Back by popular demand!! Vincent Payne and I will again be co-coordinating a trip to Florida over the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday weekend to paddle with (we hope!) the Manatees.
It is now only a couple of days until our Manatee paddle and I wanted to update the trip information. Thanks to several of our club members stepping up to the plate for us we have several trips planned for the MLK weekend.
The Thursday trip on the Ichetucknee River has been canceled. Buddy Goolsby has been delayed due to inclement weather and will not be in Florida in time to lead this trip.
Friday, 1/14/11 there will be a trip on the Chassahowitzka River – Ralph Bartow is the trip coordinator and he can be reached at (478) 952-0898. Don’s trip on Crystal River has been canceled – also due to weather delays.
Saturday, 1/15/11 there will be two trips. There will be another Crystal River trip for those who can only join us for the weekend. Vincent Payne will be the trip coordinator for this trip and he can be reached at (678) 343-5292. There will also be a trip on the Weeki Wachee with Dickie Tillman as trip coordinator. Dickie can be reached at (770) 601-6815.
Sunday, 1/16/11 there will be a trip on Rainbow River. Lamar Phillips is the trip coordinator for this trip and he can be reached at (404) 229-2939. Vincent Payne will also be leading a trip on Sunday – we don’t know which river yet. It is listed as Leader’s Choice and the exact river will be decided upon later. Vincent can be reached at (678) 343-5292. Allen Hedden will also be offering a trip on Sunday. This will also be a Leader’s Choice trip and the exact location will be determined closer to time.
Monday, 1/17/11 to finish out the weekend, there will hopefully be two trips. Allen Hedden will be leading a trip in the Rainbow Springs area. This is a Leader’s Choice trip and will be a good trip for those who are staying in the area another day. Hopefully, there will be a trip on the Ichetucknee River trip with yours truly, Lisa Haskell, as the trip coordinator. Vincent Payne can fill in as coordinator on this trip if needed. As of right now, I have been kidnapped by work and do not know my release date. If possible, I will be joining you all in Florida in which case I will be leading the trip. I can be reached at (678) 858-2012. In the unlucky event that I am not able to get to Florida this weekend, I am hoping to find someone who will be able to take over the trip for me.
There may be additional trips offered once we are there – it will depend on who all shows up and who wants to paddle where. Also, be aware that there could be changes to the trips posted depending on the weather forecast. Some of these paddles don’t work well with high winds! Most meals will be on your own, but we will be having a group dinner/get together on Saturday night. We have reserved a pavilion for our use on Saturday night. The pavilion has a grill, fire ring and covered area with picnic tables that we can use for eating dinner. We will have the grill fired up and ready to go so please plan on bringing whatever meat or main dish you would like to put on the grill (just enough for you) and a dish to share. We will need appetizers, side dishes and desserts to share. You might also want to bring along a little firewood if you have any and a chair to sit in. If the weather is nice we’ll try to have a fire so we can sit around and tell river stories!
If you areinterested in joining us on this trip please let me know. We will be staying at Rainbow Springs State Park in Florida but the park is now completely full – there are no more available campsites. However, many of the people who have campsites have indicated that they are willing to share so if you want to join us and don’t already have a campsite you can send out an e-mail on the GCA listserve to see if there is anyone with room for you on their campsite. Naturally, you would be expected to share the campsite cost! If you need information on the park you can call (800) 326-3521.
Most people will be staying at least three nights, Friday 1/14/11 through Sunday 1/16/11. Some of us will be going down on Thursday and will spend that night as well so that we can paddle on Friday. So . . . . . hurry up and make your reservation to come join us in Florida in January. As usual, if you make arrangements to share someone’s site, please let me know so that I will know who all to expect!! My e-mail address is bkhaskell@comcast.net and my phone number is (678) 858-2012. Hope to see you in sunny Florida!
LisaHaskell & Vincent Payne
