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♪ ♪
♪ ♪
>> As much as Joy and I had
wanted him, as many interviews
and home visits and paperwork
requirements as we had gone
through to adopt him, I had
slowly let myself loose touch
with my son, Justin.
His growing from baby to young
man, in this supposedly quiet
Michigan city, had been 18 years
of run-around mayhem in my life.
He had been a vague figure, an
occasional apparition, flitting
in and out.
What had I been to him?
Busy beyond belief, a phantom
father.
Disappearing by day, slipping
away at night.
Always evading him.
>> Shoot!
Come on.
Come on!
[horn honks]
[heart beating]
[crashing]
[beeping]
>> Oh, my god!
Oh, my god!
Hey!
Hey, can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
[echoing]
Can you hear me?
[conversation]
>> They say, that in journalism,
death is a great career move.
This has certainly been true for
this year's OB winner.
And I am so pleased to present
the Obituary Writer of the Year
Award to a journalist who helps
his readers take off their
rose-colored glasses long enough
to see the light.
A writer who has inspired so
many of us, Steve Faulkner, of
Michigan's Blue Lake News.
[applause]
>> Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Wow.
Um, I'm a small town, middle
American newspaper editor, and
aside from selling weekly ads to
the Blue Lake General Store, I
think that obituary writing is
probably the most important
thing I do.
How many people have the
opportunity to acknowledge the
accomplishments of a lifetime?
And even a touch of immortality,
not just once of twice, but
every day of the week.
With that, I guess I will leave
my other 14 minutes of fame for
my other for another time and
simply say thank you to the
Obituary Writers of America.
Thank you to my dear wife, Joy,
and thank you all.
Thank you so much.
[applause]
>> So how much do you figure you
can get for that gold statue?
>> Let's see.
Maybe $8.95?
$10?
>> You know what I mean!
It's high time that newspaper
gave you a raise and what better
time than now to ask for it.
>> Well, it never hurts to ask.
Again.
>> And an extra week of
vacation.
>> Ahhh!
Now there's a thought.
What could we do with three
weeks of vacation, huh?
Wow.
>> You could write your novel.
>> If I had a novel.
>> You do have a novel.
Inside.
You just have to figure out what
it's about.
>> Yeah.
>> Justin!
Steve?
>> Yeah.
>> Where's Justin?
>> I don't know where he is.
His car's not here.
>> Well, he left the girls home
alone.
>> You are kidding me!
>> No, I'm not!
Not only that, but they went to
the party.
They had beer.
One beer.
>> Well, obviously we are going
to have to talk to Justin about
this.
>> No, we are not going to have
to talk to Justin about this.
You are going to have to talk to
Justin, you!
You're his father, in case
you've forgotten.
And you are going to fix this!
[knocks]
>> Justin.
Justin?
Justin!
Justin.
Justin!
>> What, hey, come on!
Stop it, I'm trying to focus.
>> Well, I've got to talk to you
about something.
>> About what?
>> You mother is very upset, in
fact she's extremely upset, and
she wants me to come up here and
discuss something with you.
>> Darn it!
Gosh.
>> Would you turn that darn
thing off?
Do you know what your mother's
upset about?
>> I don't.
>> You don't?
You have no idea?
You you know anything about a
bag of empty beer cans in the
back yard?
>> Yeah, okay, I had some
friends over the other night.
All we did...
We just played video games, we
watched movies, and yeah, we had
a few beers.
>> It was more than a few beers,
Justin.
You gave your sisters beer.
>> I only gave them beer, you
know, so they wouldn't tell on
me.
I can see how well that worked
out.
>> Oh, okay, well great.
You know, I'm glad you cleared
that up for me.
That's terrific.
Great decision, Justin.
That was an extremely, extremely
irresponsible decision.
I can't believe that you did
that.
You gave your sisters beer so
they wouldn't tell on you?
How can I trust you to take care
of the girls?
>> Why are you even talking
about not being able to trust me
now.
Okay?
I'm a good kid.
>> Yeah, I know you're a good
kid.
>> I do good things.
It's not like I go out and I do
drugs and stuff like that.
>> No, I know that.
Don't say stuff like that to me!
I know you're a good kid most of
the time.
But we turn out backs, we go out
of town for the very first time,
asking you to take care of the
girls overnight, and you end up
giving them beer?
To bribe them?
What's next?
>> I didn't do anything that
bad!
>> Yes, you did!
Listen to me, it was an
extremely bad decision!
You're going to be going off to
college in a couple of months,
Justin.
Is this the kind of thing
behavior that I can expect?
>> No, no, it's not!
>> How can I trust you?
I'm so disappointed in you.
Listen to me, you are grounded.
All right, you're grounded for
three weeks, Justin.
And you're not going to use your
car for two weeks.
Do you understand?
You're going to go to school.
You're going to go to work, and
you're come home, and that is
it.
No socializing.
If there's anything else like
this out of you, any crap, in
the next three weeks, I'm taking
your phone away.
Find the girls and tell them
that it was wrong for them to
take beer from you.
And that it was wrong of you to
give them beer.
I want you to make that clear to
them.
>> Okay!
>> I'm trusting you.
>> Okay, I'll tell them!
>> Go do it.
>> Who died?
>> Justin, at the moment, that's
not that funny.
>> Your father...
Um, your father may have lost
his job.
>> What?
What do you mean?
You've been working at that
newspaper forever.
I mean, how could they fired
you?
>> What about the obituaries?
You just won a national award.
>> From now on the obituaries
are going to be handled by the
advertising department.
So if a loved one dies and a
relative wants to place an obit.
they're going to have to buy ad
space.
You know, just like any other
advertiser trying sell a
product.
Touching, isn't it?
>> How can they do that?
>> They can do whatever they
want, as long as they don't
breach my contract.
They're offering me money to
terminate myself.
>> Okay, well, you know, what
will you do now?
>> You mean, what do we do?
My paycheck won't cover the
mortgage.
>> Well, hey, I just got to go
find a job, that's all.
>> Maybe you could take some
time off.
You know, finish your thesis.
>> Or write your book.
>> Well, if I had a book that
would be great, but I don't have
a book.
>> You could change that.
You've always said you wanted to
teach creative writing.
I'd be much easier to get a
position like that if you wrote
your own book.
>> Okay, okay, so just for
conversation sake, tell me.
What is this non-existent book
going to be about?
>> Spring break.
>> Adventure.
>> Adventure.
>> Adventure.
♪ ♪
♪ We took the freeway ♪
♪ Out of town ♪
♪ We found a place ♪
♪ To settle down ♪
♪ We bought a driveway ♪
♪ And a swing set ♪
♪ And a dog ♪
♪ You've got your very own ♪
♪ Bathroom ♪
♪ I've got my very own ♪
♪ Workshop in the basement ♪
♪ We sit around ♪
♪ Staring at the wall-to-wall ♪
♪ Take field trips to ♪
♪ Our favorite mall ♪
♪ Waiting for the day ♪
♪ When all the kids grow up ♪
♪ And leave us here ♪
♪ If you need me ♪
♪ I'll be downstairs ♪
♪ With the shop vac ♪
♪ You can call ♪
♪ But I probably won't ♪
♪ Hear you ♪
♪ Because it's loud ♪
♪ With the shop vac on ♪
♪ You'll be okay ♪
♪ 'Cause you'll be upstairs ♪
♪ With the TV ♪
♪ You can cry ♪
♪ And I probably won't ♪
♪ Hear you ♪
♪ Because it's loud ♪
♪ With the shop vac on ♪
♪ We hung a flag ♪
♪ Above the door ♪
♪ Checked out the ♪
♪ Gourmet grocery store ♪
>> Hey, Mr. Faulkner.
>> Oh, hi, Beth.
How are you?
>> Good.
How are you?
>> Fine, fine.
>> Can I help you something?
>> No, actually I was just
finishing up an application
here.
>> Oh, an application for
Justin?
>> No, not for Justin.
Actually, it's for myself.
The News outsourced my job.
>> Wow, things my be really bad
at the newspaper.
>> Yeah, well, I guess things
are bad all over.
>> Not here.
We've got free beef jerky.
>> Wow, my lucky day!
>> So, what kind of job are you
looking for?
>> You know, I was kind of
hoping for the reduced stress
kind.
Where I can just stand around
the computer department and go,
"I don't know.
Better ask someone else."
>> Hey, if you got a job here,
maybe I could be your boss.
How cool would that be?
>> That would be so way cool,
Beth.
>> Just one thing, there hasn't
been a job opening here for
months.
There are no jobs.
>> Yeah.
Well, that's what they all say.
>> Sorry.
>> It's okay.
Take care.
>> Good luck.
Say hi to Justin for me.
♪ With the TV ♪
♪ You can cry ♪
♪ And I probably won't ♪
♪ Hear you ♪
♪ Because it's loud ♪
♪ With the shop vac on ♪
♪ ♪
>> How's it going?
