Amyloidosis‏

In 2007 my father, Dennis Blake, was diagnosed with a rare blood disease, Amyloidosis. After years of battling the disease, the correct diagnosis was finally given less then a week before he passed. Amyloidosis is a rare blood disease that can affect one or more organs when abnormal deposits of the amyloid protein are produced. It is debilitating and life threatening. The disease meant nothing to my family weeks before we first heard the word, and then it defined the rest of our lives. It is only in the last 25 years that physicians have started to understand the disease. I have been hiking the Appalachian trail for a little more then a month. Hiking 8 to 12 hours a day, I have had plenty of time to think of my father and what kind of differences I could make in his name. I would love to make this epic adventure about more then myself. The amyloidosis foundation's mission is to increase education and awareness in hopes that it will lead to earlier diagnosis and improved treatment. My goal is to raise $1,000 in the name of my father. I have roughly 200 miles left. Just one penny per mile adds up to $20 when I complete the trail of 2,000 miles. If anybody would like to donate a small amount per every mile I complete, then I am confident that I can reach my goal. Here are the directions and the page link for the donations: Check "In memory of" and add my father's name "Dennis Blake"

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Aqua Blazing the Shenandoah River

Our 56 mile float on the Shenandoah river came to an end this afternoon. The trip couldn't have been better....well i would have liked to skip the 1/4 mile portage around a 14 ft. dam. The fishing was good. TJ and I caught smallmouth bass. We used every decent rope swing we came to. Camping was scarce along the river. We stealth camped (camping on private land without permission) in a freshly plowed hay field Monday night. We were awakened before sunrise by the sounds of a tractor approaching. We made a hasty retreat down the riverbank to our canoes. Tj basically picked his entire tent up and shoved it into the canoe. Its possible the farmer wouldn't have minded our trespassing. its also possible he had a shotgun loaded with birdshot and an itchy trigger finger. Needless to say we got an early start on the river. 5 minutes after waking we were paddling quickly down the river with the sunrising in front of us. The rest of the trip was extremely relaxing. We paddled into harpers ferry, wv early this afternoon. My mom came to pick up my brother...and she came bearing gifts. My favorite carry out pizza and cold mountain dews!
We have officially left Virginia for good and I shall miss her. The next few days we will quickly move thru west Virginia and Maryland. Should be in Pennsylvania and cross the official half way mark of our trip on Sunday.
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1 comment:

  1. CharliJune 11, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Thanks for the great chuckle this morning while reading the blog. I was picturing TJ stuffing a tent that is still up in a canoe. Just think you had a Boat House for a few minutes. LOL. So happy that you are having a blast and making your dreams come true!! I am very proud of you!! Love You!

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