Cinton "Canoe Boy" Johnson

Heidi's son Clinton is on an adventure of his own. He is currently canoeing down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, by himself in a 12 foot canoe. He began his trip at the Chain O' Lakes State Park near the Illinois/Wisconsin border. He traveled the Fox River, to the Illinois River, then to the Mississippi.

His adventure started in May, and the first few days proved challenging. He had the wind on his nose and wore himself out paddling down river. His first contact with us was that he wasn't sure he could do this. But he took a day to rest, camped out on the river bank, and pushed on. His trip was thought to have come to an abrupt end at the beginning of June in Beardstown, IL, off the Illinois River. He had tied up his canoe and gone into town for supplies. When he returned to the river bank, his canoe was gone, and so was everything in it. He contacted the police, the town people helped him walk the river in search of his canoe, and they even announced it on a local radio station. He spent three days in Beardstown, but his canoe was no where to be found. So he hopped on a bus and headed to Yuma, AZ to visit his son, Ocean. He stayed in Yuma through the end of June, and watched proudly as Ocean graduated from pre-school on June 26th. The night Ocean graduated, Clinton received a call from the Beardstown police - his canoe, and all of his gear, had been found. It was down river and under water. Chances are a large wake took it down. A retired Army gentleman (I think his name is Ed, but not sure) took all of Clinton's gear to his home, washed it up and dried it out. The beginning of July Clinton hopped on a bus and headed back to Beardstown to finish his trip. He spent some time in Beardstown before continuing his trip, and tried to get to spend a little time with all of the people there who helped him.

He is seeing as much as he can along the river, including historical sites. He spent a week in Grafton and worked for a couple who owned a restaurant and bar. The couple also have a pure bred timber wolf. Clinton has always been enamored by wolves, and it was the thrill of a lifetime to get to be next to one, touch him, and howl with him. He spent a week in Grafton and said it was difficult to leave.

He is currently in Memphis, TN, and will leave there on Tuesday, August 17th to head further south. Yes, like mother like son. He has also spent a week there, partying, meeting new people, and enjoying the sites. He helped recover a sunken 46 foot barge from the river and helped repair it. I am told they will name the barge the USS Clinton. Pretty cool.

He has met some wonderful people along the way, all of whom have encouraged him, supported him, given him food, shelter, supplies, and even some work along the way. So far it has been a great experience for him. I of course just get bits and pieces from him when he calls to check in, but I believe he is keeping a journal and hopefully will share his experience with everyone when he is done. In the meantime, I will keep you posted as to his progress. I will also post pictures as I receive them.

UPDATE: As of today, August 21, 2009, Clinton is still in Memphis. Staying in Memphis proved beneficial in many ways. He has been making friends and money, getting odd jobs here and there and loving it! Today he climbed the mast of a 55 ft sailboat to fix the anchor light. (Pictures posted below). He also met two young men who recently pulled onto the shores of Memphis in an 18 foot canoe. They too are canoeing down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico, but they started in Minnesota! They are staying in Memphis until Tuesday in order to celebrate the 21st birthday of one of them...of course, Clinton will join the celebration! He plans to take off with them on Tuesday and they will all finish the trip together. When I have more information, I'll post it.

UPDATE: I spoke with Clinton on Sunday, August 30th and he was in Greenville Mississippi. He and his new friends, Sam, Dan, and Matt are having a blast. They figure they are about 15 days from New Orleans. Clinton has his guitar with him on this trip, and I believe it is Sam who plays the banjo, and has it with him as well. While in Memphis, they hit Beal Street and began to play together. People started giving them money, and even requesting songs, and they made a pretty good haul in a short period of time, so they decided to give it a go in New Orleans as well. They camped for the night in Greenville, MS, and hit the water Monday morning, heading to Vicksburg to continue their journey. There are more pictures below of Sam, Dan and Matt. Again, I'll keep you posted as they make their way to the Gulf of Mexico.

UPDATE: Clinton has completed his trip and is back home in Wisconsin. The boys made it to New Orleans and spent a few days there before hopping a train to Chicago. Clinton left his canoe in New Orleans (I think as an excuse to go back). The trip was amazing, and he is now taking time to put his adventure in writing, and I hope to share it with all of you soon. For now, I have added more pictures of his journey below.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: OK, so I haven't done ANYTHING with our website in almost two years, but I have to update Clint's stuff because, while not much has happened on our end - a lot has happened with him.

He has, since his Mississippi trip, returned to Memphis and New Orleans to visit people he met along the way. He has also moved to Key West, and now lives on his own boat. He purchased a 33 foot Morgan Out Island from our good friend Jack Mosley. That in itself is a long story that I'll get into another time. Since moving to Key West, Clinton has continued traveling, leaving us to look after his boat while he's gone. But his traveling has been beneficial. Clint went to Austin, TX to try out for American Idol at the end of August. Unfortunately, he did not make it past the first round in Austin...his confidence was crushed. Harry and I looked to see if there was another audition and the LAST one was one week later in San Francisco. So we bought him a plane ticket there. After the first round of auditions he called to let us know he made it through! He sang Seven Spanish Angels. During the second round, he sang it again and they asked him to do another song. He debated singing Hallelujah, because it has been overdone, but went with it anyway and they loved it - he made it through the second round. He was told to "lose the hat" and sing Hallelujah in the next round. Round three was on stage, on camera, and very intimidating. But, once again, he sang Hallelujah with breathtaking ability. HOWEVER, when finished, the producer said "I have to tell you I'm very disappointed. You have an amazing voice, but zero stage presence. I'm sorry, I can't let you through". WOW.

Fortunately that did not deter Clint. He came back to Key West with all the confidence in the world. The Idol tryout turned out to be a wonderful learning experience for him and after being told by so many that he had talent, he felt good about himself. He has played with a few people here in Key West and has a gig at Cork & Stogie on Duval Street Thursday nights.

But possibly the best thing that happened when he returned was meeting three couples from Memphis on a sailing charter here in Key West. They started talking, and one of the gentlemen builds guitars, so of course music became the main topic of conversation. Clint spent time with them, jamming and having fun, during their stay here. Prior to leaving, they told Clint they wanted to fly him to Memphis to play for a party. Clint of course appreciated the gesture, but didn't think much of it until he received an email from one of they guys. He was throwing a party for his wife's 60th birthday and wanted Clint to play. The sent him a plane ticket and he flew to Memphis. The gig was incredible. He, the guy who builds guitars, and a mandolin player they hired all played for five hours - jamming to requests left and right. At one point they were asked to play "Copperhead Road", but they didn't know the song. So they went inside, pulled it up on Youtube, listened to it, and went out and played it like they'd done it a million times. It was an incredible night.

The next night Clint went out to dinner with the three couples, and was told by one of the men (I'm sorry, I have no names for them) that he was testing Clint to see how he'd do. He requested Copperhead Road and numerous other songs. Apparently, he was impressed with Clint, because he paid for a recording session. So, Clint went to the studio and recorded three originals and three covers. Here is a link to the song that started it all: