September 17, 1998 - On the way home from the kennel, 7-week old Katie is taken for her first ever splashing - in the Brandywine River (DE), upon whose banks the Du Pont company started in 1802.

Autumn 1998 - Katie swims in the Brandywine River (DE), with a drop of over 200 feet in the last five miles, one of the fastest flowing rivers on the East Coast.

Autumn 1998 - Katie swims in the Chesapeake Bay (MD) for the first time, below the bluffs at Elk Neck State Park (MD), near where Lord Cornwallis landed 300 craft and 15,000 men on his way to capturing the Colonial capital of Philadelphia during the Revolution. Here with her bounty from the bay.

Easter 1999 - Katie meets the waves of the Atlantic Ocean (DE) for the first time at Cape Henlopen where the ocean meets the Delaware Bay (DE). Legend has it that beneath this sand 1700s pirate Captain Kidd buried chest of purloined treasure.

Spring 1999 - Katie goes for her first swim in the Susquehanna River (MD), picking her way among the rocks near Havre de Grace, Maryland, where the East Coast's longest river empties into the Chesapeake Bay.

Spring 1999 - Near New Hope (PA), Katie swims in the Delaware River at the point General George Washington crossed to spring a surprise attack on the British in Trenton in 1777. Later she chases sticks in the river and swims under the Roebling Aqueduct, the oldest structure designed by the builder of the Brooklyn Bridge still standing (NY).

Summer 1999 - With 400-foot piles of Sleeping Bear Dunes sand at her back, Katie tackles the frisky waves of Lake Michigan (MI), her first Great Lake (MI).

Summer 1999 - From the cobbled beaches Katie does her first swimming in the cold waters of Lake Superior (ONT), the second largest lake in the world.

Summer 1999 - Katie takes her first dives off a pier into the Winnipeg River (MAN), from the Cree meaning “murky water.” 

Summer 1999 - Katie takes her strokes in one of the prettiest lakes in the world, Lake Louise (ALB) in Alberta's Banff National Park.

Summer 1999 - Where the Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson rivers (MT) come together, Katie swims in the headwaters of the Missouri River (MT).

Summer 1999 - Katie swims the shallow waters of the Little Missouri River (ND), the river of Theodore Roosevelt.

New Years 2000 -  At Assateague Island, known for its herds of wild horses, Katie jumps into the new century in the Atlantic Ocean (MD).

Spring 2000 - Just before its confluence with the Potomac River, Katie makes many fetches in the sparkling waters of the Shenandoah River (VA) at Harpers Ferry (WV). Just above, Thomas Jefferson once stood and declared the view worth a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to see.

Labor Day 2000 - Katie gets into the Hudson River (NJ) for the first time under the 500-foot Palisades and later near West Point (NY).

Labor Day 2000 - Katie tries the Winooski River (VT) at Green Mountain hero Ethan Allen's old homestead before the influential river gets to Burlington and Montpelier.

Labor Day 2000 - Katie finds a deep spot in the Quechee Gorge of the Ottauquechee River (VT), "Vermont's Grand Canyon."

Autumn 2000 - Katie takes an extended late day swim in the Connecticut River (NH) - New England’s largest river - at Orford.

Autumn 2000 - Katie splashes in the 149-mile long Housatonic River (CT), known for its fly fishing, at Housatonic Meadows.

Summer 2001 - Where they filmed DELIVERANCE, where Jon Voight climbed out of the gorge, Katie swims in the pools of the Tallulah River (GA) that played the role of the fictional Culawahassee River.

Summer 2001 - Katie gets her first swim in the Gulf of Mexico (FL) by sneaking into the water in a deserted Gulf Islands National Seashore and meeting some of the biggest waves of her life in a short swim.

Summer 2001 - Katie gets more extended time in the Gulf of Mexico (TX) at the Galveston Sea Wall, built after the worst natural disaster in American history in 1900, during a break from a two-barrelled storm flooding the entire area.

Summer 2001 - Katie swims in the crystal clear San Marcos River (TX), said to be the shortest river in the United States.