Huh.
So far so good.
>> Thank you.
>> How can I help you, young
man?
>> Oh, actually, I'm writing my
final turn paper for history
class...
>> Really?
You're a senior, right?
You've already been accepted to
college.
Why are you still doing
homework?
>> I have no idea.
They're just keeping us out of
trouble or something.
>> Do you know what you want to
write about?
>> Yeah, yeah, I was thinking
about explorers.
You know, like Lewis and Clark,
firs people to see the whole new
land...
>> First people of European
decent anyway.
>> Yeah, yeah, sorry.
I forgot about the Native
Americans.
>> Let me suggest something
better.
>> Okay.
>> How about an explorers'
adventure that happened right
around here.
>> All right.
>> I'll be right back.
>> Sure.
>> My grandfather used to read
this to me when I was little.
He was a fanatic about Marquette
and Joliet.
He used to take us on family
trips for visit monuments to
them.
>> You mean like Joliet Prison
down in Illinois, and things
like that?
>> No, I think we missed that
one, there are dozens of parks
named after them along the route
they explored.
We could camp in a different
Marquette and Joliet park every
night of our trips.
>> Quite an adventure, huh?
>> You bet.
You know, a great travel writer
once said, "An adventure is an
experience that makes for a
great story.
If you live to tell it."
Well, here you have a great
story.
>> Okay.
I'll take it.
>> All right.
>> Hi, Mom.
>> Hi.
>> How are you?
>> Good.
>> Good.
>> How are you?
>> Good.
>> Good.
>> Hey, I was actually wondering
if I could talk to you about
this idea that I have.
>> Yeah?
What's this about?
>> It's sort of about Dad.
>> Oh?
>> You know, sometimes I feel
that, you know, you guys both
adopted me because you wanted
to.
You know, you.
Not him.
And you know, he's always at
work.
And I just feel that him and I,
we haven't really...
He's always at work.
Always.
When he comes home he does know
how to talk to me, and I don't
know how to talk to him.
>> Honey, your father loves you.
>> Yeah, I'm sure he does but
my entire life, okay, he's
never...
Never, ever, done any Dad things
with me, okay?
I mean, you know my friend Eddy
Winthorp?
It's his dad who taught me how
to shoot a .22 when I was at
camp.
Okay?
And then Sherry Perker, down the
street, she's the one who taught
me how to throw baseball.
Okay, how pathetic is that?
Okay, even though that girl had
arm like you wouldn't believe,
but still.
That's not the point.
>> Your father always brought
you books.
>> That's not the same.
Okay, I was just out in the
garage just now and I saw the
canoe that's hanging up there.
I was thinking that him and I,
we've never even gone on a canoe
trip together.
>> Yes, you have.
You were three, or four.
He took you out on Blue Lake.
Don't you remember?
It was kind of rough, and you
got scared and you came in.
>> Mom, of course I don't
remember, okay?
I was three.
Or four.
Look, the point is, Dad, he's
got all this time on his hands
right now.
And I'm going to be going off to
school soon.
I was just thinking that maybe
if him and I, we took some
time...
>> A canoe trip with your
father?
Is that what your saying?
I think that's a wonderful idea.
>> Well, it could be a terrible
idea too.
There's just one thing, I was
hoping that you could ask him
for me.
>> No, Justin, you have to ask
him yourself.
Just ask him.
>> Okay.
Okay, I guess, but look, Dad, he
hasn't taken time off in years.
And what I have in mind, it
isn't really your regular trip
across Blue Lake.
[knocks]
Hey, dad?
>> Yeah.
>> Could I ask you something?
>> I'm sorry, what?
>> I was actually wondering, do
you know that old canoe in the
garage?
Do you think it still floats?
>> I--
It did the last time we took
it out on Blue Lake, I know
that.
>> Okay, well, I was three or
four then.
That's what Mom says, and I
don't remember it.
That's why I'm asking you.
>> Why the sudden interest?
Did you meet a girl who likes to
go canoeing or something?
>> No, I was thinking about
taking a trip this summer.
>> Where?
Where do you want to take the
trip?
>> Um, maybe the Mississippi?
>> The Mississippi?
Justin, you...
Don't even think about that.
You're not experienced enough to
take a canoe trip to the
Mississippi.
Even if you were, you wouldn't
want to do it in that old thing.
>> Yeah, okay, whatever.
I'll see what I can find on
that, all right?
>> What?
Justin?
>> Yeah?
>> Hey, Dad.
>> Justin!
>> Hey, ah, what are you doing?
Are you busy?
>> Ah, no, not really.
Just, you know, packing up a few
things.
>> Okay.
I was wondering if I could ask
you something.
>> Sure.
It's not about that canoe in the
garage, is it?
>> Oh, no, no.
It's about a different canoe.
Look, I need to borrow $600.
>> $600?
>> Yeah.
>> That's a lot of money,
Justin.
Have you thought about selling
your car for that?
>> Ah, no.
I haven't.
I mean, I guess I could.
I figured I would just borrow it
from you.
>> Good choice.
>> I mean, we're not that broke,
are we?
>> No, we're not the broke.
Not yet.
So, how are you going to pay
this money back if you borrow
it?
>> Well, I'm glad you asked.
Okay, here's the deal.
So I'm going to make a blog,
right?
And I'm also going to build this
website that tells people about
the trip, and it has this
feature on it that people can
donate money to.
And all that money will show up
on my PayPal account.
So when I go into towns and I
stop along the way, I can just
go to an ATM and just withdraw
it right out of the account.
>> I don't know, Justin.
Do you really think people are
going to find this blog and make
donations?
It sounds kind of far-fetched to
me.
>> You know, it can't hurt to
try.
>> No, it can't hurt to try.
Well, listen, there's just one
thing.
>> Yeah.
>> You cannot go on this trip
alone.
>> You're right.
There's just one thing, you're
going with me.
>> I don't know.
You know, I would love to do
this.
I would.
I would love to go on this trip.
But I just can't.
I've got to find a job.
>> If you could get away, you
could have a chance to focus
more on your thesis.
You could write about the trip.
>> Yeah.
And what are you going to be
doing all this time?
>> I'll never tell.
>> Seriously.
What are you going to do?
It's 60 days with the girls.
You know, we have never been
apart that long our entire
marriage.
You realize that, don't you?
>> Well, take short cuts.
You'll save money, and that way
you guys won't kill each other.
>> Honestly though, if I was
going to do it, and write a book
about it, I'd have to do it.
I'd have to get the whole
experience.
The whole thing.
I'd have to do it almost exactly
like Joliet and Marquette did
it.
No short cuts.
That's be the only way.
>> Does that mean you're going
to do it?
>> No, it doesn't mean I'm going
to do it.
I'm just saying that if I--
>> Oh, just do it!
Okay, you're right.
We haven't been apart that long,
but guess what?
You and your son have never been
together for that long.
Month after month, year after
year, Justin just breezes in
here and you say, hi how're you
doing?
And he says, okay, Dad.
I'll see you at the track meet
on Friday.
And he says, okay Dad.
Have you noticed, since this
whole canoe trip business came
up, he's actually talking to
you?
If you could just learn to talk
back.
Steve, paddle down the river.
I'll take you to St. Ignace,
and then in July I'll take a
couple of vacation days and the
twins and I will meet you
St. Louis.
>> You're serious about this,
aren't you?
>> It's the last chance that
you're going to get to get to
know your son before he leaves
home for good.
But first, get to know your wife
a little better.
In the biblical sense, I mean.
>> What's up?
>> All right.
Convince me.
>> Yeah, all right.
Okay, here.
It's going to be over a thousand
miles, one way.
>> That's going to take, what,
two months?
>> You know, it depends, because
if we catch rides on Lake
Michigan freighters, and things
like that.
Then I was thinking that people
will probably want to help us
portage around all the dams with
their trucks.
>> Hitchhiking with a canoe?
>> It's Midwestern hospitality.
>> I say, if we're going to do
it, we have to do it like
Marquette and Joliet did it.
No short cuts.
All right?
>> Yeah, okay.
>> Yeah?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay, well, then tomorrow
we'll go look for a canoe.
>> All right.
>> Deal?
>> Yeah, it's a deal.
>> Hi.
Can I help you guys?
>> We're looking for a canoe.
>> Sure.
What kind did you have in mind?
>> The kind that doesn't cost
more than $600.
>> But it's got to be sturdy.
>> It needs to be able to go at
least a thousand miles without
sinking.
>> A thousand miles?
Where are you guys going?
>> We're going to St. Louis.
♪ I don't want to wonder ♪
♪ If this is a blunder ♪
♪ I don't want ♪
♪ To worry whether ♪
♪ We're going to stay together ♪
>> Okay, gentlemen.
You are both going to throw all
of your weight to the left at
the same time.
