Ralph Keller and his dog, Tashba, pass through downtown St. Ignace Wednesday, November 12, on their way to Orlando, Florida. Braving near freezing Michigan temperatures at the start of his journey, Ralph Keller of Sault Ste. Marie is riding in a wheelchair pulled by trained dogs to Florida. His two dogs, Tashba and Canuck, will take turns pulling him from Sault Ste. Marie to Orlando in a wheelchair outfitted with mountain bike tires.

Mr. Keller, his friend, Cale Johnston, and the dogs left Sault Ste. Marie on Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, at 10 a.m. and made their way through St. Ignace about 24 hours later. Mr. Johnston is following Mr. Keller in a truck pulling a camper-trailer they use for sleeping at night.

Although not a veteran himself, Mr. Keller is making the 1,500-mile journey to raise awareness for Disabled American Veterans and Working Dogs of America. He lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident about 10 years ago.

Tashba and Canuck are both mixed-breed Chow Chow working dogs.

The men are making the trek on a shoestring budget. Mr. Keller said he spent most of his savings repairing his mobile home and preparing for the trip. Unfortunately, the mobile home he spent several hundreds of dollars repairing caught fire Monday, November 3, and burned most of the supplies he had gathered for the trip. A faulty carburetor caused the fire, he said.

"Everything I owned burned up last Monday. Thank God I had these in the camper," he said, pointing to his thermal snowpants. "But I ain't gonna stop."

The Sault Ste. Marie branch of the Salvation Army donated warm clothes and gloves and the Chippewa County Animal Shelter donated several bags of dog food.

A friend is putting together a Web site for their journey so people can track their progress and make donations online.

The National City Bank in Sault Ste. Marie is accepting donations to be deposited into Mr. Keller's account to fund their journey south.

Mr. Keller is stopping along the way to talk to people to spread awareness of what he is trying to accomplish, as well as to ask for donations for Disabled American Veterans and Working Dogs of America. Donations will also pay for food and gasoline.

The group expects to travel between 25 and 50 miles per day and reach their destination in Florida just after the first of the year.

Although Mr. Keller had organized a police escort to cross the Mackinac Bridge, high winds Wednesday meant the team had to drive across.