Summer 2001 - Katie swims in the longest river of her life (926 miles) when she fetches sticks in the Pecos River (TX) and later rests under some cottonwood trees.

Summer 2001 - Katie swims across the Rio Grande River (TX) into Mexico to get a stick at Big Bend National Park.

Summer 2001 - At a rest stop in the bottom of a gorge, Katie gets a swim in the rapids of the Salt River (AZ), the main tributary of the Gila River. Once both rivers were navigable deep into Arizona but most of their water today is diverted for other uses. The slightly salty water comes from Saltcedar trees that grow along the banks.

Summer 2001 - Outside of Moab, Katie swims from the sandy beaches in the great Colorado River (UT). Near the campground in Rocky Mountain National Park, Katie splashes in the Colorado River (CO) near its source where you can almost step over it (CO).

Summer 2001 - Katie makes some half-hearted fetches from the dreary shore of the Great Salt Lake (UT) and then heads for dinner on the Bonneville Salt Falts, another remnant of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville.

Summer 2001 - Just downstream from where Evel Knieval unsuccessfully tried to jump across the Snake River (ID), Katie makes a less painful entrance into the water. “I didn’t think I even had a 50-50 chance to make it,” Evel said.

Summer 2001 - While not a big river, the Big Wood River (OR) is one of the finest streams Katie has had the pleasure to swim in.

Summer 2001 - Katie swims in the Yellowstone River (MT) in Livingston where some filming took place for A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT.

Summer 2001 - Along a seven-mile stretch of the Green River (WY) in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Katie spends almost as much time in the water as on the trail (WY). It is said the Sierra Club got its start opposing the dam where the hike begins.

Summer 2001 - At about 10,000 feet, Katie swims in her highest lake after hiking to Long Lake (CO) along Fish Creek outside of Steamboat Springs (CO). Nearby is the Continental Divide.

Summer 2001 - While investigating the springs of Steamboat Springs (CO), Katie cools off in the Yampa River.

Summer 2001 - Katie fetches some sticks in the Platte River (NE) finding historic descriptions of the Great Plains waterway being a “mile wide and an inch deep” essentially correct.

Summer 2001 - Katie bags another 1,000-mile river when she swims in the Arkansas River (AR) at Fort Smith National Historic Site.

Summer 2001 - Katie swims in the historic Cumberland River (TN) where Ulysses S. Grant made a name for himself at Fort Donelson and later she swims int he river above the "Niagara of the South," Cumberland Falls (KY).

Summer 2001 - Katie dips in Kentucky Lake (KY) from the trails at Land Between The Lakes.

New Years 2002 - Katie dives into the Atlantic Ocean (MA) from deserted beaches at Cape Cod National Seashore.

New Years 2002 - After her first ferry ride, Katie rides some Atlantic Ocean (MD) waves on Martha's Vineyard.

Summer 2002 - Katie battles the world's highest tides in the Bay of Fundy (NB) where the water seems to rise five feet by the time she returns with a stick.

Summer 2002 - Katie comes ashore in the Aspy Bay (NS) in the Nova Scotia Highlands near where John Cabot landed to claim land for England in 1497 in the first ever British exploration of the New World. Perhaps Cabot saw natives in kayaks as well.

Summer 2002 - Katie does some body surfing in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (NS) off the world famous Cabot Trail.

Summer 2002 - The waters of the Northumberland Strait (PEI) are serene and placid when Katie swims in, first on the south shore in Nova Scotia and later that day on the north shore in Prince Edward Island.

Summer 2002 - Katie swims in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (PEI) off the North Cape where there are waves out in the water on the line where the gulf meets the Northumberland Strait.

Summer 2002 - Katie makes her northernmost swims in the St. Lawrence Seaway (QUE) off the tip of the Gaspe Peninsula.

Summer 2002 - From the dog-friendly sand beaches of Presque Isle State Park, Katie swims in Lake Erie (PA), in the waters that protected Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the War of 1812.

Summer 2002 - Every now and then Katie finds a safe spot to dog-paddle in the wild Class V rapids of the Niagara River (NY) below the falls - not here above the Falls though.

