Beth and Kelli hang around and check out….
The river we’ll be rafting the next day. We’ll be doing the Lower “Yough”
Steward and I also pose for a picture.
We actually don’t do this part….
But started right down at the bend.
Some info on the river.
We were all camping at the Ohiopyle State Park campground.
Beth wanted to stay there because they had real toilets, not spot-o-pots.
So as the sun began to set, I collected some wood to start a fire.
My brother gave me a machete a while back, and they are great for camping!!!
So after seting up the fire, and tossing aside the fake wood (no real man uses that stuff), I was able to get the fire going on the first try.
As the fire was going, more of our party arrived….
And as they setup, more people arrived…..
And more!!!!
While everyone was getting setup, Steward was trying to flip the burgers with a chop stick…
I let Beth handle my machete, which made for a great spatula.
Once everyone had their share of food, it was time let the fire get out of control.
The park ranger didn’t like us too much, and if you didn’t have the permit displayed in your window as I do here…
You most certainly were awarded a ticket. (woooooo, a whole $5)
There were 15 of us total, spread out between all the tents.
And yes, Kelli was there too.
Well, were almost packed, time to go to the river.
Kelli and I both wore wetsuits….
While everyone else wore bathing suits.
This was our put in, and you can see we’re all ready to go.
These pictures are a little blurry because I took them with a disposable camera….
And while it worked well for close up pictures…
Beyond 20 feet things get blurry.
That’s Matt Nagle and his brother Jason. They represent the lollipop guild.
Helmets are needed, but damn we look like dorks!! (maybe it’s not the helmet)
Megan had to wear the rental too, but Matt had his own left over from when he rode the short bus.
Beth and Steward went with the two-(wo)man duckie.
While we went with the 6 man raft. We named her the “Bailing Wenches”.
Matt Augustin brought a kayak along instead of renting a boat. Here, he’s emptying the water out of it after falling out.
Clearly the boat is not pointing in the correct direction, but we figured they’d learn the hard way!!
Don Augustin and Jason kept coming by to hassle us.
This was a picture of a dragon fly……
We figured we’d have our picture taken with him.
Kayakers swim upstream every year to spawn….
Sometimes in all the commotion, males just attack other males.
For some reason, they were obsessed with bailing the boat out.
That’s me at “Swimmers Rapids”. At this rapid, you get out and float down without a raft.
After some coaxing, I was able to talk Kelli into doing it too.
This is Elephant rock, and that’s me jumping off.
Same rock, but this time a kayaker.
Not wanting to be out-done, Matt, Jason, Don, and Matt took our raft and slid off the rock.
Last shot on the river, and you can see that the women are paddling for their lives.
Afterwards, Megan and Matt pose for a picture.
On the way home, Kelli and I stopped for some pie.
Kelli used to come here as a kid when she visited her Uncle, and they have all kinds of home made pies.
Oh yeah, what a great end to a great trip!!!!