Our TRAVEL INSIGHT pages have risen to the top of Google’s “waterwaycruise reports” in part because of the people we’ve met along the world’s waterways.

Rich and I have an eye for PASSION. Perhaps the French proprietor  who is passionate about country meats and cheeses. Perhaps our Guide who is passionate about sharing his paths in the foothills of the Pyrenees with the traveler. Or the plumber who is passionate about bathtubs and faucets!!! All of these make great stories for travelers and we are grateful for every individual we meet who rises to this passion threshhold.

July found us exploring IRELAND. In upcoming days, we will invite you to share in our discoveries at http://greatriver.com/waterwaycruises.  We will share our itinerary and the stories of those passionate people we met along the way, including:

Pat and Ann Halpin are hoteliers. The Aberdeen Lodge provided us a “soft landing”, a “home away from home” in Dublin. Among the cliffs of Kilkee, the Halpin Townhouse Hotel provided the familiar hospitality of complimentary coffee and cookies, PLUS we clearly heard the ocean  through the open window of our oceanview room at Kilkee. Here we overlooked the Atlantic just above the mouth of the Shannon River. Pat Halpin works hard to provide notably attentive and hospitable staff, and exceptional amenities for the traveler.

Ruairi Gibbons was a passionate sailor long before he became became Captain of the Shannon Princess.  “Offering a hotel cruise on the Shannon River seemed to be my best bet for spending the rest of my life on water!”

Ruairi has now owned and operated Ireland’s premier overnight hotel barge for some 17 years. Seven years ago, he completely redesigned and appointed a two hundred passenger barge into the 10 passenger hotel barge which today is the only one operating on Ireland’s longest river.

Ruairi’s wife, Olivia Power, joined the team eleven years ago when Rauri advertised for a trained Chef to serve on the Shannon Princess. Olivia was the only applicant. Now nationally recognized, she turned out to be his greatest asset, and yes, his greatest passion!

Finally there is Tom Crean, an “unsung Irish hero” from the days of Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton.  We found his story at the South Pole Inn, in Anascaul, on the Dingle Penninsula.

You will find each of their stories this October in our WATERWAY CRUISE REPORTS and you will find them all in IRELAND.  We also invite you to enjoy our photos of Ireland and ALL our travels at  our Great River photo site.

Cruise West is renaming 100-passenger Spirit of Glacier Bay to Spirit of America and starting Mississippi cruises in 2011.

Most Mississippi cruises will go from New Orleans to Memphis or from Memphis to Nashville, with the first cruise being New Orleans to Memphis March 19, 2011. Other introductory cruises are in April and May.

Published fares: $3,499, $3,799, $4,299, and $5,099 per person double occupancy. Discounts may be as high as $600/person.

Cruise West suggests that the Spirit of America may also be found on the East Coast, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Great Lakes. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Imperial Moth in Vernon County, Wisconsin

IMPERIAL MOTH SIGHTING

Intensity graph for the New Madrid fault

With all the coverage of the 7.0 magnitude quake in Haiti, interest has shifted to the USA. Could it happen here?

Cover of Volume 3, DISCOVER! America's Great River Road

Ironically, the New Madrid Fault is a major active fault line that runs approximately from Memphis, Tennessee, to St. Louis, Missouri. On Dec. 16, 1811, this area was hit with an estimated 8.6 magnitude quake on the modern-day Richter scale. A second quake on January 23, 1812 is estimated to have been an 8.4. A THIRD shock on February 7, 1812, is estimated to have been the strongest jolt ever to hit the North American continent at somewhere near 8.7 to 8.9.

We pulled some illuminating facts from Volume 3 of DISCOVER! America’s Great River Road… What would an 8.7 magnitude earthquake feel like?

It released energy equal to 150,000,000 tons of TNT. In comparison, the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII equaled 35,000 to 40,000 tons of TNT!!

Al Stankovitz Photo of Tundra Swan and cignet

From Alan Stankevitz

Since the weather was so-so yesterday, I wasn’t planning on going down to Brownsville to photograph Tundra Swans but there was a break in the clouds so I headed down there for a bit. Upon my arrival it started to cloud over again (par for the course) but since I was there I decided to stick it out for a while and help answer people’s questions at the observation deck.

I was just about to leave when I spotted a banded Tundra Swan swimming amongst the other swans. This isn’t too unusual. I usually see a few banded swans every year. I report them to the USGS banding center and maybe if I am lucky, I get a response about a year later as to the history of the bird. On a whim, I also emailed a USGS employee who works with banding these swans.

Banded Tundra Swan

Within one hour I got a response from him with some rather interesting information regarding this bird. It was banded on July 26th of this year. It’s a male. And it was banded on the Buckland River Delta. Where is the Buckland River Delta? It’s in NW Alaska.

Usually the swans from this region follow the Pacific flyway. This one headed east over the Rockies and Canada. So far it has traveled over 3,000 miles and will more than likely overwinter along the eastern seaboard somewhere between Maryland and North Carolina. This will make its fall migration path close to 4,000 miles!!!

I then asked my contact to trace another swan seen by Dan Jackson on November 6 (photo above).. So far my luck hasn’t run out!  T200 was banded on July 29, 2009 on the Colville River Delta on Alaska’s North Slope. It is not so unusual for swans in this area to head to the east coast via the Mississippi River Flyway.

I always think November is doubly beautiful if we get an “indian summer”, the early Tundra swans, AND PELICANS all at the same time. That’s what we have right now. So when you see the “swans” check closely… do they have a long NECK or a long BILL.

Tundra Swans are beginning to trickle into POOL 8

Norton grapes are the signature Missouri wine grape

This 35 pound catfish was caught on an ultra lite rod!

35 pound catfish!