Flip!
Flip!
If it doesn't work the first
time, you just have to keep
trying.
[blows whistle]
Flip!
Go!
Flip it!
Flip, right now!
Common on!
Get your head under it!
Go!
>> All right!
>> Get under the canoe!
>> Who's Natty Bumppo?
>> He's a literary figure.
The Last of the Mohicans.
Look for it on DVD, Justin.
I can see we're going to have a
lot to talk about on this trip.
>> Or we could just not talk at
all.
We're really good at that too.
♪ ♪
[waves crashing]
>> Time to give that thing up,
Justin.
>> What?
>> Your cell phone.
Come on.
You know what we agreed to.
>> Are you serious?
>> Yeah!
>> What if you need it to get in
touch with me?
>> We talked about this.
This has already been decided.
That thing's going to loose it's
charge in like, less than 24
hours.
It will be useless.
He's going to end up losing it.
We talked about this.
No discussion.
>> This is the moment of
parting.
>> It's not for too long.
>> You ready?
>> See you in St. Louis.
Come on.
Justin?
>> Yup.
>> Don't drown.
>> Okay.
I love you.
>> I love you, too.
Call me.
>> I don't have my phone.
You have it.
>> Be nice.
>> I'll see you soon.
All right, let's go!
>> See you soon.
>> 'K.
>> I love you.
>> I love you, too.
I got you something.
It's a compass.
So I know you'll find your way
back home.
>> Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
>> I love you.
>> I love you, too.
Take care of each other, okay?
>> I love you!
>> Our journey began near the
straits of Mackinac.
One of our role models was Louis
Joliet, a French Canadian
fur-trapper from Quebec.
He traded with the Indians all
around the great lakes.
In 1673, the French government
hired him to discover a 'great
western river,' hoping it flowed
into the Pacific and led to the
South China Sea.
His job was to pick out likely
places to set up trading posts.
The other was Father Jacques
Marquette, a Jesuit priest, sent
with him to convert the native
people to Catholicism.
More than a century before Louis
and Clark's time, they began
their voyage of discovery from
St. Ignace's.
Accompanied by five voyageurs,
these men followed the
treacherous northern shore of
Lake Michigan in two canoes,
creating their own maps, as they
braved high seas and dangerous
currents, shrouded by pea-soup
fog.
>> No need to burn ourselves out
on the first day.
We've been out here for four
hours.
>> You know, if we were in a
car, this would probably take us
ten minutes.
Okay, five minutes if I was
driving.
>> Justin, the thing is, where
we're going, that beach?
You can't get to it by car.
There's no road to it.
>> Oh.
>> I feel like Moses after they
crossed the Red Sea.
We've got to go through with it
now.
There's no going back to Egypt.
>> What are you taking about?
>> As you know, Moses never made
it to the Promised Land.
God let him see it, but he never
got there.
>> It kinda makes you wonder why
it took them 40 years to travel
such a short distance.
>> Travel is all through the
Bible, Justin.
It's a metaphor for life, and
what we're doing right now.
>> I thought we were just
paddling to St. Louis.
>> That's how all great journeys
start out.
It's a simple idea.
Once you leave home, things get
a little more complicated.
>> What, are you worried?
>> In the Bible everyone's
worried.
They fear the unknown.
They're afraid they're going to
be changed by their journey, and
they don't know how.
>> Dad, you're making it really
hard for me to bond.
>> A journey for a thousand
miles begins with a single dip.
>> It's a double dip, Dad.
>> Right.
Justin, left.
Left side.
>> Dad, I thought you said
right.
>> No, no, no.
It's just like we practiced on
Blue Lake.
When I say paddle left, you
paddle on the left.
When I say paddle right, you
paddle on the right.
>> I know that.
I know.
I just thought you said right.
>> No, no, I said left.
>> Dad, I hear you say right.
>> Okay, fine.
Will you please just paddle on
the left?
All right, now right.
Now right!
Okay, stop, stop.
We're going to have to get this
down, Justin.
This water's cold.
We do not want to capsize out
here.
>> Right.
>> Okay, paddle left.
>> Aye, aye, Captain.
>> Okay, now right, right.
Switch, right.
>> Dad, is this how it's going
to be?
For the next two month you're
just going say left, right,
left, right, all day, every day?
>> Look, just give it some time.
We'll develop a rhythm.
It will be fine.
All right?
We'll become a team.
We'll develop a psychic bond.
We won't even have to talk.
>> Yeah, okay.
Wait a minute, how'd we get so
far away from the shore?
>> Okay, stop paddling a minute.
Just stop.
It's a bay.
We didn't go away from shore,
the shore went away from us.
Okay, paddle left.
Paddle left.
>> Dad, can I just ask you
something?
are we crazy for doing this?
I mean, this is nothing like
Blue Lake.
Okay?
I mean, what are we doing out
here?
We don't even know what we're
doing.
>> Just give it some time, all
right?
We'll be fine.
We'll get a little bit better
every day.
That's how life is.
>> Or we could just die out
here.
We really could.
>> Where did you find these
rocks?
>> Along the beach.
>> They're too porous.
They might explore.
>> Yeah, and they might not.
>> What do you think of the
trip so far?
>> Slow, cold, wet, exploding
rocks almost took my leg off.
What's not to like?
You know, when you were a kid,
remember you used to tell me all
those stories about, you know,
when you were younger, with you
and Grandma and Grandpa in
Africa.
Were those all true?
>> Oh, absolutely.
They were missionaries.
We traveled all over East
Africa.
Up against raw nature, just like
we are now.
They were amazing times in an
amazing place.
I remember one time, we were
standing by a river and I was
just playing.
Then suddenly out of nowhere a
hippo appeared, and was just
staring at me.
I stood there for a second
looking at him, and there's this
weird, extended moment.
And then suddenly the thing just
sorta, kinda, just shuffled
around a little bit, and took
off at me.
My mother jumps in front of this
thing and goes, STOP!
And it stopped.
It stopped right there, and he
just stared at her.
She stared at this hippo.
Then he just turned and trotted
away.
>> Gees.
>> I can't believe she did that.
If she had not rescued me, I
would not be here right now.
>> Grandma's not messing around.
Don't you think they could have
probably taken a safer
assignment for you?
>> I guess their safety was
secondary to their faith.
My safety, on the other hand,
was a different story.
I remember one time, I was about
six, and they took me to this
British boarding school in the
mountains of Ethiopia.
They left me there and took off.
A thousand miles away, they
went, on a mission.
>> You must have hated that.
>> Yeah.
There was a dorm room, and it
was just filled with bunks and
strange faces.
I just remember being
overwhelmed by grief.
I remember I'd lay in my bed at
night and I'd make animals out
of my hands, the animals that
I'd come to know in Africa.
They'd play with each other, and
fight, and feed and graze.
They'd find little places in the
hills of my blankets where they
could hide and little caves
where they could sleep.
I just waited, until my parents
came back.
The wind had grown stronger.
The waves bucked and kicked all
around us.
"Being in a ship," said Samuel
Johnson, "is being in a jail
with a chance of being drowned."
On paper, Justin's grand
voyage inspired me, but smashing
him into freezing big lake
waters through a gale wind, made
me understand why my son was
already second guessing his
father's passion for time
travel, turning back the clock
more than 300 years.
I remembered reading of a Boy
Scout Troop in canoes capsized
by a strong wind.
All the good intentions of those
fathers drowned in those winds.
Boys and fathers lost.
But then again, what is life
without high adventure?
[yell]
>> The tribe doesn't have any
problem with you camping here.
I wouldn't like to send you back
out into that cold wind.
>> We don't want to go back
there.
Not tonight.
>> A long time ago our ancestors
used to live around here.
They built houses out of willow
poles and birch bark.
At night time the old people
used to sit around and talk, and
drink hallucinogens.
>> Hallucinogens?
>> Yeah, you see that bush over
there?
The one with the red bark?
>> Yeah.
>> That's dogwood --
If you take that bark and peel
it off the tree, then you take
it and scrape the soft, inner
side of that bark.
You mix it with some bay berry
or sage.
Boy, that stuff is
hallucinogenic as heck.
[laughter]
We don't give it to the white
people though.
Because they're already too
crazy.
[laughter]
>> What tribe are you from?
>> I'm from the Grand River.
We've been living here for 2,500
years.
We knew all of the plants, all
of the trees.
>> Hi, Sweetie.
I'm fine.
How are you?
Good.
I miss you.
Listen, is there any chance you
can meet us in Wisconsin?
What do you mean, you got
another job?
I told you not to do that.
I told you--
I know, Honey, you like to work,
just like I do.
I know, I know.
Listen, how are the twins?
Tell them I love them, okay?
Hey listen...
I know, Honey, we decided not to
bring cell phones.
I'm sorry, but I didn't want
Justin texting all the time.
