The Happy Camper: The US Paddlers Apologized to Me
I went to the United States twice in the last couple of weeks to present at the Quiet Adventure Symposium in Michigan, and then at Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin. I came back from both with something like battle fatigue from this so-called economic trade war.
During my travels, I saw Trump flags at half mast, ordered an egg McMuffin with no egg, had only one Tesla pass us on the highway, but three Oscar Mayer hot dog shaped vehicles zoom by and had every single American paddler who approached me at both shows apologize severely for how their leader had been treating their neighbouring Canadians.
The only time things got a tad serious is when they found out that it wasn’t a joke that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) took American bourbon off the shelves. Even more so when one of my fellow presenters—a guy from Utah—wore an upside-down American flag on his lapel. The bartender refused him service after our show and gave me the snake eye when I ordered a Canadian rye rather than a Kentucky bourbon.
More importantly, each and every paddler at both shows was terrified for the future of their remaining wilderness places. It seems plans were going ahead to mine just outside of their beloved Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota, which is adjacent to our beloved Quetico Provincial Park, as well as ploys to log countless other protected places. Some national parks have postponed summer campground bookings, and others plan to close concessions completely.
I guess that’s what you get for having a leader who values hotel towers and golf courses more than wild places to paddle and hike.
I’ve never felt as exhilarated as I did while crossing the border back into Canada—“that only us command.”
Check out my videos I posted on my KCHappyCamper channel on YouTube—and look for some subtle subconscious trade war references I made throughout during the editing process.
Thank you Kevin, did ya tell them that they can paddle ‘Tariff Free’ waters up here?