River Day 02/27/2012

Everyone made it down this week for River Day: Jay, Ted, Tim, Pat and I. We even had a local visitor for a while (Freddy). The weather couldn't have been any nicer considering the time of year: clear skies and temp around 60.

I brought down a little project this week (sorry, no food): a low power ham radio and a home-made portable antenna that needed some modifications. Everyone helped out a little and we had the antenna assembled and up first. After that we ran the coax cable to the radio in the building and soon had it on the air (mostly listening). The radio acted a little goofy at first, but it may have been because it hadn't been powered up for a couple of years. Anyway, once everything smoothed out, I actually made a contact with a guy in Naples, Maine. Not bad for 10 watts of power from a river gorge. Turns out I had talked to this guy before in 1999 (not that I was keeping track).

Jay tried his hand at fishing for a while. He started from the eddy pool in front of the camp and worked down river for a bit. He may have had a couple of bites, but nothing was landed. With the weather being what it's been lately, fishing season may be here before you know it.

Pat brought down some scrap wood for the fire (best on the river of course) and as an added bonus, brought down his Christmas tree from this winter for "disposal". Everyone should witness one of these little infernos at least once to appreciate the carnage.

We had a great evening on the river and I think we're well on our way to spring.

(Aerial tic-tac-toe?)

River Day 02/21/2012

Monday night fell on a Tuesday this week; River Day did anyway. The majority of the regular group was either out of town or working, so we moved the holiday back one day. Great how you can do that with River Day, isn't it?

Jay, Tim and I were able to make it down. Temp's were in the low 50's and skies were clear. There was no evidence at the river that the area had received nearly 7 inches of snow just 2 days previously. You can just about feel spring getting closer, and I think everyone's looking forward to it (even though the winter has been mild).

Not much going on this week. Little to no activity from the locals. I brought down a pot full of 15 (or maybe 16) bean soup for dinner - that always seems to hit the spot, especially when the weather is on the cool side. Unlike last week's dinner, I forgot to take a picture before we dug in - you'll just have to visualize it.

Thanks to some help from a little bacon grease, we once again had the best fire on the river.

River Day 02/13/2012

We had a much smaller group for the weekly celebration this Monday; no visitors, and Jay was out of town. Ted, Tim and I made it down though and enjoyed a nice River Day.

The weather over the weekend was typical for February; ice cold and snowy. But as you can see in the photos, there was only a little of the snow left over, and the temps rose up to about 40 degrees.

Tim got ambitious and put together what was probably the best snowman on the river. Of course that wasn't good enough for us so we decided to accessorize just a little. Someone on the outside looking in would never guess that there was no one under 50 in this group. Amazing how much fun you can have with a little imagination!

I brought down a little dinner for everyone this week - beef and Irish stout stew. Good hearty meal for a cold evening. The three of us wiped out the entire dish. Guess all that work on the snowman really worked up an appetite.

I would be amiss not to mention the best fire on the river: it may not have been the biggest we've had, but I feel sure there wasn't a better one anywhere nearby.

River Day 02/06/2012

The regular gang all made it down this week for River Day (Tim, Jay, Ted and I), along with a one-time regular (Pat), and a guest appearance by Paul. Maybe the group is going to grow a little this year.

We had a nice evening on the river, despite the overcast skies and temps in the mid 40's. Tim and Jay did a little fishing early on, but nothing's biting yet (at least not at our regular spot). No golf practice this week, but we did gather a bit more fire wood. Jay brought down his chainsaw and got a good start on the last of the fallen trees at the camp from the wind-storm last summer. Hope we didn't jinx ourselves by stacking wood; usually when that happens, the river decides to come on up and snatch the wood pile. The New giveth, and the New taketh away (no sacrilege intended).

We did have one other visitor at the river. Actually he's been visiting all winter - a bat. Every week we've been seeing a single bat flying around the camp and over the river. Sometimes we've found him clinging to a tree, or the back of the house. Not sure what he's eating, or why he isn't hibernating (maybe it's the fire?). Never more than one. He must have missed the memo. Anyway I tried taking a couple of pics of him; you can just make him out in the photo posted (left side).

Although it was off to a slow start, I think we can say with all confidence that we once again had the best fire on the river.

River Day 01/30/2012

For everyone anxiously awaiting this week's River Day post, I apologize for taking so long to get around to it. Work has this nagging habit of getting in the way of personal stuff.

Everyone made it down again this week: Jay, Ted, Tim and I (Mark). Even though it was about 10 degrees cooler than last week, the weather was still nice. Tim tried his hand at fishing again this week. Nothing biting, but I figure his chances of catching something were about 100% greater than the rest of us.

I'm sure it seems like these posts are all about the fire, and if you weren't convinced before, this week should remove all doubts. This week marked the annual burning of the 2011/2012 Christmas tree from the Tim Harper household. This is a highly anticipated event and much of the fire prep revolved around that. We made sure we had a nice hot bed of coals, and even prepared an elevated platform for the "offering". Pyros around the world would all be proud of this moment. Watching it go kinda makes you wonder why you would ever put a live tree in your house, all covered with wires and lights. Makes for a spectacular fire though.

Enjoyed a nice evening once again!

The New River Tour!