Listen, I've got to go.
I can see he's up to something
right now.
I don't know, but I've got a
feeling he's trying to hitch a
ride.
All right, I love you.
I'll talk to you soon, okay?
all right, bye bye.
>> Red meat, hey, gentleman?
Nothing like it.
Shared with true adventurers.
>> We're very grateful.
It's been a while since we've
had any meat on this trip.
Unless you count rabbit.
>> Glad to hear you haven't
resorted to road kill anyway.
Here's a idea, let's say we give
you a quick ride to Green Bay.
It will save you 200 miles of
hard paddling.
>> Yeah!
Get out of the canoe.
>> No, no, no.
We appreciate the offer, but no.
We're fighting that winged demon
known as speed.
>> Dad, come on, man.
Look, it's over 200 miles, okay?
Can't you say, hey, we've done
Lake Michigan?
>> No.
>> I mean, come on!
If it's slow you want, we can
just go hang out at the beach
for a couple of weeks.
Come on!
>> Justin.
>> I've watched a lot of people
like you try to sail these
waters.
This is not like the travel
channel.
You need to realize your canoe
was not built for lakes like
this one.
>> Marquette and Joliet did it.
>> Well, there you are.
Now you see?
Joliet was a trapper.
He knew these waters like it was
his reflection in the mirror.
And Marquette was a priest.
Probably thought he could walk
on water.
Even so, they never would have
made it without the voyageurs
helping them.
>> Well, I wish we had the
French government bankrolling
us.
Or any government for that
matter.
But, no.
Thanks, but we can't afford to
hire help.
Yet you can turn it down when
it's offered freely?
That being the case, my friends,
the best I can do is say thank
you for an interesting evening,
and Godspeed to both of you.
>> Thank you.
Godspeed.
>> Godspeed.
>> After declining the
captain's generous offer, I
remembered what a paddlers'
guidebook said about Lake
Michigan.
The longer the crossing, the
greater the risks.
Now I knew why we weren't seeing
other canoes in these frigid,
late May waters.
Justin and I were on our own
with 200 miles of open water
ahead, before we'd reach Green
Bay.
While the freighter steamed into
that Wisconsin harbor and the
crew partied in the shadow of
Lambeau Field, we were behind
schedule.
And by now it was too late to go
shopping for wetsuits.
>> Were you a little worried out
there?
>> Weren't you?
>> Yeah, I was.
It was rough out there.
>> It's freezing.
I bet you didn't get that in
back.
>> No, not too much.
>> Maybe I should sit in back.
>> Maybe later, all right?
Give it a little time.
I've got to get the hang of
things first, okay?
You're young, you can take a
little cold water, can't you?
>> A little cold water?
Every time we hit a wave the
spray would hit me in the face.
It was freezing.
My hands were numb.
>> I'm starting to think that
there's a reason why no one else
has done this trip in a single
canoe before.
>> What?
>> I said, I'm starting to
think--
>> No, no, I heard what you
said.
You mean, no one else has ever
done this trip in a single
canoe.
You never mentioned that.
>> It's true.
We're boldly going where no man
has gone before.
Don't you wish you would have
taken the captain up on his
offer now.
They're going to be in Green Bay
in 12 hours.
>> We will be in Green Bay in
two weeks.
Okay?
>> What if we just stop there?
>> Just stop in Green Bay?
>> Yeah.
>> It thought you wanted to
rediscover the Mississippi.
>> Dad, that's what--
I thought you wanted that!
Okay, all I want to rediscover
is a real bed, with a real
mattress.
And a microwave!
[knocks]
>> Is there any hot water?
>> No.
Let me try it.
Do you want to put the old
cloths in that bag?
>> Yeah.
And maybe up there.
>> Are you sure?
>> Yeah.
They'll be fine.
[organ plays]
>> Gospel of the Lord.
>> All: The Lord, Jesus Christ.
"Wither thou goest, I will go,
and wither thou lodgest, I will
lodge.
Thy people shall be my people,
and thy God, my God."
I know many of you have heard
these words at weddings.
Would it surprise you if I told
you that these words were first
spoken by a daughter-in-law--
>> This was read at our wedding.
Your mother loves this.
>> Ruth, who had lost her
husband, was telling the
widow, Naomi...
>> What does this have to do
with weddings?
>> ...determined to abandon all
her worldly goods, her family
and her country, to travel with
Naomi to her ancestral home.
She took this dangerous journey
of many months not because she
had to, but for love of Naomi.
How many of us, in similar
circumstances, would travel with
another into the unknown, bound
to the other only by love?
>> Maybe they threw them away.
Come on.
Excuse me.
>> Yeah?
>> We left a bag of clothing in
the bathroom.
It was a clear plastic bag.
It had some shorts and shirts in
it.
It's not there now.
Do you know anything about where
it might have gone?
>> No, sorry, I haven't cleaned
the bathrooms today.
>> Okay, um--
Are you sure nobody cleaned
them?
Do you think somebody might have
thrown them away?
>> Look, there is nothing I can
do.
If they're not in the lost and
found, I don't know where they
would be.
Feel free to look around.
>> Are those live worms?
>> Yeah.
>> That's disgusting.
>> Yeah, it is.
>> You should wash your hands.
>> Excuse me, what are you
doing?
>> I'm trying to find those
cloths that we just talked
about.
>> Why would they be in a
dumpster?
>> I can't think of anywhere
else they might be.
I thought somebody might have
just cleaned up the bathroom
a little and thrown them away.
>> No.
Okay, look, you have to get out
of that dumpster.
I'm calling my manager, and if
you don't just disappear within
the next five minutes I'm going
to call the cops.
>> Okay.
I think I see them.
>> Cool.
>> Hello.
What's the score?
>> Detroit's up 2 to 1 in the
bottom of the ninth.
Indians have 2 outs.
Where are you guys going?
>> Green Bay.
>> Green Bay?
Do you want a tow?
>> We could listen to the rest
of the game.
>> No.
We're almost there.
We can do this.
We can do it on our own.
>> Dad, she's offering us a
ride.
>> We are almost there!
We can do this!
Come on!
>> Oh, almost there?
>> Yeah.
>> Dad, you always underestimate
everything.
Two girls offering us a ride.
It's getting late.
We can beat the rain.
You'd probably give him a beer,
right?
>> Listen, thanks very much for
the offer.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
We're going to do this on our
own.
>> Okay.
Bye.
>> See ya!
>> Good luck.
>> Enjoy the game!
>> Come on.
Turn into the wake!
Why aren't you paddling?
Come one, you can't give up now.
Come on!
>> Do you want to try it?
All right.
>> Good.
Sour, but good.
Pressure's on, Buddy.
>> All right.
Aw, I hit it.
I hit it!
>> You bounced it.
>> Hey.
>> How are you guys doing?
>> Good.
Quite a place you've got here.
>> Yeah.
>> It's amazing.
>> Yeah.
It used to be an old mortuary
during the Civil War.
>> A mortuary?
>> They do have an annual Civil
War encampment to honor the
local units.
They even have an Abe Lincoln
impersonator.
Not that Honest Abe ever came
through here.
>> That's cool.
I'll make sure my dad writes all
that down in his book.
>> What, you're a writer?
You know, Ernest Hemingway used
to drink at a bar just a couple
of blocks from here.
>> Really?
>> Yeah, he wrote
Big Two-Hearted River
about this area.
>> Yeah, yeah, I read that.
>> His editor said he should
call it Fox River, because
people across the country have
associations with Fox River.
Hemingway said, "But Big
Two-Hearted River sounds like
something somebody would want to
read."
>> He was right, I guess.
We're actually headed to the
Fox.
>> Oh, great.
What are you doing?
>> We're just taking a trip
together.
This is my son.
>> Hi.
>> Hi.
>> Anyway, I'm going to pick up
a couple of books here.
>> I got a few here.
>> Just take 'em.
>> What, are you sure?
>> Free?
>> Okay, cool.
Thank you.
>> No, you too.
It's our spring sale.
You guys have a great trip.
>> Thanks a lot.
That's really nice of you.
>> Thank you.
Hey, Dad, check this out.
>> What, you don't like my
cooking.
Is that what you're trying to
tell me?
>> You call that cooking?
Dumping a can of corn into a can
of soup is kind of scary.
If we lost the can opener we'd
probably starve.
>> Are you saying you want to
take over the cooking?
>> Yeah, I do.
>> Really?
All right.
Deal.
>> Thank you.
>> You bet.
>> Take care now.
>> You too.
>> Oh!
>> How's it coming, Wolfgang?
>> The beans are fine.
>> Here.
>> Cold!
Ahh!
>> I'm sorry.
I'm sorry about that.
[Tarzan yell]
>> Hi.
>> They leave these shelves out
here on the honor system.
You just put your money in the
slot.
>> You mean you just come here
at midnight and buy books.
