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" The Equipment My first need was suitable boats. Conveniently, I already possessed the perfect scout boat, a fiberglass, center-console 21V-150XV specially built for a POPULAR MECHANICS outboard-motor test by Bill and Dale Kenner at Kenner Boats. Fitted with a 4-stroke Honda 115-hp outboard on a Power-Lift, this superb all-arounder could idle all day while we pick a channel up the Missouri, smash through surf in The Dalles of the Columbia, float in 8 in. of water &amp;quot;too thick to drink and too thin to plow&amp;quot; or carry a half-ton of gear at 45 mph. I expected great things from the Kenner-Honda combination, and it never let me down. PM&amp;#039;s Outdoor Department contributing editor, Cliff Gromer, and I, had long discussions about what sort of powerboat could sleep a couple of adults, be powered by an economical 4-stroke outboard and towed behind a pickup. At a boat show, Cliff saw a Nomad Houseboats Voyager 25, an unusual planing houseboat with an aluminum hull and fiberglass cabin. It claimed to sleep three adults inside and two more in a deck enclosure, have a full galley, a full head with shower and cruise at 30 mph powered by a clean-running Honda 130-hp 4-stroke. As it turned out, the Voyager also floats in 12 in. of water and tows easily behind a pickup. Snug on its trailer, the versatile Voyager even makes a convenient RV. For the shallow headwaters as we would venture into the mountains, I brought two inflatable kayaks from Stearns left over from another article. Coleman Products supplied a vast array of camping gear--chairs, tables, lanterns, tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses--all the things one uses every evening. Wearguard, which sells a wide variety of outdoor clothing, made each of our expedition members a complete wardrobe, everything from khaki shorts and polo shirts to ski jackets and foul-weather gear embroidered with our colorful &amp;quot;In The Footsteps&amp;quot; logo designed by POPULAR MECHANICS Creative Director, Bryan Canniff. I called Michael Albano, in communications at Chevrolet, and after very little persuasion, he arranged to loan us a pair of heavy-duty Silverado pickups to tow our trailer boats and the growing mound of supplies. One was an HD 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 powered by the new 8.1-liter gasoline V8 and Allison 5-speed automatic. I equipped it with a simple Jeraco fiberglass cap. As it turned out, I liked this pickup so much that after the trip, I bought it from Chevrolet. Actually, I liked the Kenner 21 with the 115 Honda so well that I bought both of them for my own use, too. The other pickup was an HD 3500 Extended Cab duallie 4x4 powered by the new Isuzu-built 6.6-liter Duramax diesel V8. For the duallie, Norman Jacobson of Lance Campers loaned us a neat 1060 slide-out camper that sleeps three adults and includes a full galley and full head with shower. My friend Geoff Allison of 5/A Baker Products came up with rugged seat covers, floor mats and mud flaps to protect our $80,000 worth of Silverados from the sticky Missouri mud. When Lewis and Clark reached the Continental Divide, they traded their boats for horses, rode over the mountains, then traded their horses for canoes to float down the Columbia. Over the years, Vince Lorio of Kawasaki has become as much a friend as a business acquaintance. Vince volunteered to meet me in Helena, Mont., with a herd of his award-winning Prairie 650 V-twin ATVs, with which we could thunder over the Continental Divide. So, most of the equipment was loaned or donated, POPULAR MECHANICS would pay all expenses as long as I didn&amp;#039;t go crazy and Vince Lorio would take care of the ATVs over the Rockies segment. It was pretty obvious, since the equipment had grown to two boats and two trucks, that we&amp;#039;d need at least four people just to drive. They&amp;#039;d have to be volunteers, because there was no money to pay salaries for the six weeks I figured it would take to navigate from St. Louis to the Pacific and back. Hell, even I wasn&amp;#039;t getting paid for my time. Why do it? Because I&amp;#039;d always wanted to, as far back as I can remember. When I was a little boy, my mother signed me up with some sort of Book of the Month Club for kids that delivered a different true-life American history story to our house with each edition. There was one about Rogers Rangers and the French and Indian War, Wolfe and Montcalm at Quebec, Old Ironsides, the Erie Canal, wagon trains traveling West and, of course, Lewis and Clark. I never expected to get the chance, but following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark has been a dream of mine for almost 50 years.  