Island	21	10/25/10	Put in @ Westerly, RI and paddled back and forth from CT-RI down to Little Narragansett Bay. (solo)
South Carolina	27 or 28?	11/13/10	Folly Beach (solo)
South Dakota	10	07/28/10	Missouri River on Lake Oahe @ Mobridge (solo)
Tennessee	30	07/18/11	French Broad River to Nolichucky River nr Newport / Leadvale @ Rankin Bottoms. (solo)
Texas	48	10/30/12	Mountain Lake nr Grand Prairie (fb)
Utah	8	11/02/09	Quail Creek Reservoir nr St. George (solo)
Vermont	18	10/19/10	Harriman Reservoir, nr Medburyville (solo)
Virginia	25	11/05/10	Kayaked here. First Landing State Park @ Broad Bay N.W of Virginia Beach .(solo)
Washington	5	09/9-15/09 09/9-15/09 09/12/09 07/01/10	1) Elliott Bay @ Alki Point  (solo) 2) Wenatchee – Turtle Island @ Lincoln Rock State Park (solo) 4) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak 5) Port Townsend /Gary Lepak (fb) 5) Port Angeles / Gary Lepak
West Virginia	31	07/23/11	Sutton Lake (solo)
Wisconsin	13	08/14/10	Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, north of Bayfield, WI (solo)
Wyoming	9	07/23 or 25?/10	Big Horn Canyon Recreation Area @ Horseshoe Bend Lake(solo)

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34th State: Kentucky - Fredericks Landing (Aug. 18, 2011)

I drove from Springfield, OH where I was visiting friends, to Cincinnati, OH where my great great great grandparents (Sarah Ann Palmer Mason and husband Aurelius Mason) were buried.  I wanted to find and visit their graves.
Sarah Ann Palmer and Aurelius Mason

The young girl is Ethel May Mason, their granddaughter, my great grandmother.

It is one of the biggest cemeteries I have ever seen and I got lost several times.  A caretaker met me in the “section’ with his little computerized locator… and helped me find the spots… but there were no stones.  They are not even buried next to each other, but a couple rows apart.  Disappointing.

I then drove across the Ohio River to Covington, KY where they had lived and found the intersection and took photos.  I don’t know exactly which house or lot they might have lived with… my records only say Banklick at 11th Street.   This is 11th Street… and the Church of God is on Banklick at 11th Street. That’s it at the end of this street.


Interesting little neighborhood which is very upscale and being re-vitalized.  I liked it there.
I studied the maps and waterways looking for a kayaking location and found Fredericks Landing, Wilder, KY Boat Launch, put in, kayaked several hours, and then hauled out and spend the night in the lot. Very nice facility, with shelters, picnic tables, nice lawns… very nice and well kept, which began about 8am next morning…waking me out of a very sound sleep.  I paid $2 to park there, asked what time I had to be out… lady said… people fish there all night. Get there before business closing hours, City building is two building north of the entrance to landing.  Vandwellers, this is a good spot, clean and safe.

I can’t say it was an exciting paddle, but peaceful and smooth… only saw three other boats… not a lot of wildlife, except this snake and a pair of cardinals and some turtles.  It was hot and humid and all I could think was to get out of KY, get done with IN and head west.  So, I headed toward IN to visit a high school classmate, a first cousin, and other folk in Central IN before heading to IL.

Ohio Visit Continued… (August 2011)

When you don’t have a garden to really appreciate going out to one, digging up your potatoes and then making dinner.  

Cheryl’s husband, David, digging up potatoes.

We all went out to the garden together…. to gather!  These potatoes had volunteered themselves from the year before.  We also gathered an armload of tomatoes, green beans, strawberries, and green peppers.  Then we sit down to this wonderful meal… all fresh from the garden.  Really, does it get any better than this?  I know, where are the photos.

And there’s the Fluff again.  What a marvelous cat.  Come on folks, he needs a new home.  He can’t go on the road with his peoples.  He is about six years old… well trained and understands so many words, plays… loves to rough house like a dog.  Would be a good pet for kids/teens.

O.K. the chair.  The other day David brings this chair down from the attic in pieces with a number of coats of paint on it.  He thought it might be oak and decided to strip it.  Turns out it may be black walnut or some other very nice wood.  He did a marvelous job of putting it back together.  I should have gotten some before photos.  Look at the cross pieces of the back of the chair.  And the curved cross piece on the front under the seat.  It is really a wonderful piece of furniture.

More beauty at Cheryl and David's.

Oh, and David and I took a bike ride on a converted railroad track trail – The Little Miami Scenic Trail.  We rode from Beatty, OH to Young’s Dairy. It has 140 miles of paved, well maintained multi-use recreational trails.  David said one day he rode it all the way to Cincinnati.  Wow!  I’m impressed.

Wonderful ride but my legs are terribly out of shape from all my computer work and sitting while driving.  I MUST do better. I could only do about four miles.  Again no photos.  

Then we went to Young’s Jersey Dairy for ice cream, forty flavors of homemade ice cream and gelato.  They also have miniature gold, two restaurants, heated driving range, batting cages, petting zoo, two gift shops, and a seasonal corn maze.  Just north of Yellow Springs on U.S. Route 68.

Leg cramps prevented me from riding the four miles back, so David road back alone and got the truck and came and picked me up. I felt like such a wimp.

There are a number of other local sites I hope to see before I leave, Clifton Gorge State Park, a historic house-Piatt Castles, Hartman rock garden… and I promise to take my camera.

Things I want to see before I leave OH:

Yellow Springs, OH – One of the “ten coolest small towns in America” - a unique experience, one of a kind shopping, dining, hiking, biking, exploring, art, theatre, cinema, music, etc.  A place were “unique” is the key work of the day.

Piatt Castles - Like the Mecoche division of the Shawnee people who occupied the land before them, the Piatts treasure the resources and the spirit of the valley they call home. In the 1820's, Judge Benjamin M. and Elizabeth Barnett Piatt moved their family from Cincinnati to the rolling hills of Logan County. Two of their children, Abram Sanders and Donn later built their own homes, Mac-A-Cheek and Mac-O-Chee in the country-side they knew as youths. These unique structures have become a private, family-owned museum that interprets over 200 years of history of the Ohio land and Ohio people.

Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve – a spectacular example of geological forces.  Limestone cliffs, waterfalls, rapids on the headwaters of the Little Miami state and national scenic river.

Hartman Rock-Garden –began as a modest concrete fish pond in H.G. Hartman’s back yard and is now revered as a folk art masterpiece.  And since I love rocks… how can I skip this?

Would love to see but won’t be here:

Barn Quilts of Champaign County – Oct. 8-9, 2011: designed to highlight the agricultural heritage of the county, as well as the important folk art of quilting, the Barn Quilt Tour brings artwork to the country and is sure to excite the farmer in you… me!