Createspace Independent Publishing Platform Paddle pilgrim: an adventure of learning and spirit, kayaking the mississippi river, paperback/dr david ellingson

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It had been on my bucket-list since I was a boy and read Huck Finn, reports Dave Ellingson, college professor and pastor, who paddled the entire Mississippi River in his kayak during the summer of 2012.

Paddle Pilgrim chronicles this adventure of a lifetime and recounts experiences from basking in a sublime sunset in Minnesota to dancing with a snake on an Arkansas sandbar.

In addition to painting a kaleidoscope of vivid word pictures of river scenery, Ellingson writes movingly about the interior landscapes of solitude, silence, prayer, and communion with creation.

What began as an adventure led to learning and ultimately to spiritual pilgrimage he says.

Ellingson teaches courses in spirituality, environmental ethics, human development, and youth ministry at Trinity Lutheran College in Everett, Wash.

He is a Lutheran pastor, Master Gardener, former distance runner and triathlete, and father of five grown children.

He resides in Edmonds, Wash.

About the Author: Grandpa said You have ants in your pants! My mother described me as in perpetual motion.

Teachers said I was hyperactive.

They were all right.

From the earliest age my middle name has been activity.

This condition often gets me in trouble.

Can't you just sit still? echoes from deep in my memory through many churches and classrooms.

Finally a coach helped me to focus my energy and I was off and running, literally.

But just running wasn't enough.

The Forest Gump in me kept running and running and running.

When I saw an American, Frank Shorter, win the Olympic marathon, I knew I had had to run that distance.

Even after learning that the first runner, a Greek solder running from the Battle of Marathon to announce a victory, dropped dead, I wasn't deterred.

I found out on those long lonely runs that it was about more than running.

It was about self-discovery, prayer, adventure, communing with nature, and fulfilling my potential.

This became the focus on my studies and led to a Doctorate in Holistic Hea.