Upper I-O-Wanna Canoe/Kayak Trip, June 3 -5

“What about taking the two burner Coleman stove? Any need?”

“lizs = dork ;-)”

“I have to start packing tonight. I haven't even thought about a menu yet. I will be bringing some 'farwud for a campfire Friday night and probably one of those cheesy pressed parrafin fake-o-logs for Saturday night. It's going to be hard for me, because I usually toss piles of big, comfy gear in my kayaks and canoes. I've been described in my glory of canoe/kayak camping as "a mass of tangled river debris" floating by as described by folks on the banks of the rivers I have paddled. I'm going light this time.
Here's a thought,Saturday night....chicken and dumplings....time to go see if I can make that happen.”

“Trekkngirl, will you furnish anything I forget??? ;-) Going to go home and take a nap soon.

hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm...ME..Ha! Sorry again..what shall I bring,Stovie? Tell me.”

“Trekkngirl, he only wants special treats from you! :)”

“LOL..Ruby..”

“trekkngirl, bring your sleepy bag and pad, I'll have the tent. Temps should be low of 50s.

The main thing I want you to bring is YOU.

Oh, yea, your MSR pocket rocket. We'll wing it on food.

Please email me your cell number you will be flying with.

I'm packed and have the bags by the door.
Woo Hoo.
last edited: 6/01/05 9:32:00 PM”

“Oh brother. (rolling my eyes) We've got two lovebirds on our hands.

I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT!!!!”

“The Pocket Rocket!!! cool”

“LOL!”

“(rolling eyes at GirlyGirl Ruby)

trekky & lizs have mail.

Hey mata, you getting there fri or Sat morning?”

“Ruby, my only stops on the way out there will depend on how much coffee I drink Friday morning.

What do you need?”

“It went over his head Lizs..too funny..I love it..lol”

“http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=14104244&memberId=12500226
Pocket Rocket

Dang dirty minded females....
Over my head, my butt....
Most big airports have a Brookstone store in them.
You ladies want me to pick up a B.O.B. or two for y'all on my way up? ;-)
http://www.brookstone.com/shop/product.asp?product_code=410589&world_code=100&category_code=61&subcategory_code=653&search_type=subcategory&prodtemp=t1
last edited: 6/01/05 10:30:58 PM”

“Wow and now B.O.B. is coming, too.

oops, LOL, I made a funny!! :-)”

“I am soooooooooo happy!! I have a dry bag similar to this Texsport FLOAT BAG (second one down).

http://www.texsport.net/acatalog/Float_Bags.html

I could not figure out how the straps were supposed to go on mine TILL I SAW THE PHOTO!!

... life is good now, LOL!”

“Just wanted to wish y'all a GREAT trip!!!....sorry I can't make it...sounds like so much fun.....will look forward to the trip reports!!!!!”

“Stovey has offered to supply BOBs to all the females (except trekkngirl, of course). Are you bringing the batteries, too?

This is going to be one helluva trip!!!!!


Pros, I don't need anything except to plan my food, which I will plan today. I'll probably stop at the grocery store tonight. So no need to stop anywhere except a bathroom. I only asked because if you planned to stop at a place like that, I would have not gone tonight. But it's all good!”

“MHH is bringing extra dry bags (I think I counted 4 or 5..a couple will fit sleeping bags, I believe) and, for your tent-camping pleasure she will be serving mixed nuts, pina coladas and maybe margaritas Friday as she will be bringing one of her real geeky toys:
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=12351923&parent_category_rn=40003661&vcat=REI_SEARCH

I always bring my Coleman car-camping stove with me..grill on on side, burner on the other....also, I usually have at least a couple other stoves in my car...plus fuel in case someone forgets or can't get theirs on the plane...

I am leaving today as I want to spend time paddling and fishing Perrot SP on the way down..so folks, I'll no longer be online from around noon today..

I am so psyched about this trip! Lizs, do you have my info from the last trip or do I need to re-send it?”

“Well why don't you come divinity? I sure would like to see you again.

