I spent much of my youth exploring Whaley Mill Creek that runs through my parents backyard in North Alabama and flows on to the Black Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers empties into Mobile Bay. Then I camped along the Tennessee River at the Westmoreland Scout Reservation. After college, I moved to Northwest Arkansas, where I fished and explored the Buffalo and White Rivers by canoe. My long-term retirement goal is to paddle the entire Connecticut River in my canoe.