Labor Day 2002 - Katie finds a great pier to dive from into Big Tupper Lake (NY) in the Adirondack Mountains. The lake has nothing to do with Tupperware founder Earl Tupper, however. It was named for by the guy who first surveyed the land and named it after himself.

Labor Day 2002 - Katie completes her tour of the Great Lakes by swimming in the smallest of the quintet, Lake Ontario (NY).

Autumn 2002 - Katie swims in her prettiest lake since Lake Louise, Lake George (NY) in the Adirondacks.

Autumn 2002 - Katie swims in the Atlantic Ocean (NJ) in the shadow of New York City at Sandy Hook in the Gateway National Recreation Area where you never know what will wash on shore, like this coconut.

New Years 2003 -   Katie swims in the Atlantic Ocean (VA) from Virginia Beach.

New Years 2003 -  Katie swims in the shadow of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (VA), near where English settlers made shore in 1607.

New Years 2003 - Katie finds some of the best swimming - and most sand - of her life in the Atlantic Ocean (NC) at Cape Hatteras and Ocracoke Island.

Summer 2003 - Katie checks out a barge in the Mississippi River (IA) on the banks in Clinton.

Summer 2003 - Katie takes an evening swim in the Missouri River (IA) at Sioux City (IA). Near this site Sergeant Charles Floyd died - probably from a burst appendix - and became the only casualty of the Lewis & Clark Journey of Discovery.

Summer 2003 - Katie finds some sweet water in the Black Hills at Sylvan Lake (SD). The gorgeous boulder-framed lake was the quickie-marriage capital of the West until South Dakota instituted a waiting period and the title passed over to Nevada.

Summer 2003 - There is plenty of dog-paddling room in the quick-moving Bighorn River (MT). Reportedly once one of the most difficult rivers to navigate in the west, the Yellowtail Dam now backs the water up for 71 easy-going miles.

Summer 2003 - Katie does more watching than swimming during fly-fishing on the Madison River (MT) - the Taj Mahal of Montana trout rivers.

Summer 2003 - Katie goes for a night swim in Lake Coeur d'Alene (ID), named one of the five prettiest lakes in the world by National Geographic.

Summer 2003 - Katie swims around the whitewater in the Snake River (OR) through Hells Canyon (OR), America’s deepest gorge.

Summer 2003 - Dogs aren’t allowed in the remarkably blue Crater Lake (OR). Using a piano spool of wire in the 19th century, Captain Clarence Dutton estimated the lake’s greatest depth at 1,996 feet. Modern sonar in 1959 established the depth at 1,932 feet. Not too shabby Capt. Dutton.

Summer 2003 - Lake Shasta (CA) - California’s largest lake - provides Katie with some sporty swimming in frisky waves.

Summer 2003 - Katie finds a swimming hole in the Sacramento River (CA), California’s longest river at 380 miles, in front of Mossbrae Falls.

Summer 2003 - The fast drops - three prominent waterfalls - don't provide many swimming holes for Katie in the McCloud River (CA).

Summer 2003 - Katie enjoys some swimming in the crystal clear Merced River (CA) in the Yosemite Valley.

Summer 2003 - Katie finds her own treasure in the American River (CA) at the spot where James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 to trigger the California Gold Rush.

Summer 2003 - There is a small spring of water here but this is no place to go swimming - Badwater Basin (CA) in Death Valley at the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.

Summer 2003 - Three years of drought have left water levels low in Lake Mead (NV) and the swimming in America’s largest man-made lake behind Hoover Dam ain't pretty.

Summer 2003 - Below Hoover Dam the Colorado River (AZ) in the Black Canyon is flowing again and the swimming is fine.

Summer 2003 - Katie gets her first taste of the Pacific Ocean (CA) north of Ventura.

Summer 2003 - It is hard to beat Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur for canine swimmers at the Pacific Ocean (CA). There are no signs for it and you’ll probably have to ask for directions but it is a must for dog owners since most state parks in tis incredibly scenic area ban dogs.

Summer 2003 - Katie finds the Pacific Ocean (CA) beach in Carmel to be one of the dog-friendliest she's found.