Awesome..MHH

Awesome.. Ruuuuuby..lol”

“Sheesh ka B.O.B.

LOL!”

“All packed, drinking my coffee.
Let's see....my last minute list....

petite girly girl model for Ruby..
heavy duty industrial model for lizs..
need to run by Sams Club for a brick of batteries..




LOL
You girls would die if I actually handed you one in camp!
Will he or will he not, that is the question?????
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!


Travel safe trekkngirl!!!! See you soon!”

“Out the door in about five minutes.!”

“you dirty minded people. Have a safe trip and see ya there”

“Kayaks and canoes! A large, pontoon boat will be better for this group. You could party together all the way.”

“I don't know what time I'll get there tomorrow. Could be anywhere from 2-ish to 5. Course I figure Prosecutor will be there first. He always is, ;-)

Just head to the back by the shower building.”

“You really think so, Stovey? I bet you'd be the surprised one if late at night when all are in their tents you suddenly start to hear a mysterious buzzing sound.”

“"Dam crickets" LOL”

“I've had mine for a year now...someone needs to try that ice cream maker thingy though. or pack some on dry ice...now that would be the TICKET...trick to that blender is lots of "soft ice" and liquid and better have a strong arm to churn it. I love my blender....lol...one time dave and I were floating down the river with it set up on my thwart bar...peeps were like "is that a blender?, I ain't never seen a blender on a canoe before"

I'd like to wish you all a fine and adventerous trip with no dissasters or mishaps. Enjoy and know that I really wish that Khatru and I could be there with you all.”

“Trekkngirl....I would love to see you again too, BUT I have to work.......ewwwww......no one will trade with me:( ....

Y'all have a GREAT time!!!!”

“Wish you guys could be there!! I'm actually just now starting to get excited about this. Although I am seeing more rain in the forecast.

Do ya canoe in the rain or what?? If so, the usual raingear? Are gloves needed? Etc..”

“Calling for rain on both Sat and Sun..
That really sucks..better buy 2 boxes of them fancy compactor bags....
BTW, yep, you canoe in the rain. As long as there is no lighting, it can be a hoot!

what the hell is lighting? That should read lightning..DUH!
last edited: 6/02/05 9:03:40 PM”

“Rain, no problem. Lightning, big problem, stay on shore, preferably under shelter. Lighting kills about 93 people each year in the United States, and June is the worst month.

Gloves? We ain't going to be leaving our fingerprints at no crimes scenes for CSI to crack a case wide open. Now we might crack a few cases wide open ourselves, but a simple bottle opener would be more valuable than gloves.”

“So Pros, I am planning to leave at 5:30. I am nearly packed now. I've got your number. Did I give you mine?”

“Oh for crying out loud!!! I just mapquested it to your place, Prosecutor. According to that you are only 41 minutes from me. In other words, half an hour. =) Well, maybe I won't drive that fast. Why did I think it would take me an hour and a half?”

“You must have been talking to Lizs. She has to factor in time for the troopers to write speeding tickets when heading my way. I will be waiting whatever time you get here.”

“very detail focused. It takes over her psyche. everything must be considered and a counter plan laid in place. LOL

gloves...hahahaha...crak me up. Dave will have his tarp, I'm sure that there will be others. Since this is such a big mileage trip, I'd be more worried that there will be enough beer in the coolers if you land locked for an extended period of time under a tarp. bring your rain gear. line dry bags with heavy trash bags...NO DOWN!!!

Have fun. and please take along the lyrics to "singin in the rain"...”

“You bet I need the "back-up" plan. LOL!

so why do you line dry bags with heavy trash bags??!?!

Latest NWS forecast out of La Crosse for the area:

.FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

.FRIDAY NIGHT...CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EVENING...THEN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS AROUND 60. SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 60 PERCENT.

.SATURDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
CHANCE OF RAIN 50 PERCENT.

.SATURDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO
15 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 40 PERCENT.

.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

.SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.”

“We will be sure to talk about you guys at Lost Cove.”