>> 4:00 A.M. if you want to.
It's great for addicts like me.
There is no known cure.
>> It sounds like you know this
place pretty well.
>> I met my husband here.
We were married in the fiction
section.
>> True book lovers.
>> Are you guys from around
here?
>> Michigan, actually.
>> Yeah, Blue Lake.
>> Could I give you a ride
somewhere?
>> Sure, okay.
>> Okay, why not.
>> Great.
What are you guys doing here?
>> Actually, we're doing a canoe
trip from St. Ignace to
St. Louis.
>> St. Ignace to St. Louis in
a canoe?
>> Yeah.
>> And how long does that take?
>> I'll get back to you on that.
>> Marquette and Joliet.
Which one was the fur trader?
>> Actually, Joliet, he was the
fur trader.
>> So Marquette did the praying
while Joliet did the paying.
>> Exactly.
>> And what about you two?
>> Justin's got a blog that's
pulling in a few donations,
yeah?
>> I try to make people feel,
you know like, that they're glad
that they're not doing what
we're doing.
>> My brother lives is Appleton.
He's got a truck.
I bet he'd give you a lift.
I could give him a call.
>> No, I don't think that's
going to work, because my dad
feels that that would just ruin
the journey of a lifetime.
>> That's correct.
>> Speed doesn't always kill.
>> No.
No.
It's not going to happen.
>> Why don't you have dinner
with us tomorrow night.
>> Oh.
>> That's a great idea.
We'll give her a ride in Natty
Bumppo.
>> Really?
>> Definitely.
>> Sure, why not?
>> Okay.
>> Okay, good.
♪ ♪
>> I'm sorry, I was going for
Peking Duck, but the 7/11 was
closed.
>> This is great.
I love the sauce.
>> Yeah, I got the recipe out of
Squirrel Hunters' Digest.
>> Filet of squirrel?
>> No, actually, it's squirrel
brains.
I's really cool, because once
you crack open the skull, it's
really easy.
Let me show you guys.
It's awesome.
>> Father Allouez, who had
journeyed to Green Bay to
denounce unscrupulous French
traders deceiving the native
people, told Marquette about a
water route to a mighty western
river.
Acting on his advice, Marquette
and his voyageurs continued west
up the Fox River.
>> Dad, Hi, it's Steve.
I almost forgot it's Father's
Day.
Yeah, we're in Green Bay.
Yeah, we're standing right
across the street from the
field.
Remember how I used to love the
Packers, Dad?
Yeah, I cried that time they
lost the championship.
What is it that love seeks?
What did I want for my father?
It's the repetition that counts,
so that the word that touches
and the touch that speaks, are
not rare, but again and again,
are woven into the fabric of our
ordinary days.
A lot of those threads had been
missing over the years.
Work seemed to get in the way.
I was trying to stitch things up
now.
But hand stitching takes time.
>> Hey, Dad.
You're not the only person that
almost forgot Father's Day.
>> Thanks.
Yeah!
That looks good.
Thanks, Justin.
>> I love you.
>> Very good.
Okay, we will be expecting you
tomorrow then.
Excellent.
Thank You.
Good afternoon.
How may I help you?
>> How much for a room?
>> $38.00.
>> $38.00.
How about just a couple of
showers?
>> --, how much do we charge
truck drivers for a shower?
>> $2.00.
$2.50!
>> That will be $5.00
>> All right.
A couple of showers please.
>> Okay.
I'll be right back with the
towels.
>> I was just afraid that I
couldn't afford to take the time
for the trip.
I was worried about money.
And I was just worried.
>> Oh, Americans.
When they travel, they want to
duplicate the comfort of their
living room.
They're okay with the sights and
the sounds.
They just can't handle the
smells.
>> We admire you and Justin.
No one takes chances anymore.
It's good to know that somebody
is doing something without a
money back guarantee.
>> We're not heroes or anything.
I just read a book one day, and
here we are.
>> This is delicious by the way.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> These are my parents.
>> Is it hard being so far away
from your family.
>> In my country we have an old
saying, in your heart, your
family is always next door.
>> As we left the home of our
gracious hosts, Justin turned to
me and said, "Just think, Dad,
that woman's sister in India
could be writing obituaries for
the Blue Lake News."
And I thought to myself, you
know, a month ago that notion
would have made me angry.
But now, I would be angry at
myself if I had said no to this
trip.
Following that route up the Fox
was another struggle for the
seven French explorers.
Our trip was complicated by a
series of closed dams that
forced us off the river.
We hadn't planned on portaging
our way to the Mississippi.
In his blog, Justin started
referring to our trip as a
waterwalk.
>> Do you guys need a ride?
>> Oh, no.
No, thanks.
We're going to walk it.
>> Where are you from?
>> Michigan.
>> Close the rivers up early
there, do they?
>> Hey!
The river's rising!
Get off the river!
>> Paddling upstream on the Fox
was exhausting.
As we portaged around dams, we
now faced big risks.
Heavy currents where now pushing
us back towards the same
spillways we had supposable
avoided by carrying Natty Bumppo
over our heads.
At Appleton, we should have put
in further up river.
But after weeks of canoeing, we
though we could handle whatever
currents the Fox had to offer.
The old river had other ideas.
>> I'm trying, I'm trying!
Okay!
Okay, Dad!
>> Justin, if we have to jump,
grab the cable!
>> Okay, okay!
>> Justin, pull harder!
>> I'm trying!
>> Harder!
>> I'm trying!
>> Justin, jump!
>> Dad!
Dad!
Dad, go to shore!
Go to shore!
>> I'm coming.
I'm trying.
>> Go to shore!
>> You okay?
>> Yeah.
You okay?
>> There it is.
There it is!
>> Are you guys okay?
>> Thank you.
>> Where's my hat?
>> I don't know.
Maybe down there.
Have you seen my journal?
>> No, not yet.
>> Darn it!
I need that journal.
My whole book is in that thing!
Is it in there?
>> You can always use my blogs,
Just print it out to use the
notes from that for your book.
>> That's your journal, Justin.
This is my journal.
>> Post Crescent's here already.
Hurry up!
Down here.
>> For Justin and Steve Faulkner
An epic journey almost came to
an abrupt end on the Fox River
in Appleton today.
>> Hi, guys.
>> How are you doing?
I'm Steve Wideman from the Post
Crescent.
>> Yeah.
>> These are friends, Steve and
Justin.
Say, can you give them my press
discount?
>> Sure, not a problem.
I can take care of that.
>> Thank you.
No, Honey, Honey, it was not
that bad.
It really wasn't.
I swear it.
We wouldn't have even been on TV
except there just happened to be
this news guy on the scene.
He witnessed it, so it became
this big deal.
>> Yeah, and I saw what he
witnessed.
It looked horrible and scary.
>> Nah, Honey, you know how you
can--
Sweetheart, they edit the
footage, you know?
To make it look a lot worse than
it really is.
>> It was on CNN for crying out
loud.
>> CNN, we were on CNN?
>> Yes.
>> I didn't know that.
>> I want to come get you.
I'm going to come pick you up.
>> No, no, no, no.
Joy, do not come and pick us up.
We're not turning back right
now.
We're not.
>> I want you to come home.
You've been gone long enough.
>> Joy!
>> You've had the experience.
>> Joy, Justin wants to talk to
you.
He's fine, he's perfectly okay.
He's right here.
He wants to talk to you.
Okay, I love you
>> Hi, Mom.
>> Hi, Justin, how are you?
Are you okay?
Do you want me to come get you?
>> No, no.
Everything's cool.
Everything's cool.
Yeah, you saw us on TV?
Yeah, we rescued our sleeping
bags.
>> Where are you guys right now?
Are you, like, at a pay phone on
the side of the road?
>> No, we're having some coffee
now, with some newspaper people.
>> Good, just tell me where you
are.
Stay put and I'll come get you.
>> Mom, everything's fine.
I'm fine, Dad's fine.
We're good.
>> You're sure?
>> To be honest with you, the
truth is it's really all going
to be down hill from here so...
>> I want you to be safe.
>> Yeah, okay, I'll be safe.
>> All right, I love you.
>> I love you, too.
>> We'll call you soon, okay?
>> Yes, do that.
>> All right, bye.
>> Bye.
>> She was worried sick.
The police fished some of our
stuff out of the water before
they knew what happened to us,
and they called her--
Thank you for calling her.
>> Hello Fox Cities, and welcome
to Channel 7 News.
Two modern day explorers where
400 miles into retracing the
Marquette and Joliet discovery
route from Lake Michigan to the
Mississippi River when they were
nearly swept over Appleton dam
Tuesday afternoon.
Our Jo Hanson has the story.
>> For Justin and Steve Faulkner
an epic journey almost came to
an abrupt end on the Fox River
in Appleton today.
