Mother's Day Weekend at the Gorge IV

“CMB Where do you live? How far from Indianapolis? Maybe I can come up and get you. Would you be able to leave on Friday during the day?”

“I live in Portage Indiana its about 3 hours or less from Indy.

8(”

“Mike you should take the bus down to Indy. Greyhound runs down here for like $12.”

“Wow, that would put me in the car all day on Friday. That's not too bad, but I wouldn't be able to get you back on Sunday. Sorry.”

“Luke is getting excited about the trip. We planned our menu tonight. We'll eat at Miguels at least once. I found a menu from there while cleaning house this weekend. I'm going to choose feta cheese, avocado, portabello mushroom and spinach for my pizza!”

“This Miguels sounds like a good place!?”

“Some of the best pizza anywhere1 They give you this little list with about 30 toppings and you pick out what ya want on it and how big ya want it. You can order 1/4 and 1/2 pizza. I always get spinach, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and feta on mine.”

“They have some interesting toppings to choose from too. Miguels is such a laid back, focused on catering to outdoorsy folks, enjoying the area type of place. It makes me smile just thinking about going there. I bought an apron from there two years ago and keep it hanging in my kitchen, with the big smiling miguel facing out. =)

New plan for us....we're leaving Thursday night, staying in a hotel about ten miles from the RRG (if we make it that far), so we'll be there bright and early Friday am.”

“Just checked the weather. The forecast is getting better. They are predicting isolated thunderstorms, 30% chance of rain, temp in the low 60s to high 70s. Should be beautiful.”

“i was at miguel's yesterday. try their sandwiches....made out of pizza crust, fried on both sides, and oozing!

now the chance of storms has dropped to 20% according to local weather!!

YEAH!!!! (that's for you jerbear)”

“Good friends, good food, good weather. What more could you ask for!”

“yeah! FOR me!yo bear!”

“well, i'm out :( a lovely case of walking pneumonia means i'll be staying home.

maybe next time.”

“sorry to hear that happyclicker. Feel better quick.”

“Because of the size of our group, we will be car camping at Koomer Ridge Campground ...... The camping will be a step up from car camping in that we will not be in a campground per se.

aacckk pffttt fzzzz does not compute”

“thanks sassafras - i was really looking forward dto meeting everyone! :(”

“I am now down to maybe. Problem is I will be in Nashville until late FR. It's going to be a long haul up there and back to Nashville now that I have another week tacked on to my tour of duty here.”

“bummer Chili. I hope you can make it!”

“Go blow, CB! ;)”

“Bring your cameras! Weatherwise, Saturday is looking to be a fantastic sunny, blue sky day. The poses you can get with your kids on the tops of the cliffs are going to be Christmas card material.


Calvin & Hobbes; RRG Mother's Day 2004


Nigal, Jerbear, & ?; RRG Mother's Day 2005


Calvin, Hobbes & Abby; RRG Mother's Day 2005


Abby, Honey & Hobbes; RRG Mother's Day 2005


Calvin (can you see him?); RRG Mother's Day 2005”

“Man, they are soooo much bigger now! (Booooohooooooo, snif snif).

Okay, I'm alright now. The weather looks awesome! Only 30% chance of rain.”

“Woohoo it looks like we're actually gonna be able to make this!! We planning on leaving Fri morning so we should there mid afternoonish or so....ok ok early evening! lol.”

“YES! Looking forward to seeing you and Mary UPluver.”

“I'm so glad that Joe and Mary are coming. Wahoo!


So are all of you packing? Git'r'done!



FYI, once we all get there I thought we could all talk about a group hike on Saturday morning. I haven't picked a route at this point. I thought we could discuss and decide what would be appropriate for our age ranges. With so many people we could have a couple different hikes. Then we can rendevous at Miguel's at 1:00 or 2:00 pm for lunch, which leaves the afternoon for exploring/lounging/napping/splashing in a happy creek.


Can't wait to see you all!!!!!!!”

“This thread is awful quiet for the night before the trip.”

“I'm not even packed yet. The wife had some surgery today and swears by all that is holy she is still going. I'm just throwing a bunch of crap in the trunk when I get home and the menu is down to running into town for a pizza Saturday night and breakfast bars for breakfast.”

“I'm semi-packed. I'm off tomorrow but we're not leaving til around noon. I didn't want Luke to miss a full day of school. We should be there around 5 or 6.

Looking forward to meeting you Nigal. I think I know most of the other folks.”

“I'm almost, sorta packed. The kids will be getting out of school around noon so I hope to be on the road by 1 pm. We should be there around 5 or 6 as well. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!”

“I'm not going. I need to be back here in Nashville at 0800 Monday morning. I am not even going home to Townsend this weekend”

“Oooh, that stinks Chili.”

“Had a great time meeting new folks and seeing old friends. Mean Green gave me my initial indoctination in the finer points of bourbon. Thanks for sharing your Turkey with me.”