“And we'll talk about you, too. ;D

So what camp will have the most fun?”

“Are you kidding?

I will be at Lost Cove, so I guess it is a hands down winner.”

“phhhhhhhhht!!! is there a river to fall into????

'Nuf said. ;-)

And yeah, we can't WAIT to talk about YOU GUYS, lost at that cove. lol”

“and for the record, I was getting the contact list together tonight and we are expecting a total of **18** ... perhaps 18 when Nowslimmer sneaks into camp to terrorize us, as I expect.”

“Topped of the old Flask 'o Yukon. Ready to roll by 9 am.”

“SAY.... anyone heard from the couple in the Twin Cities there, Stovey and Trekkngirl? Have they surfaced for air??? LOL! :-)

Make sure you have lots of, ummm, liquor.. here's the forecast:

Today: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly cloudy, with a high near 76. Southeast wind between 13 and 17 mph.

Tonight: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. Southeast wind between 11 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. South wind between 10 and 13 mph.

Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 59. South wind between 11 and 13 mph.

Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high around 76. West wind around 10 mph.
last edited: 6/03/05 9:34:43 AM”

“Hey Liz sorry I can't make the trip but you all have a fun time. Liz I also have an update. On last weekends "Hike with a Friend" if you want to hear.”

“Sure, update me baby! lol”

“Ok Laurie and I met up in Dubuque and headed over to the Julian of Dubuque memorial (for those who don't know he was the founder of the city of Dubuque IA) Very short walk over to the memorial itself, which looks like a castle top. So after the little warm up we went over to the Mines of Spain [url]http://www.minesofspain.org/[url] and started hiking around. I'll have pics to post later btw. We started off and the first thing I noticed was how keen Laurie was at spotting and identifying birds. We saw many red birds and a few blue birds along with some Blue Heron.

As our hike starts off at the bottom of the mine we also took some time climbing up some of the Mine walls and just in general having a good time. We soon came to the trail that led up to the top of the old mine where we where treated to some neat spider webs that where being illuminated by setting sun. As we hiked along we took turns taking pictures with my camera of us doing crazy thinks like sitting on the edge of a rock faces that jetted out over the old mine. We also found a neatly shaped cloud that as Laurie and I described it looked like it was off of Star Trek. After spending time up at the top talking and hiking around we proceeded to head back down to the car. Got in and realized we had just killed 4 hours. We met up at 5:00 got done hiking at 9:30.

We where both hungry so we did the obvious and got beer at Pizza at Happy Joe's.

Afterwards we finished up we went over to an old college buddies house for a few more drinks. From there we decided that we should go head and make a night of it and go dancing as well. She went back to her place and I got washed up at my friend’s house and picker her up at 11:30 and we headed downtown. We went to a place called Bricktowns which is a unique bar as it has 3 levels the top being for private parties the 1st floor which is a micro brew / grill, and the basement which is a dance bar. Well we stayed at Bricktowns till it closed down but didn't get any dancing in so we hopped across the river over to east Dubuque to a place call Mamma's. This bar was half sports bar half dance club in which we spent all of our time dancing. After dancing into 3:30 in the morning we headed for breakfast at Perkins.
After finishing up at Perkins it was now about time to head for home (it was 6:00 now and sun was coming up. I took her back to her place in which we well I'll keep that to myself. Needless to say our lets get together as friends turned out to be one very awesome date one which we plan to extend into this weekend when we hike around Maquoketa Caves State Park”

“OK outta here, with a stop for more ice.

Ice. ICE???! Why would we need more ice??!?

CCCCCCCCCCC YA!”

“Trip successfully completed!! we had a turnout of around 18 for Friday night, 21 for Saturday and maybe 19 for Sunday (is that right??)

I am pooped and need a nap (aaah, that drive of all of 20 minutes did me in! LOL!) Storm moving in quickly too. Good thing we're all done.

I'll let someone else start a trip report thread. I truly like "do you have your strap on?" for a title. But others have different ideas... LOL!”