Earlier this year 18 year old
Justin persuaded his father, a
former newspaper reporter and
Ph. D candidate at the
University of Michigan, to
paddle the famous route that
took the original French
explorers 63 days.
>> No one's ever done it in a
single canoe.
>> We just wanted to spend some
time together and read the books
that we love, and just move at a
slower pace.
It's funny, we just finished
reading The Odyssey, the part
where he loses his raft in a
storm.
>> What the Faulkners didn't
know was that heavy rains forced
the Army Corp of Engineers to
dump a torrent of water from
Lake Winnabago over the spillway
into the Fox River.
Their canoe capsized in the
heavy current and both men
nearly drowned.
Thanks to a good Samaritan, Post
Crescent reported, Steve
Wideman, they recovered most of
their belongings.
And now, back to the studio.
>> Wow.
>> That's cool.
>> Now, you guys had better get
some sleep.
You need to get going or you're
never make it to St. Louis.
>> Yup, you're right about that.
>>Even with the Post Crescent's
help, replacing our lost gear
had badly depleted our money
supply.
By the time we reached Oshkosh,
we were running low on cash.
I was beginning to have serious
doubts about our ability to
continue on to the Mississippi,
when Justin decided to stop off
at a local bank.
>> All right, here we are.
20, 40, 60, 80, 100.
20, 40, 60, 80, 200.
And your card.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Would you like to have your
balance today?
>> Balance?
>> There you are.
[laughing]
>> All right!
Cool.
Thank you so much.
>> You're welcome.
Have a great rest of your trip.
>> Thank you ma'am.
Have a good day.
>> Thank you.
>> Apparently, Justin's blog had
finally taken flight.
Because Channel 7's account of
our Appleton accident made it on
to CNN, we received over $700 in
donations from sympathetic
viewers.
It felt good to have a writer in
the family.
Maybe somebody was looking down
on us after all.
>> This is the gospel of the
Lord.
>> All: The Lord Jesus Christ.
>> Many of us have heard that
you have to take big risks to
achieve a goal.
Paul had been accused of
treason.
He was being taken to Rome on a
ship along with other prisoners.
A violent storm rose up and the
ship began to break apart.
But Paul had had a vision from
God that not only he, but all
aboard, would be safe.
So with utmost confidence, he
urged the sailors to not abandon
the ship, but to move toward
land.
They did.
>> Where do you find all these
priests?
>> For Paul, the shipwreck was
never the risk.
The risk is being open to
encountering the new.
This is just as true for each
one of your lives as it was for
Paul's.
>> Where is that map?
>> Where are we going?
>> I don't know.
I don't know where we're going
here.
>> All right.
He doesn't know.
Should we go through them?
>> Yeah.
We've got to go to the left
though.
We've got to go more left.
>> More left?
>> Yeah.
We've got to try to go through
there.
>> Okay, hold on.
>> All right, now go forward.
Yeah, and to your left.
Good.
We should -- on these logs here.
>> Can we get through there?
>> I can push them out of the
way.
Sorry.
>> Can you pull them toward you
and somehow get it on the other
side of our--
Good job.
>> There we go.
>> Nice, nice.
>> Hello!
We're having trouble finding our
way up the Fox River.
>> Thank you.
>> Is your back okay?
[laughter]
>> I got a piece of that.
>> What, really?
>> Come on captain of the
varsity basketball--
[groan]
I'm calling it a day.
>> Come on, man!
>> No, no, you go ahead.
You have fun.
>> Are you sure?
>> Yup, I've got to rest.
>> Okay.
>> Your dad looked pretty tired
out there.
You shouldn't push him so hard.
What would you tell your mom if
you lost him on the basketball
court after surviving on the
river?
>> I don't know.
>> I'm Sandy.
This is my sister, Britney.
She has a crush on you.
>> Ignore my sister!
I'm shooting these photos for
her.
>> I was hoping to interview
you.
It's for my college paper.
>> Yeah, sure, that'd be good.
>> Could you face the camera?
>> Woo.
>> Was there any time during the
accident that you thought you
were going to drown?
>> Yeah.
I think so, you know.
When my dad and I were out there
and the canoe flipped, and we
were swimming against the waves.
It's just really scary.
I thought I was going to drown.
I thought he was going to drown.
Yeah.
>> That must have been
terrifying, actually.
>> Yeah, you're right, it was.
>> Thank you so much.
>> You're welcome.
>> Hey, do you want to come over
to our place tomorrow.
Bring your dad if you want.
>> Yeah, okay.
Sure, that's be fun.
>> This is really nice of you.
>> We read about you in the
paper.
It sounds like the Corp of
Engineers didn't have your
flight plan.
>> We had no idea that they were
opening up the dams.
Absolutely none.
We just thought it was heavy
rains.
>> So why this place?
Why didn't you just raft up the
Colorado for a week?
You could have hired a guide.
>> Yeah, yeah.
We probably should have gone to
Hawaii or something.
>> Yeah, Hawaii!
I mean, nobody paddles up the
Fox.
>> Well, then Justin wouldn't
have met your girls.
>> Yeah, that's true.
They do seem to be hitting it
off, huh?
>> Yeah, they do.
I just love teenagers, don't
you?
>> Do you like it here?
>> I'd like it a lot more if
there weren't all these dams.
Joliet and Marquette didn't have
to deal with the Corp of
Engineers.
>> Yeah.
People around here don't like
them much either.
>> They've really messed up the
Mississippi.
And turned a lot of the river
into a lake.
In science we studied how they
wrecked New Orleans.
>> Don't you hate all those
portages?
Those dams, those bugs.
Those carp!
Those are so gross!
>> Wait until you get attacked
by the mosquitos and the May
flies.
There are all those humongous
barges on the Mississippi.
My dad says you don't even have
running lights on your canoe.
>> Maybe I should just stay here
then.
Let me dad go on solo.
>> Is your dad going to write
about you?
>> Yeah, probably.
>> That's scary.
If my dad did that I'd move out
and hire a lawyer.
>> It's funny, after we spilled
and almost drown, my dad, he was
up the entire night writing it
all down.
Then the next morning he got up
and rewrote the whole thing.
>> If you have more disasters
your dad will just have a better
book.
The trick is not to let him get
you killed.
>> Well, maybe he'll even get it
published.
>> I'd love to read it.
Promise me you'll send us the
book?
>> Autographed?
>> Definitely.
>> We've got maybe 20 miles
upriver to Portage, and then
we're going to cross over to the
Wisconsin River.
Then it's all downhill from
there.
>> Okay.
>> I say we paddle all night
if we have to.
We'll celebrate with a steak
dinner.
How about it?
>> All right.
>> Okay, it's a deal.
Mine was not the voice of
reason.
But Justin was an anxious as I
was to pick up the pace and
reach Portage, another major
milestone on our journey.
We would be leaving our uphill
fight with the waters that flow
to the Atlantic, and would be
joining the waters that flow
south to the Gulf.
For Joliet and Marquette it
meant leaving their two Indian
guides, and passing for the
scarcely known to the totally
unknown.
For us, it would mean leaving
the slow-flowing American past,
and being carried into
fast-paced modernity.
Way was I now in such a hurry?
Maybe Justin was starting to
have an impact on my thinking.
We had traveled over 150 miles
upriver, with much of it in high
waters.
From here on, we would have the
current at our backs.
[distant yell]
>> What was that?
>> Must be fish out of water.
The sky was blue, the air warm,
as July air should be.
The river itself seemed
unchanged from the days of
Joliet and Marquette.
Sometimes those seven men in
their two birch bark canoes
seemed just ahead, just beyond
that tree-covered island, moving
through the shadows, around that
bend.
Justin and I had gotten off to a
late start.
There had been many delays, but
now we were beginning to catch
up.
With the many portages behind
us, we were finally moving at
the kind of pace Justin had in
mind.
[train horn]
[crowd noise]
>> Excuse me, sir?
Do you mind if we join you?
>> No, no.
>> It's really crowded,
you know?
>> Yeah, it is.
>> Sit
>> Thank you.
>> I'm Jim.
>> Hi, Jim.
>> This is my wife, Linda.
>> Hi, I'm Justin and this is my
dad, Steve.
>> Didn't we see you guys on TV.
>> Yeah, you did.
Are you jealous?
>> Not in our line of work.
We don't want competition.
>> What are you, a bounty
hunter?
>> We're turtle hunters.
We just got back from the
Mississippi.
>> Turtle hunters.
What do you do with them?
>> Roast them.
>> First you brown the meat,
like you would chicken, then you
cut it up and put it between
layers of onions, carrots,
potatoes.
Like you do a roast.
Then you slow-roast it all
together.
Them drippings make the best
gravy for mashed potatoes.
Thing is, you've got to watch
your fingers while you're
handling them though.
Don't you, Honey?
>> I was telling this one young
man who was helping us for the
first time, that whatever he
did, not to get his fingers down
there in the tank with them.