Summer 2003 - Katie comes ashore from the Pacific Ocean (CA) at Sand Beach off the 17-Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula, called by Robert Louis Stevenson "the greatest meeting of land and sea."

Summer 2003 - The Pacific Ocean (CA) surf at Point Reyes National Seashore tests Katie's aquatic skills - often with three waves breaking on shore.

Summer 2003 - The gentle pacific Ocean (CA) waves washing up on Crescent Beach for Katie are a far cry from Good Friday 1964 when a tsunami devastated the area.

Summer 2003 - Katie chows down in case she needs the energy to swim over to Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay (CA).

Summer 2003 - Katie swims in the Smith River (CA), the last undammed river in California and, with 247 protected miles, the longest Wild and Scenic River in America.

Summer 2003 - Katie swims in the Truckee River (NV) in downtown Reno before the river goes to die in Pyramid Lake (NV).

Summer 2003 - Katie tests the crystal waters of Lake Tahoe (NV/CA) where the water is so clear she can watch a meatbone sink for 70 feet.

Summer 2003 - Katie swims in the Ohio River (WV) underneath the historic Wheeling Bridge, America's first suspension bridge.

Autumn 2003 - Katie finds some dog-friendly sandy Atlantic Ocean (ME) beach - and some friends -on the rocky coast of Maine.

Autumn 2003 - Old Orchard Beach has been promoted as an Atlantic Ocean (ME) resort area since 1631; the steel pier dates from 1898.

Autumn 2003 - Katie visits one of the dog-friendiest national parks around at Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island in the Atlantic Ocean (ME).

Autumn 2003 - Katie swims in Jordan Pond (ME) in front of Acadia's famous "Bubbles" that have grace picture postcards for more than a century.

Autumn 2003 -   Katie can stay on Bar Harbor’s famous Shore Walk only so long before dropping down to sample the Atlantic Ocean (ME).

Spring 2004 - Katie swims ashore on Sullivan's Island across from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor (SC) where the first shots were fired in the Civil War.

Spring 2004 - Katie finally comes ashore on dog-friendly Hunting Island where the jungle-like woods that come right down to the Atlantic Ocean (SC) beach were used to film scenes from FORREST GUMP.

Spring 2004 - Katie swims in the Atlantic Ocean (FL) at the Dog Beach in Key West, just one block from the southernmost point in the continental United States.

Spring 2004 - Katie swims in the Atlantic Ocean (FL) and the Gulf of Mexico (left) coral reef alongside the famous Overseas Highway to Key West.

Spring 2004 - When visiting the Bonita Beach Dog Park in southwest Florida Katie gets quite a way out into the Gulf of Mexico (FL).

Spring 2004 - "The sea was angry that day, my friends" when Katie jumped into the Atlantic Ocean (NY) while visiting the Hamptons on Long Island.

Spring 2004 - Katie dips into the Long island Sound (NY) at Lands End on the cobbly beach under the Montauk Lighthouse at the tip of Long Island (NY). The lighthouse is New York’s oldest, dating to 1796.

Summer 2004 -   Katie swims in her first fjord - the Saguenay River (QUE).

Summer 2004 - Katie swims in the harbor and runs the wide beach at Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence River (QUE), France’s first trading post in Canada, established in 1600.

Summer 2004 - Katie swims in the Northumberland Strait (PEI) in the shadow of the historic Confederation Bridge that spans the entire strait between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island - the shallow waters are the warmest in the Atlantic north of North Carolina.

Summer 2004 - Katie swims in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (PEI) at Cavendish Beach on Prince Edward Island, made famous through the writings of Lucy Mead Montgomery and her tales of Anne of Green Gables. The waters here are where the clipper ship Marco Polo, "the World's Fastest Ship" in its heyday in the 1800s, sunk in a storm. Is that a mast Katie has retrieved?

Summer 2004 - Katie at Bear Point on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean (PEI) where the first signal of distress from the sinking Titanic was received in 1914.

Summer 2004 - Katie swims through Canada's favorite picture postcard in the Atlantic Ocean (NS) at Peggy's Cove.

