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Posted on 08. Jun, 2010 by webmaster2 in Life
Patas finally finish cross-county race after three years
By Natasha Ertzbischoff
Editor
The snake was five feet long.
“We were hiking on a trail and we were coming up to what looked to be almost like a creek bed that was dry. It had rained previously, and it was probably really wet then, but over the past week you know it was really dry,” physics teacher Don Pata said. “The trail actually went around, but I was just gonna cut through. It got halfway between me and what I thought was just a giant crack in the creek bed.”
All of a sudden his wife, physics teacher Amanda Pata, started screaming “Snake, snake, snake!”
Then Don started running around, screaming and flailing about in the middle of Allegan county.
Allegan county is but one of the 83 counties the Patas have visited.
The state of Michigan only has 83 counties. And this past December they visited their last county, completing their three-year-long trip.
The Patas decided to embark on this journey through Michigan in the summer of 2007 because of their love for the state. The seasons and abundant opportunities to camp made it impossible for them to resist the call of all that wilderness.
“We thought, ‘oh well, if we had a goal what would it be?’ And so we thought, ‘what if we visited every county in the state and took a picture in each one,’” Don said. “So, it kinda developed, it wasn’t really a thing that we set out to do. It kinda grew out of some things that we like to do.”
Oh, the places you’ll go
Michigan is no ordinary place according to the Patas. Apparently the thumb isn’t the same as the tip of the mitten or the UP for that matter.
“The western side of the state, on the edge of Lake Michigan, the lake was carved out by a glacier and then the Great Lake built up. It’s hilly and sandy. There’s some big sand dunes over there,” he said.
Not only does Michigan have sand dunes, but the southern reaches have farmland rich with corn and soybeans, while the upper west is mountainous.
And while Amanda has declared Keweenaw County to be her favorite, Don is more of a “thumb guy,” saying that his favorite is Leelanau.
They both agree that the best and the worst of times took place on their last trip in December when they finished the western Upper Peninsula. The counties making up their favorite area of Michigan were breathtaking but unfortunately they both had the flu in the midst of a snowstorm.
So many counties, so much time
While camping, hiking, driving and other various labor-intensive activities are oodles of fun, you can only stare at the same trees and shrubbery for so long. So what else is there to do?
Geocashing.
Geocashing is a GPS-led scavenger hunt. Someone will hide a trinket inside a Tupperware container, put it out in the woods and then publish the coordinates on a website called geocashing.com. Then it is up to those up to the challenge (i.e. the Patas) to find it.
Amanda explained that “If you’re in town there will be really small containers like a 35 mm film canister or a pill container that you can screw the top off of. Basically there is a log book you sign saying ‘I found it, good job hiding it.’”
Don concurred saying that the most you’ll find is a keychain or some army men.
“It’s not about the stuff that’s in it, it’s about actually finding it because someone hid something and dared you to find it,” Don said.
Don and Amanda say that they are goal-oriented people, list-makers. At every county they took a picture of the other standing at the sign, be it rain, wind, snow and knowing Michigan, probably some sleet.
Eighty-three counties, check. Eighty-three pictures, check. Three years of adventures to cherish, check, check.
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