Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my mom passing. In a way it feels like she just left us, but at the same time it feels like it's been forever since I've seen or talked to her.

Stevie and I will be doing a test float this Thursday-Sunday down the Wolf River, camping randomly here and there for 3 nights. A good time to make sure the canoe floats and also to find out if all of our gear is good to go.

Donations continue to come in. Don't be shy. Only 19 days to go.

T-minus 26 days until go time. Getting very excited for the river and still trying to put all the finishing touches on trip preparation. Received two Astral Camino PFD's from www.austinkayak.com this morning. These are very important obviously because the river can get rather treacherous when sharing it with barges and unforgiving weather.

I've updated the map showing the first couple of weeks of donations, which was about $510. I apparently read the map incorrectly, because 510 miles actually brings us to about St. Paul, MN. I thought the original map I made looked a little funny, must have been tired when I made it. So here is an updated one, plus an update to 845 miles (which oddly enough brings us to Cordova, IL, my original map's destination), because $845 has been received so far!!

The ultimate goal is to receive $1 for every mile we travel, some where in the $2,500 range. After tallying up the current donations, it puts us at Cordova, IL! That's 505 river miles. I will be making an updated map this weekend after the week's donations. Let's just say we won't be at Cordova for long, but how far will we make it this week?

Tested out the solar panel kit that I got the other day. Works awesome, it's great being able to harness the power of the sun. Got another donation today in the mail as well. Don't be shy people!

 Tonight was the Scholarship Awards Program at the Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton. My dad, sister, and I thought starting a scholarship to honor and remember our mom was a good way to use the money our family received at the funeral. My mom attended FVTC where she received her Associates Degree in Nursing in 1983.

The Julie Sweet Memorial Scholarship is available to Nursing-Associate Degree students in their second year who have maintained a 2.5 GPA and who demonstrate financial need. Tatiana Chernyshova proudly accepted the first ever award this evening, pictured below with my sister and myself.

I also had a few items in the mail when I got home. One being the solar panel kit I was awarded Voltaic Systems, can't wait to give it a test run this weekend and see how it works! 

A brown package wasn't the only thing in the mail though today. I also received a few envelopes containing different monetary donations. I have added a "donors" page now, containing the names of those who have donated to the cause. I'm extremely excited to see things are really coming together. 

I received an email today regarding a contest I had entered in April, and wouldn't ya know, I won!

The company it was through makes solar chargers for those going where electricity isn't easy to come by, they are http://www.voltaicsystems.com/. 
We were in need of a solar kit to aid in the charging of our cameras and Iphone, and after a brief phone call with Jeff at Voltaic Systems, we had the perfect set up, consisting of 2 x 3.4 Watt solar panels going into a V39 battery. The panels will be on "extension cords" so we can move them around the canoe and the battery will stay in a dry bag, as we don't want it to get wet. Voltaic is also including the cradles needed for our two separate cameras.

This was a huge moral booster. We now don't need to worry about keeping our electronic devices charged, just have to keep them dry, which may be difficult out on the ole' Miss.

Here is a link to my information they posted on their blog, check it out, http://voltaicsystems.com/blog/april-gear-winner-canoes-down-the-mississippi/.

This trip is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Julie Sweet. With our efforts we plan to raise money, as well as awareness, for Pulmonary Embolisms (PE). A PE is a sudden blockage in a lung artery. The blockage usually is caused by a blood clot that travels to the lung from a vein in the leg. PE most often is a complication of a condition called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). In DVT, blood clots form in the deep veins of the body, most often in the legs. These clots can break free, travel through the bloodstream to the lungs, and block an artery. The exact number of people affected by DVT and PE isn't known. Estimates suggest these conditions affect 300,000 to 600,000 people in the United States each year. If left untreated, about 30 percent of patients who have PE will die. Most of those who die do so within the first few hours of the event; my mom's life was taken almost instantly, while she was asleep on a Sunday morning this past June.

We are looking to raise $1.00 per mile of river, somewhere in the ballpark of $2,500. All of the proceeds will be donated to the Mayo Clinic out of Rochester, MN. Mayo is conducting research on Pulmonary Embolisms. Scientist are specifically trying to answer why the risk of pulmonary thrombosis increases with infection and in women as they age, perhaps due to menopause and decreased estrogen. Mayo uses an interdisciplinary research team approach that includes the expertise of physiologists, hematologist, biochemists, clinical cardiologist and cardiac surgeons. The goal is to better understand the underlying cause to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies directed towards reducing Pulmonary Embolisms and associated events.