Fall Camping Trip: Oct 28 - Nov 1, 2020

 

Well, it's hard to believe, but we've just finished up with yet another Rivertarian Fall Camping Trip.  This year's crowd was just a tad smaller than some of our previous trips: Jay, Ted, Tim, Pat and myself were able to make it.  Pat's son Matthew took leave and was able to join us for half the trip (Wednesday and Thursday nights).

The weather this year was all over the place: from overcast and mild to clear and cold.  We even had a full day of serious rain (1" - 2" forecast).  The low was on Friday night where it dipped to about 26.  

The camping trip was held at the traditional, and favorite location: Sherwood Lake in Greenbrier County, WV.  Except for Pat's rocket run to drop Matthew off in White Sulphur, we never left the campground.

Activities around the camp was varied, with lots of walking,  some boomerang throwing, pumpkin carving, and the usual fire tending and cooking.

As usual, I (and others) took a lot of photos.  I've tried posting them in chronological order, and I've edited the list down so as not to bore with the same picture over and over.  There are also a couple of short videos at the end of this post.

These get togethers become more and more important as the years go by, and I hope for many more to come.

Long live the Rivertarians!

Prayer Meeting 10/23/2020

 

Everyone but Tim attended this week's Friday Prayer Meeting: Jay, Pat, Ted, and I.  Unseasonably warm temps allowed us to sit out on the front porch again.  I'm sure those kind of days will be winding down and we'll be spending more time in the shop.

Everyone is spending time getting ready for the camping trip next week for a much needed time or camaraderie and R&R.  I'm going to be bringing my camper home to de-winterize from last year - I haven't been able to use it at all this year, so it's a little dirty right now.  Moving has made an impact on free time.

So why the picture above?  After years of looking at this thing from Jay's porch swing I've decided that it either looks like this guy has a huge pair of testes hanging out, or his butt is showing and his head's on backward.

Or it could simply be too much imagination....and Yuengling.  Oh, well, it's the only pic from the evening.

Thanks Jay for letting us hang out.

River Day 10/19/2020

 The entire Rivertarian Party made it to the weekly celebration of River Day this week: Pat, Tim, Ted, Jay and I.  The day was a bit warmer than our last gathering (Friday) so it was a front porch affair.  I'm really hoping that Jay will stop inviting the yellow jackets to attend.

With the camping trip a week and a half away, most of our conversations were on last minute planning, including the new venue.  This year it looks like we'll be back at Sherwood.

Tim and Jay did a recon on Saturday and found that only about 6 sites out of the 25 available were taken.  They also discovered that the bathhouse was still open.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it remains that way through next week.  Tim and Myra are going up this coming weekend and will find out any details about that.

I'm pretty sure everyone is psyched up about the trip - it is always much anticipated and greatly enjoyed.  We expect as many as eight people will be attending this year.

Sorry I didn't take any pics to post this week.

Happy River Day everyone!

Prayer Meeting 10/16/2020

 

Cooler weather is keeping our meetings more inside than on the front porch.  Yep, it's that time of the year.  Jay, Ted, Tim and I got together for a nice Friday get together at Jay's this week.  And since we're only a few weeks away, the talk was mostly about the camping trip.

Tim tried reserving a couple of sites at the location we picked for this year, only to be told that the campground is booked for that period.  WTH?!?  That never happens this time of year.  And apparently because of the plague and how it's impacted people's travel this year, most campgrounds are booked for the same time period.

Tim and Jay were going to make a run to check out how crowded Sherwood is for the weekend, in hopes that we'd get a preview of what our week will look like.  One loop of campsites will be open, and they're all first come, first served.  I'll find out at our River Day session (today).

P.S., I have no idea what Ted is writing in the above photo, but it looked important.

Sorry for the late post.

A Day At The River 10/11/2020

 Sorry, this is not a traditional River Day post, but I was putzing around the River today and took a few pics I thought I'd share.  

I started out on Royal Road by the bridges from Raleigh County into Fayette County.  It was a warm fall day with intermittent rain (didn't bother me). 

 

From here I decided to visit the "birthplace" of National River Day - the camp at Terry Beach.  All in all a pretty sad sight.  Between the local's places and the condition of the camp, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of maintenance going on.  

At the camp, everything was grown up, and the yard was deeply gouged and eroded from the River.  It was pretty obvious that there's not been anyone using the place.  The good part of that is that no one has destroyed it either.

Even though things were pretty run down, it was pretty nostalgic visiting.  And I'm sure I will again.

Teds River Day

Happy Birthday Ted! We celebrated River day with Ted in the shop along with Lori and Myra whom helped us sing Happy Birthday to Ted....

Tim and I missed the rest of the bunch but things do come up. Not to much going on but we really had a good time eating and enjoying the time together.

Prayer Meeting 10/2/20

Well the first Prayer Meeting in October was a little cold but was still celebrated by Tim,Ted,Pat,and I (Jay). The cooler temps brought us inside and we enjoyed lot's of laughs along with some serious talk about the direction that our country is heading..More prayers!!! Everyone seems excited for the Fall Camping trip,even though it might be a cold one. Have a good weekend, see everyone soon