{"product_id":"2940152451757","title":"Paddling South: Winnipeg to New Orleans by Canoe","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe stories that became Paddling South, Winnipeg to New Orleans by Canoe stem from a voyage a high school friend and I took in the fall of 1969. Although there was a forty year wait between voyage and publication, the book retains its accuracy because both John Van Landeghem and I kept separate journals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile I was writing the book John lent me his diary so I was able to refer to both accounts. After forty years it was a revelation to see what John actually thought of the trip and me, so much so that at one point I phoned John in Edmonton and said:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You didn’t like me much did you.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePersonal faults aside this was an amazing adventure in the Mark Twain tradition. This was not so much a man against nature saga, although there was that element, the trip was just two kids on an adventure. And it was an adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe couldn’t find a place to camp so we spent three nights in The Fargo City Jail as guests of the Fargo Police.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“But you gotta be out by Thursday. We need the space. Thursdays is when we start getting our regulars.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile on the Mississippi we almost sank a half a dozen times, we almost got swamped by a ship, a barge, waves, you name it. Getting almost killed was a daily event.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe met a collection of characters; from the merely odd to the melancholy and to the downright dangerous. It was as if Samuel Clements was writing our itinerary.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaddling South was nominated as The Best Non Fiction Book by a Manitoba Author 2008.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rick Ranson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47113333244144,"sku":"2940152451757","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940152451757_p0.jpg?v=1764022241","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940152451757","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}