Um ya ya

Hey everyone!

Andy, Alex and us after an afternoon of filming!

This week has been great for Hudson Bay Bound. We leave for the Bay in 23 days, wooo! Last week we got together with Andy from UpNorthica Blog to film a piece about our trip to be released in June. We had a great time getting to know Andy and Alex (videographer).

We've met so many people in the past few months and we really feel connected with the outdoor community here in Minnesota. We talked with Erik Wrede from the DNR recently and we are officially teaming up with the Parks and Trails division this summer! They are sponsoring us with a camera if we stop in State Parks along our route to take pictures and talk to park rangers about the area. We hope that this collaboration will inspire Minnesotans to get out and spend time in these beautiful and accessible areas, even if it is just for a day. Besides that, here is a list of our most recent media hits:

Canoe&Kayak

Examiner.com

West Central Trib

Manitou Messenger

T-shirts will be here tonight! Huzzah! If you haven't already ordered one, please send us an email with your order at hudsonbaybound@gmail.com. They are $10 and $1.50 for shipping. They are light blue with our logo in dark blue and "Hudson Bay Bound" underneath. Voted number one most stylish t-shirt for the summer... ;)

Ann and Mama Raiho at Pool and Yacht

Party plans are made! Mark off May 30th (Memorial Day) on your calendars! It is at the Yacht Club in St.Paul and there will be live music from Billy Braasch and the Bootleg Bandits, potentially Sober Peter, and potentially The Walker Brothers Band (I will play saxophone on a few of their songs!) along with other musical guests. The party will go from 6:30 until around 11:00. A pig roast buffet will be available from 6:30 until 8:30 followed by some deserts. Check out the facebook invitation. It is going to be a blast -- don't miss it!

We are only $100 away from our trip budget of $2,500 (we lowered it from $3,000 to 2,500 recently since we've acquired most of our gear!). If you haven't donated yet and you are still interested please go to the How to Help page on our website or send a check to:

Hudson Bay Bound
1500 St.Olaf Ave
Northfield, MN 55057

We want to give Menogyn a significant amount of money for their scholarship fund before we leave on our trip. Please submit your donation as soon as possible or before May 31st! We hope to raise at least $4,000 for the scholarship fund before then and we would really appreciate your support. If you have already donated -- Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Last Saturday morning we volunteered at a 5K Walk for Hope in Burnsville, MN. Our sponsor Valley Natural Foods Coop put on this 5k event to benefit Hope for Tomorrow, a local non-profit mentoring program for young boys and girls. Hope for Tomorrow is really awesome check it out: http://hopefortomorrowmentoring.org/.

We had another gun safety session with Ann's neighbor Bob Hurst. We feel ready to safely use the shotgun in times of extreme necessity. Thanks Bob!

Lastly, We've decided to name the canoe Kawena Kinomaeta meaning no worries in Cree. Queeny, not weeny, for short.

We hope you are having a great week! Remember to send in your donations soon, RSVP to our party on May 30th, and let us know if you want a t-shirt!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!