Because when I'm cutting the
little rascals up, I don't want
to look for somebody's finger.
>> Worst tasting thing in the
world!
Very grisly.
A lot of bone.
>> I'm getting hungry with all
this turtle talk.
>> We're starving.
>> Want a fry?
>> Oh, yeah.
>> Are those turtle burgers?
Of course, I wouldn't eat
anything else.
>> I had run out of maps.
Back in Michigan I had decided
not to go to the expense of
buying maps of the last leg of
the Wisconsin River, nor of the
Mississippi, thinking we
couldn't get lost on such big
rivers.
Another mistake.
But one advantage to not having
maps was that our sense of
anticipation increased.
Like the explorers of 1673, we
knew the big water was out
there, but we were uncertain
when we were going to reach it.
On the 17th of July, 1673,
Joliet, Marquette and their men,
entered the river.
Like all great moments it
American history, their
discovery would transform lives
thousands of miles away.
The Mississippi is the longest
river in the United States,
2,300 miles.
It is also the crookedest river
in the world.
It discharges three times as
much as the St. Lawrence,
25 times and much as the Rhine,
and 358 times as much water as
the Thames.
No other river in North America
has the vast drainage basin.
It draws its water from 31
states and territories, from the
Delaware on the Atlantic
seaboard, to Idaho on the
Pacific slope.
Almost all this wide region is
futile.
Joliet and Marquette saw no sign
of men, only deer, moose,
buzzards, wingless swans, bison,
and swimming mountain lions.
And monstrous fish, one of
which struck so violently
against their canoe that they
took it for a large tree about
to knock them to pieces.
>> Howdy.
>> Howdy.
I don't see many folks back
here.
Are you guys lost?
>> That depends.
Where are we?
>> You're at Big Cat Slough.
>> Then, yeah, we're lost.
>> We were trying to save money
on maps.
>> Well, I'll tell ya,
it's easy.
Go down to the channel down
here, and turn right at the
porcupine.
>> Right at the porcupine?
>> Right at the porcupine.
You'll be on course.
Good luck.
>> Thank you.
>> Happy fishing.
>> A little slow today.
>> Excuse me.
Hi.
My son and I are kind of lost,
and we were just wondering if we
could put a tent up around here?
>> Sure, yeah, go ahead.
>> Do you want a beer?
>> No, thanks, it's been a long
day.
I appreciate it though.
>> Where are you headed?
>> We're actually going to
St. Louis.
>> That's a long trip.
>> Yeah, it is.
We started in Michigan.
>> Then you'll need a beer.
Come on.
Come on.
>> Okay.
Thank you.
>> You know, your wife must
really trust you.
My wife would never let me go on
a trip like that.
You know, she'd be worried.
We both of our parents were
missionaries, so when you
commute to do God's work, I
guess separation becomes the
norm.
Besides, she doesn't like to be
interrupted when she's
gardening, so it was a good time
to take a trip.
>> You know what I think about
missionaries?
I think they go off to
themselves and save their own
soul.
>> I don't know.
When I think of missionaries, I
think of people who give up on
their own dreams and then spend
the rest of their lives trying
to help other people realize
theirs.
Like my father, for instance, he
wanted to be a doctor.
He was a hard worker, a good
student.
He once bought a Model A Ford
and he drove a country paper
route.
That's how he worked his way
through school.
But then he met my mother and
their plans changed.
They once worked in the most
inhospitable place on Earth.
>> Hotter than this?
>> Oh, yeah.
The Sudan, in northern Africa.
There was a British general, his
name was Gordon of Khartoum, and
he once said of the Sudan, "the
climate is such that only a man
who is finished with life and
longs for death will go there.
For God-forsaken, fly-blown,
dry-sucked wilderness commend me
to the upper Nile.
A desolation of desolations, an
infernal place, a howling waste
of weeds, mosquitos, flies and
fever.
I have passed through it and I
no longer fear the hereafter."
>> Then I guess you're ready for
the Mississippi.
>> Why does floating down the
Mississippi infer some romantic
sense of freedom to a Americans?
This book is surely to blame,
Huck and Jim floating into
adventure.
But the book itself is not a
pleasantly romantic tale.
It's a story packed with
murders, dirt-rag poverty,
traveling charlatans, thieves,
money-grubbing preachers,
abusive fathers, young boys shot
dead in the river, slave
hunters, superstitious ruffians,
snake bites, dusty-hog-stunk-dog
-mangy-scrawny river-side towns.
Where's the romance?
Yet, somehow, in spite of
Huckleberry Finn, and in spite
of the long tedious miles of the
long Mississippi itself, the
idea, the intuition of romance
and freedom, still lingers along
this river.
Floating away from your
troubles, leaving town,
abandoning shore-side
responsibility and drifting
away under the night stars.
It does something for the soul.
We live on land and we think of
ourselves as having roots there,
but we ourselves are rivers on
the move, everyone of us with
just enough rock and silt to
keep us from running away.
Something in us longs to go the
way of the river.
To lie down on those silken
currents and swing away from the
bank, and move along mile after
mile.
There's something there that's
wild and strong, and asleep in
mystery.
Mystery wide as any river,
especially at night.
Huck and Jim felt it right away.
"It was kind of solemn," Huck
said, "drifting down the big,
still river, laying on our
backs, looking up at the stars.
We didn't even feel like talking
loud, and it weren't often that
we laughed.
Only a little, kind of, low
chuckle."
Well, Huck Finn was right.
He said it's lovely to live on a
raft.
>> Actually, I was wondering
about that.
Illinois, it's a free state,
right?
>> Correct.
A lot on slaves ran away to
Illinois.
>> Okay, well, why didn't Huck
Finn just float across the river
and drop Jim off in Illinois?
>> That's a good question,
Justin.
Probably because that would have
squashed the Huckleberry Finn
plot like a tiny, little bug.
>> I really don't think that's
it.
You just don't know what it's
like to have different colored
skin.
You know?
You don't know what's it's like
to be brought up in a place
where everyone's sure they're
better than you.
Who would want to live in a kind
of world like that?
When you could just float on the
river forever.
Sleep on islands and fish for
your dinner, and just float of
the river in your canoe.
>> Raft, you mean.
>> Yeah, whatever.
>> Justin, are you talking about
the color of your own skin?
>> I'm just talking.
>> Okay, talk to me.
>> You don't even know what you
did to me, do you?
You don't even know what you did
to a baby still in diapers.
Okay, you snatched me out of
whatever foster home you could
find me in and then you forced
me to grow up in a place which
pretty much guaranteed that I'm
not going to like everybody
else.
Okay?
You did that to me.
>> Justin, we wanted you very
badly.
We did!
Even before we were married,
when we found out that your
mother couldn't--
When we couldn't have kids of
our own.
We went through paperwork hell
for a year trying to adopt.
We had social workers crawling
all over our lives, invading our
home, our private lives,
checking our bank accounts,
finding out how often we went to
church.
We had one lady who gave us a
bad report because she thought
that the car that we had was not
large enough to accommodate a
family.
Then we had to go through this
hearing that was horrible to
find out whether that was a
valid reason to disqualify us
from adopting you.
Justin, people don't go through
adoption on a whim.
We certainly did not approach it
that way.
We wanted you very, very
desperately.
>> Yeah, yeah, well, surprise,
surprise.
Having some little kid running
around the house just rearranges
all of mom's hormones, and then
she can just get pregnant after
all.
>> Fertility after adoption is
more common than most people
think.
>> I'm sure it is.
I'm very sure it is.
You probably researched it very,
very thoroughly so you can write
some feature about it in your
paper.
>> You know, Justin, I might
have, but back then I was on the
sports beat and going to night
school for my masters.
>> Right.
Then another twist of fate comes
along, right?
Two twists actually, the twins.
You go ahead.
You say something really trite,
like, "we all love you equally.
But we both know that the
twins, they take up much more
love and affection that I ever
did.
You didn't even get me until I
was past terrible twos.
Let's just say that maybe I got
about half, okay, half, of your
and mom's love.
Maybe a third.
Was I just another inconvenience
in the Faulkner family?
Mom wanted a baby to love, and
she got more than she bargained
for, but you, you just
disappeared into your work and
you never came out to play.
What am I to you?
Just some sort of tan tax
deduction?
>> Justin, it takes a lot of
income to support a family,
especially one--
For God's sake Justin, is that
what you think?
The color of your skin?
Is that what you really think?
>> It's not what I think, all
right?
It's what I feel!
Why don't you know that?
>> What century are you living
in, Justin?
For God's sake, the president of
the United States--
>> What, is he black?
Is that what you were going to
say?
>> No, I was going to say
orphan, but yes he is of mixed
race.
Yes!
>> I'm sure he never forgets
about it for a second either.
>> Justin--
[boat horn]
>> Dad, dad!