“Hey! We're home, safe and sound. Thanks Ruby for setting up another wonderful Mom's day weekend trip. It was a blast!
Abby slept for three hours on the way home and said her favorite part of the weekend was the whole thing, lol.
It was great to meet so many TTers and their kids. Thanks everyone for making this weekend so great.”

“I'm glad every one had a good time. Wish I could've gone. :P

On the flipside, HPM's out front planting a bunch of tradescantias (a.k.a. spiderwort) out fornt for me.”

“Nigal drank bourbon?

”

“Home safe! What a great trip! It was wonderful meeting everyone and seeing those I already knew. Link to pictures below.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/559029188hsyfIp”

“It was a long drive for us. We just got home.

What a great weekend!!!! I love the kids' trips.

Who is going to write the TR?”

“made it home great time as well as all the fine people! Yo bear!”

“Awesome weekend....it was great to see a bunch of old friends, meet some new ones, do some hiking, swimming and some good old fashion hangin out :) And oh yeah eating pizza!!
Thanks Rubes for putting this together.
And for all you parents....you should all be very proud of your kids....what a GREAT bunch of kids!”

“Hey, Heads up everyone....MI kids trip will be Aug 10-12 (perseid meteor showers anyone?), at Nordhouse dunes. I hope you all will be able to make it.”

“Great Pics Windi...looks like tons of fun was had.”

“Our future TTers. Great pictures of all the big and little kids.

Cool Sass! I think we may be able to make that work.”

“I shot some video of our group at the swimming hole. Let's see if I can handle youtube. I'll post a link in a while.”

“Now that I’ve had some sleep, here’s how the weekend went from my perspective. We got there Friday, late afternoon, got camp set up, introductions to new people were made and hugs to all the ones met before. Kids played, adults got together at Birch and Sassafras’s campfire. Dinner was made and discussion on what we would be doing the next day took place. Nigal and Becky made it a little later on followed by Pinkfleece. The gang’s all here.
We got up and headed out to what I think is called Turtle Back Arch. I’m new to the RRG and just followed the group. We hiked in a little ways and came to a great area that had a waterfall. The kids, big and small, played in the water. Some decided to stay there and play while others continued hiking. We all met up around 1 pm and went to Miguals for pizza. Yum! With bellies full we went to find a great swimming spot. Birch and Sassafras led us to a spot that had a rope where you could swing out over the river and jump in, a rock that was pretty high up that you could jump off from and sand on the bank on the river where the little ones could play in the water. Something for everyone! What a great spot. After a few hours of fun in the sun and water, we headed back to camp for dinner. The kids played till dark. My niece and nephew came up to me about 9:30 pm and asked if it was bedtime yet. We had successfully worn them out! With kids tucked into their sleeping bags and fast to sleep, as the adults sat around the campfire. The usually stories were told, some new ones shared and some crazy stuff like “Nigal is sleeping with the dog”, “Meangreen had a 24 inch “pepperoni” that was only 6 inches by the time pinkfleece was done with it”, “what women think 6 inches really is according to men”, “Honey, Nigal’s dog had been shaved for the trip”, “UPhiker needs more gear, really Mary he does, just ask him”, “men realize that they don’t understand women, that they are always wrong and admit it only when they have been drinking”, “Meangreen and Nigal share some turkey”, “start with the good stuff, then drink the “paper bag” stuff” and many more “you had to be there” kinda talk. I’m sure I left out some.
Sunday came way too early! We all packed up, said our good-byes and made our way home. My niece and nephew are already asking if they can go next year!!!
Pinkfleece did have some car trouble and was going to stay with Stokley Sunday night so she could have her car looked at on Monday. We are still waiting to hear what was done about it.”

“Here's the first one. It's Tucker swinging on the rope swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYOCOUUQQKQ

There are more coming of Nigal, Birch, and Jerbear.”

“Birch jumping off the rock into the Red River (it's higher than it looks):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88YsJR04WfA

Jerbear's turn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_hte9CuUIU

And then Tucker:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT1joBEPXAI

A pro makes a back flip look so easy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKUPrnT9qHo

Nigal playing with the kids:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f29IzwkFMs
last edited: 5/14/07 10:18:55 AM”

“So this alleged Miguels place actually serves pizza?”

“Dang, looks like we missed a great time.”

“Miguel's doesn't just serve fantastic custom pizza, it also sells gear and lets climbers pitch their tents in the back yard.”

“Windigrrl summed up the TR very nicely. This trip had a huge turn out with 29 people total.

Ruby
Lt
Jerbear
Birch
Sass
Nigal
Kelly
UPLuver
Mary
Stomper
Windigrrl
PinkFleece
Stokley
MeanGreen
and 15 kids.”

“Allegedly.





Sass built this place up in Jan, only to crush all of our hopes and dreams for a nice Sunday meal!”