Get Out `n Do It

Busse Woods Picnic (FYB: Meetup.com)

Jun 8th, 2008

This was the Float Your Boat Meetup Group’s “KAYAK SOCIAL BBQ & BOAT-SHARE SEASON OPENER” at Busse Woods in Elk Grove Village. The weather was horrible that morning, but it seemed to clear up just in time for us to have our event. I brought my dining fly/canopy just in case.

Rachael was shooting that day, so I was able to bring a boat to share with other members. Both our boats got some good use out of them that day. Some who had only paddled once or twice before took our boats. It’s a good feeling to help people experience pleasurable things.

Mater was with me and he had a great time, too. Everyone loved him. He’s just one of those dogs.

There were researchers hanging out at the boat launch, ready to ask boaters to be guinea pigs by testing if you experience any symptoms from exposure to the water. Pretty sad. One of our group paraphrased something the researchers ask: “If you experience diahrea in the next 30 days, please call us. And we’d like a sample.” What’s IN that water? If it’s that bad, why are they letting people go in it?

I met plenty of new cool people and I think everyone had a chance to paddle. It’s a surprisingly large body of water, so one could easily spend a lot of time out.

Paddle Routes

Posted in: Illinois, paddling.

Kankakee River Paddle

Jun 7th, 2008

by vmichael.

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The weather was pretty daunting, but we did this paddle anyway. The Kankakee River was high, fast and parts had my adrenaline running. There is a narrow stretch where the ripples seemed to approach Class II. The limestone dells were a site to see and the islands were large and would have been fun to explore in lower, slower water.

Mike and I put in at Bird Park in Kankakee. Our one oversight; We were expecting a third party to show who opted to cancel. Well, we had to improvise to do the shuttling. Because we each had only one boat, we didn’t use our J racks, so we ended up stuffing the kayaks in the respective mini SUVs.

We anticipated the trip to take roughly 4 hours, but took only around 2 because of the speed of the water.

The real adrenaline rush was after our paddle. We decided we earned a fat burger or hot dog. We asked a guy at the park whether there was a Sonic or A&W in Kankakee. There wasn’t but he offered to lead us to a hot dog joint a couple of miles away. Half way through our food, the tornado sirens went off. I was a bit freaked. There was no apparent place to take cover. There was nothing on the radio, which was surprising.

The sirens stopped and the weather cleared a bit, so we decided we would head home. On the way back, just a couple of miles farther than our take out spot, it was apparent a tornado had touched down. A very large tree had been uprooted and lie on the ground. Several other trees, in a line about 200 yards perpendicular to the road to the right, appeared as though they had exploded from the inside. Ripped apart.

The rest of the drive home was spent in a pretty thankful state of mind.

Paddle Route

Pictures @ MeetUp.com

Posted in: Illinois, paddling, rivers.

Our New Family Member

Jun 3rd, 2008

by vmichael.

2 comments

We have a new outdoor adventurer in the family. His name is Mater and he is our 11 week old Aussiedoodle. Rachael’s allergic to nearly all dogs and cats, so we had to find a hypoallergenic breed. Those are mostly poodles and the new “designer dog” poodle mixes. When we went to look at puppies, I had no idea we would end up bringing Mater home. My love for Australian Shepherds was the clincher, though. Mater seemed to be the right fit for the family. He has been so well tempered and he’s quite smart. He’s healthy, too.

We bought him a PFD (personal flotation device) because, like it or not, Mater is going to be a kayaking fool. We also got him all of his other goodies, too. Chew toys, food/water bowls, crate, etc. NO other clothes.

Posted in: paddling, personal.

19 years ago!

May 29th, 2008

by vmichael.

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I remember Memorial Weekend of 1989 pretty well. I lived in So Cal and a coworker and I met up with his buddy who regularly went to Lake Mead for boating and parasailing. This drive normally takes about 5 hours. However, we managed to make it in about 12. Pulling a boat with a Volkswagen Sirroco and trying to peal-out from the gas station is not very smart. The transmission had to be replaced the first time because of the stupid stunt, the SECOND time because it was replaced with a slightly incorrect transmission. Fortunately, this guy had replacements, back in Whittier! Yes – he drove back TWICE! DOPE! Anyway – once we got to Las Vegas, late in the evening, we spent the entire night drinking at Scores or Crazy Horse, not sure which. We left at sunrise and made our way anxiously to the lake. I think I was the first to water ski. The water was cold and I was not feeling my best. I did alright, but once I came back into the boat, I huddled up near the bow and eventually hurled over the side. Oh, to be young again!

After sleeping that off for about 24 hours (okay, at least 16) – we went parasailing! That was a good time. As I look back at that entire trip, I think we weren’t at all safe. I do think it was pivotal in defining my propensity for the outdoors. Look at these pictures! I gotta laugh!

OH! And it was sooo windy that day, when they stopped the tow boat – I didn’t descend! I just hung there until they moved the boat into the leeward side of a cliff! HAH!

Me – May 20, 1989 – Lake Mead

Posted in: Nevada, parasail.

Hoosier National Forest/Monroe Lake

May 28th, 2008

by vmichael.

1 comment

This post is a little tardy because of the new addition to our family: Mater, our new AussieDoodle. (post coming soon)

Memorial Day weekend was definitely a great adventure. We spent 3 nights on the shores of Monroe Resevoir/Lake, which is just south of Bloomington, Indiana in the Hoosier National Forest. I’d been pumped up about this trip for sometime, since I believed it was going to be a long time before I would have another outdoor adventure experience like in Arizona. I was right. Although it took nearly 5 hours to drive down to southern Indiana, I thought I might be a little more remote and secluded. There were plenty of people out paddling, fishing, and camping Memorial Day weekend. I’m pretty sure this would have been much, much better during a non-holiday weekend or during the week – not that it was ‘bad’ at all!

None-the-less, it was all still well worth it. After the lengthy drive, we arrived at Paynetown Rec Area, our first night campground fairly early on Thursday afternoon. We purchased our overnight pass and our Indiana, non-motorized boat permit at the gate. Awesome! Another sticker for our boats. We look well traveled! It didn’t seem crowded at all. As we later found, it was a good thing we arrived a day early to beat the crowds. Our campsite was on the water, but it typically is not a waterfront site. The lake was about 15 feet above the summer pool. REALLY HIGH! Many boat ramps and parking lots were under water. This makes me think of the arid Southwest and how they dry up so frequently and here, well, there’s an abundance of water. In any case, we set up our first night’s campsite and awaited the arrival of our friends, Mike and Caryn. They arrived around midnight, I think. I fell asleep. I woke up and chatted – briefly – then went back to sleep.

In the morning, we went to check out our options for parking and put-in spots. We had been told by the DNR that we may not be able to pass under the bridge at the causeway because of the water level. We needed to know so we could determine which side of the causeway to put-in. Boats were easly going under the bridge, as it turns out, but we decided to put-in on the East (other) side of the causeway, anyway. Back to the campsite to break down, mount up, and head out. Off we went.

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Posted in: bushcraft, camping, fishing, hiking, Indiana, paddling.