Labor Day 2004 - Katie spends a few quiet moments in the Genesee River (NY) - homeland of the Seneca Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy - in Central New York just before it drops through three waterfalls to create the "Grand Canyon of the East."

Labor Day 2004 - Katie swims in Keuka Lake (NY) in Hammondsport, New York where Glenn Curtiss, the chief rival to the Wright Brothers, flew the first flying boat in 1912, one year after becoming the first person to take off and land on water (monument in water).

Labor Day 2004 - Katie tests the cold waters of Seneca Lake (NY), the largest of New York's Finger Lakes, an area "so beautiful that the Creator just had to place his handprint on the land." It is also one of North America's deepest lakes at 630 feet in depth - although not here near shore.

Labor Day 2004 - Katie fetches in Cuyuga Lake (NY), the longest of the Finger Lakes. A tradition at Wells College in Aurora holds that if the lake completely freezes over, classes are canceled (it happens once or twice a century, maybe.

Spring 2005 - When Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase he authorized two great river expeditions to explore the new lands bought from France. One, the Lewis & Clark Expedition on the Missouri River everyone knows about. The other, a 500-mile journey on the Ouachita River (AR) by the Hunter & Dunbar Expedition in 1804, nobody knows about. Here Katie tests the Ouachita at Arkadelphia.

Spring 2005 - At Fountainebleu State Park, Katie enjoys the warm waters of Lake Pontchartrain (LA) after crossing the world's longest bridge completely over water - 23.7 miles on the Pontchartrain Causeway.

Spring 2005 - Katie gets some help bringing ashore a stick in the mighty Tennessee River (AL), source of much of the power of the South. This spot is at Colbert Ferry where it is said George Colbert once charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his entire army across the river.

Summer 2005 - The first great national project of the United States government, the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (MD), suffered cost overruns to build, was obsolete before it opened, never connected the Chesapeake Bay with the Ohio River and never made a profit in its nearly 100 years of operation but Katie finds it a swell place to swim.

Summer 2005 - Katie swims in the Monocacy River (MD) at the largest of 11 aqueducts that carried water for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal between Washington DC and Cumberland, Maryland.

Summer 2005 - Katie easily swims across the South Branch of the Potomac River (WV), the country's 21st largest river - 4th in the East - before it joins the North Branch and really gets flowing.

Winter 2005 - Katie has to work to clear some swimming room in Sunfish Pond (NJ), a glacial lake on the Appalachian Trail - one of the seven natural wonders of New Jersey.

Winter 2005 - Katie finds some friends in the Atlantic Ocean (NJ) surf at Long Beach Island. The movie Jaws is based on the Peter Benchley book of the same name, which is based on the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, a real life series of shark attacks which began on Long Beach Island.

Spring 2006 - The horseshoe crabs that lay their eggs on this Delaware Bay (DE) beach attract enough migrating birds, primarily the endangered red knot, that Delaware Bay was the first site classified in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

Spring 2006 - In Terrapin Park ont he Chesapeake Bay (MD) Katie is able to swim in the shadow of the world’s longest continuous steel span, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Spring 2006 - In 1524 explorer Giovanni de Verrazano sighted what would become the Navesink River (NJ) beneath the Atlantic Highlands of New Jersey - the highest point on the Atlantic eastern seaboard. Katie paddles out into the Navesink.

Spring 2006 - Katie enjoys the Atlantic Ocean (RI) waves at Block Island off the Rhode Island mainland - one of the dog-friendliest places she can go.

Spring 2006 - Katie does a few laps in Narragansett Bay (RI) off the tip of Conanicut Island in Rhode Island at Fort Wetherill.

Summer 2006 - Katie seems bored with the relative calm of the Youghigheny River (PA), one of the most popular whitewater rivers in the eastern part of the country.

Summer 2006 - Katie comes ashore from the Schuylkill River (PA) in Valley Forge National Park, where the river was used by Washington's troops as a line of defense during th eAmerican Revolution.

Summer 2006 - Katie finds Barnegat Bay (NJ), a longtime commercial fishing center immortalized by writer E. B. White who used it as a setting for his short story "The Family That Dwelt Apart," a perfect place for a doggie dip.

