Blue Roofs And The Mohawk Canoe

We set off on a month long trip to the Great American West in the summer of '73. We bought a tent, although between staying with friends in various cities and towns along the way, and sleeping in the '72 VW Microbus, we really didn't sleep in the tent that many nights. The tent was OK for keeping rain from falling on us but wasn't much use when there was a couple of inches of water on the ground. We bought the 17 ft. Mohawk fiberglass canoe for about $200 from Campers Paradise on N.W. 27th Ave. in Miami. Having a canoe on the roof really doesn't cut your gas mileage that we could notice, and it's kind of like always being under a tree. The shade does keep the car cooler, whether moving or parked.

I think that this was taken at a campground in Alabama towards the beginning of our adventure. Stephanie is sitting at the picnic table with her coffee mug, eating breakfast with our two year old daughter Elena. The blue roof on the tent and the blue canoe on the 'bus make me think of all the blue tarps that are still on roofs all over South Florida since hurricanes Katrina and Wilma came through here last year. I traded the VW towards a new '80 Honda Civic but I kept the canoe until three years ago. I sold it to my friend Dave for $200.

The photo was shot with a 35/2 first model Leitz Summicron on a Leica M4.