One of the Stearns inflatable kayaks  Kawasaki ATVs served as our modern-day pack mules.  A pair of Honda 4-strokes--a 9.9-hp and a 130-hp--provided the motivation for our Nomad houseboat.  The crew (left to right): Jim Reed, Wayne Brooks, Warren Lloyd, Rich Taylor, Bob Reed. The Crew So I needed a volunteer crew. When I cold-called Nomad Houseboats to see if they&amp;#039;d be interested in loaning me a boat for a couple of months, I talked to the owner, Warren Lloyd. Warren immediately volunteered not only a boat, but himself. An ex-stock broker and investment banker, Warren turned out to be an intensely likeable, enthusiastic, natural-born salesman with a deep well of jokes and hilarious stories. He was a great companion. I don&amp;#039;t think I ever heard him utter a cross word. Plus, he made great coffee every morning and grilled a mean steak. In another part of my life, my wife Jean and I organize 1000-mile rallies for old sports cars and donate the proceeds to charity. Alvis expert Wayne Brooks came on our New England 1000 eight or nine years ago. Since then, he&amp;#039;s become an integral part of our Vintage Rallies events, as well as a great friend. An ex-United Airlines manager and ex-Renault car dealer, Wayne grew up and still lives on the shore of the Susquehanna River, is an experienced mechanic, has spent weeks of his life towing antique cars around on a trailer behind a pickup and, as he says, &amp;quot;I won&amp;#039;t do anything you tell me to do, but I&amp;#039;ll do almost anything you ask me to do.&amp;quot; Another Vintage Rallies helper is our friend and neighbor Jim Reed. Jim is very private and laid back, but also extremely dependable and efficient. An ex-newsman, he took early retirement as vice president of Rockefeller Center. He and his wife, Leslie, drive matching vintage Camaro convertibles plus a 1957 Thunderbird, but his favorite machine is his immense yellow backhoe. Another plus for me, Jim and our mutual friend, William B. Winters, had canoed a 150-mile stretch of the Upper Missouri a couple years ago. Jim also volunteered to collect all the maps and guide books we&amp;#039;d need to get us from St. Louis, Mo., to Astoria, Ore. Neil Mullen from Honda Marine has helped us many times with outboard motor tests. Indeed, the Kenner connection had come through Neil. When I called him to ask if Honda would let us borrow a couple of outboards for LEWIS And and CLARK, Neil asked if it would be okay if he flew in a couple of times during the trip to make sure the engines were still in one piece. As it turned out, Neil met us in St. Louis and stayed with us all the way to Kansas City. He flew back to his office in Atlanta, Ga., then met us again in Lewiston, Idaho, and stayed with us all the way to Astoria. A highly trained Honda technician and master boater, Neil was a key addition. At our Forza Amelia rally in Florida in March, Wayne, Jim and I were talking about our Lewis and Clark plans. One of the rallyists, Bob Reed, said something along the lines of, &amp;quot;Do you need some help? I&amp;#039;ve always wanted to make that trip!&amp;quot; Bob became, along with Jim, Wayne and myself, the fourth member of the permanent LEWIS AND CLARK In the Footsteps Expedition. Bob, a retired executive from Caterpillar, has spent the past 27 years selling heavy equipment in Switzerland. An ex-Naval officer and experienced sailor with lots of energy, he also owns and vintage-races two pre-war Bentleys. He&amp;#039;s also accustomed to towing a trailer behind a pickup, and comfortable around machinery. Perfect! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a217/1277901/>