The barge is coming!
>> Paddle, Justin.
>> I am, I'm trying!
>> Paddle!
[horn sounds again]
That's enough.
>> You can steer.
Dad, there's just one thing I
want to know.
>> Just one?
What's that?
>> Which one of us is Huck and
who's Jim?
>> Sometimes it's hard to tell,
Son.
Sometimes it's hard to tell.
>> Do you remember Old Water Rat
in Wind in the Willows?
Water Rat never wanted to leave
the wild woods unless he could
get on a boat.
♪ ♪
♪ Took your gentle Paris ♪
♪ You went to Fontainebleau ♪
♪ Left me home ♪
♪ With toxic acids ♪
♪ Don't know what I'm gonna do ♪
♪ 'Cause I got the ♪
♪ Goldman-- ♪
♪ Mmmmmmm ♪
♪ The Goldman Sacs Blues ♪
♪ Well, the Goldman Sacs Blues ♪
♪ Gonna have to settle my ♪
♪ Blue suede shoes ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Take it away, Man! ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Goldman Sacs Blues! ♪
♪ ♪
[applause]
>> Thank you.
Thank you very much!
Thank you very much everyone.
>> You're great.
That was fantastic.
>> Thank you.
>> You're very funny, but we
were actually looking for the
buffet.
>> You're going to have to talk
to the manager.
>> There's no buffet here.
>> What about the--
There's a sign.
$4.95 buffet.
>> That was supposed to be taken
down last night.
I'm sorry.
>> It's okay.
All right, well, thanks anyway.
Great show, by the way.
>> Thanks.
>> I enjoyed it.
>> Come back sometime.
>> You bet.
The Mississippi had long been a
refuge for scoundrels, con
artists and smooth operators.
Who could ever forget the Duke
and the King, who posed as a
preacher and a deaf-mute to scam
the relatives of a dead man in
Huckleberry Finn.
Eager for a good meal, we let
ourselves be seduced by a
charming couple who were
inexplicably delighted to see
us.
>> My wife Paula and I are so
pleased that you took this
chance to take that first step
to be the millionaire you were
meant to be.
Thanks for coming to dinner.
[applause]
>> I'm actually a journalist
myself, a newspaper man.
>> You are?
Good.
Print?
>> Print, yes.
Small town newspaper.
>> How's it doing?
>> Not so well.
>> No.
Print media is just kind of,
yesterday.
>> Yeah, apparently that's what
the current feeling if.
I don't have a job anymore.
>> Where's the future, do you
think, for print?
>> I don't think there's much of
one.
>> Where's your future?
Let me tell you where your
future is--
[clicking noise]
>> That's right.
>> Today's the first day.
Take the step, my man.
>> Of the rest of my life.
>> You got it, Steve!
You've got it.
>> You're back.
>> Yeah.
>> I missed you.
>> You know it.
>> What's that?
>> We were just chitchatting.
>> About the news?
>> About the Blue Lake News
>> Oh, Blue Lake News.
That's a different subject.
>> We're here for you guys.
We're here for you.
>> The food is great.
>> Good.
Did you have enough?
>> Yeah, this is my fifth
chicken.
>> I hope you have a nice rest
of your trip.
>> Thank you very much.
>> It's been a treat to know you
guys, and I hope to hear form
you soon.
>> I'm glad we saw them.
>> Aren't you?
>> Absolutely.
>> Yeah.
>> Langston Hughes was on a
train to Mexico, appointed to
work for his father's mining
interests, when the train
rumbled across the Mississippi
at sunset.
One look at the river, enameled
with the setting sun's golden
light, and he turned about and
caught the next train East to
become a poet, instead of a
manager of mines.
There was gold on that river.
♪ ♪
♪ Spreading wings ♪
♪ Will carry you to the sun ♪
♪ Shining down ♪
♪ And warming ♪
♪ A brand new day ♪
♪ Sail away ♪
♪ Sail away ♪
♪ Light as song ♪
♪ Dear, so dear ♪
♪ Everything light as song ♪
♪ Dear, so dear ♪
♪ Everything light as song ♪
>> Do you want to be rich when
you grow up, Justin?
>> Just like you, Dad?
>> I am rich.
>> Yeah, you're right.
Can't afford to own a dog, can't
pay for health insurance.
>> At least I have my own
personal chef, you.
>> Not for long, you don't.
Another month and I'm off to
college.
>> Yup.
I hope distance doesn't cancel
what we've been through
together.
I mean, look around, the river's
moving, ducks, eagles flying,
birds, insects singing, evening
sunsets, big moon rises.
It reminds me of that country
song,
♪ I got silver ♪
♪ In the stars ♪
♪ The gold rising sun ♪
♪ Gold rising sun ♪
>> I hate country music.
>> What is it about this long,
sultry flow of rotting banks and
endless, snaking slues, swarming
with mosquitos by night and
flies by day?
Mile after same old mile that
somehow overcomes the hard
realities and draws us down and
away.
The ancients who worshipped
rivers were closer to the truth
than we who see them as little
more than commercial highways,
sources for leisure, sources of
irrigation.
Life giver, killer, solemn god
or roiling demon, road to
slavery, roadway to freedom.
Shouting glory with the morning.
[shouts and cheer]
>> Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
>> Oh!
Is he all right?
>> Listen, I'm a nurse.
I think I can help him if we can
just get him out of here.
>> I called 911 already.
>> Okay, good.
[siren blaring]
Hey, buddy, it's going to be
okay.
>> He remains an enigma to his
mother and me.
How could I expect two months on
the water to overcome the
continuing distractions of our
overly busy lives.
Two quiet months of hard
canoeing, of campfires and
conversations, of sleeping under
the silent stars, cannot replace
17 years of a speed-addicted
media-juiced culture.
But it was something.
Something real and still and
quietly enduring.
There, for a time, the stories
were ours, the adventure was our
own, and the once upon a time
fairytale was once our time.
However long he live, whatever
decisions he makes, however he
chooses to define his life,
those two months are ours for
good.
For the waves are still running
with the wind and the ground
sometimes takes on the motion of
the waves.
The currents are still running
to an unknown sea.
And sometimes I feel the twist
of a sudden swirl, and am caught
floating backwards in a quiet
eddy.
Feeling this I will glance back,
and see our reflections there.
The end.
[applause]
♪ ♪
♪ My home, my home, my home ♪
♪ My heart is back ♪
♪ In the clear blue water ♪
♪ The soft embrace ♪
♪ Of water ♪
♪ Left home, left home ♪
♪ Left home ♪
♪ I left my home ♪
♪ When I was 18 ♪
♪ My sisters were still babies ♪
♪ Babies ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now Lake Michigan ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Let go, let go, let go ♪
♪ To find myself ♪
♪ In the great unknown ♪
♪ To let my song be sung ♪
♪ Hello, hello, hello ♪
♪ I've held my arms ♪
♪ Open with the knowing ♪
♪ That everything returns ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now Lake Michigan ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now ♪
♪ Hold me now Lake Michigan ♪
♪ ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Another day is over ♪
♪ Like so many before ♪
♪ And I don't know ♪
♪ What to do ♪
♪ I'm not waiting ♪
♪ For a miracle ♪
♪ Just a sign ♪
♪ That you'll come through ♪
♪ Sometimes I feel ♪
♪ Like I'm going down ♪
♪ To a place ♪
♪ I don't want to see ♪
♪ Would you help ♪
♪ Find my way ♪
♪ To be the best that I can be ♪
♪ Give me one more moment ♪
♪ And I'll make it the best ♪
♪ Just one more moment ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm not ready ♪
♪ To rest ♪
♪ The strength is in me ♪
♪ The will within me ♪
♪ To make it through ♪
♪ Each and every test ♪
♪ One more moment ♪
♪ And I'll give you my best ♪
♪ ♪
♪ When all is said and done ♪
♪ And there's no place ♪
♪ Left to run ♪
♪ I stop myself ♪
♪ And turn around ♪
♪ To see I'm not the only one ♪
♪ I don't ever want to ♪
♪ Feel so hopeless ♪
♪ You've got a cure ♪
♪ For what's in me ♪
♪ I'm begging you ♪
♪ Don't loose your focus ♪
♪ Unlock this door ♪
♪ And set me free ♪
♪ Give me one more moment ♪
♪ And I will make it the best ♪
♪ Just one more moment ♪
♪ 'Cause I'm not ready ♪
♪ To rest ♪
♪ The strength is in me ♪
♪ The will within me ♪
♪ To make it through ♪
♪ Each and every test ♪
♪ One more moment ♪
♪ And I'll give you my best ♪
♪ I can't believe ♪
♪ That I ever said ♪
♪ Tomorrow's just another day ♪
♪ But it took this crisis ♪
♪ To realize ♪
♪ What life it ♪
♪ It's the price I had to pay ♪
♪ ♪