Winter 2007 - The Atlantic Ocean (NC) sands and pools at Fort Fisher in North Carolina, the last stronghold of the Confederacy, are about as wide as Katie has ever seen.

Winter 2007 - Myrtle Beach may fancy itself the Golf Capital of the World but it has some darn good swimming int he Atlantic Ocean (SC) as well.

Winter 2006 - Katie takes a break from some of the best Atlantic Ocean (GA) swimming she's ever had along the ten miles of unspoiled Jekyll Island beach.

Spring 2007 - Katie splashes in the Little River (NC), where Daniel Day-Lewis ran amok in THE LAS TOF THE MOHICANS.

Spring 2007 - Katie dogpaddles through the choppy waters of the Hudson River (NY) at its widest point in Ossining, New York.

Summer 2007 - Katie may have been able to swim the half-mile from the mainland to Grand Island (MI) but she took the boat instead.

Summer 2007 - At Twelve-Mile Beach on Lake Superior (MI) Katie finds a stick worthy of America's largest lake.

Summer 2007 - Katie swims in Lake Michigan (MI) in the shadow of the Mackinac Bridge on its Golden Anniversary. When it opened in 1957, the Mackinac was "the world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages."Today it is the third-longest suspension span in the United States and twelfth longest worldwide.

Summer 2007 - Mackinac Island is a great attraction for tourists but not so great for swimming dogs in Lake Huron (MI).

Summer 2007 - Katie dips a paw into the Soo Locks (MI), formally named the St. Marys Falls Canal, that allow shipping to move from Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.

Summer 2007 - Katie swims happily in the Kanawha River (WV), the largest inland waterway in West Virginia.

Summer 2007 - The best whitewater rafting in the East on the Gauley River (WV) is controlled by the release of water from Summersville Lake here where Katie takes a controlled swim of her own.

Summer 2007 - Katie swim sin the New River (WV), one of America's designated Heritage Rivers. Despite its name, the New River is said to be the second oldest river in the world behind the NileRiver in Egypt, although it is extremely difficult to age-date rivers.

Summer 2007 - Katie takes a break from the frisky waters of the Tygart Valley River (WV) that flows through the western edge of the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia.

Summer 2008 - Katie swims in the Mississippi River (MO) with Mark Twain' river town of Hannibal in the background.

Summer 2008 - Katie swims in the magnificent Columbia River (WA), one of the planet’s rare east-west oriented gorges.

Summer 2008 - Katie tries a dip in Soap Lake (WA), one of America’s most famous mineral lakes 100 years ago but not so much visited anymore.

Summer 2008 - Katie visits Long Beach (WA), billed as “The World’s Longest Beach” or “The World’s Longest Driveable Beach” - although it is actually neither.

Summer 2008 - It is too far across to reach Canada from Washington for Katie in the Strait of Juan de Fuca (WA), named by a British explorer for the Greek explorer who sailed for Spain but never here.

Summer 2008 - Katie finds the only true surf in Puget Sound (WA) off Whidbey Island in Washington.

Summer 2008 - Katie paddles around Burrard Inlet (BC) through Vancouver Harbor in world-famous Stanley Park beneath Lions Gate Bridge.

Summer 2008 - Katie paddles through the glacial waters of Lower Joffre Lake (BC) beneath the Matier Glacier in British Columbia.

Summer 2008 - Katie tests the popular swimming hole at Bromley Rock in the Similkameen River (BC) along the Crowsnest Highway, a 19th century route carved through British Columbia to the goldfields.

Summer 2008 - Katie makes it over the Canadian Rockies through Crownest Pass (ALB) and celebrates with a lake swim.

Autumn 2008 - Katie finds some unexpected waves in Leech Lake (MN), the third largest lake in Minnesota and the site of the Battle of Sugar Point in 1898.

Autumn 2008 - Katie explores the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River (MN) in Lake Itasca, Minnesota where America’s greatest river begins its 2,552-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

Autumn 2008 - Yes, this is the Mississippi River (MN).