Friday, April 28, 2006

The Doctor Is In

Welcome Chris Sands to the RRCC. Dr. Sands is a former Everglades guide, shown below piloting "The Grouper" around Jewel Key in the Ten Thousand Islands. In his field medical kit he carries only a saw, a bullet and a pair of earplugs. Also a bottle of whiskey for anesthesia, but that's mainly for him.














Notice the canoes on the back of The Grouper...



























Dr. Sands is arriving Friday night late so everybody who wants some prescriptions filled before the trip let him know ASAP.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Open Letter to Suzanne

Dear Suzanne,

First of all, you look great. None of us at the RRCC can even believe you had a baby two months ago. By the way, we noticed that the Rebel Rivers canoe trip happens to include a small part of the morning of the second Sunday in May this year. As a Demmas, we’re sure you already enjoyed your first
Greek Mother's Day which is held on March 15 in honor of Rhea, wife of Cronus and mother to the gods and goddesses, and that you can’t be bothered with the commercialized American version that was arbitrarily set in May by Hallmark Greeting Cards and Woodrow Wilson.

Nevertheless, just to make sure it's clear how much we at the RRCC (including Jim) appreciate mothers (including you), you should know that we
named an oven in their honor. Whatsmore, if Jim is allowed to go, we will leave an extra car at the take out and he can paddle out early Sunday morning, leave Big Red on the bank for us to pick up, and he’ll be back in Nashville in time to bring you "honey cakes, fine drinks and flowers at dawn". In fact, it would be great if he gave Stuart a ride back to town because it’s been harder and harder to get him to the airport on time since Delevante joined the club and we started drinking beer on Sunday.

But back to Mother’s Day: I happen to know that all of the RRCC members are considering giving their mothers an expensive piece of Suzanne M. jewelry and I bet it would really help if they could talk about it with Jim on the trip. Maybe you could send a few pieces along in his tackle box that we could pass around. Or maybe you’d like some free advertising space on this site.

Anyway, thanks for listening. Jim isn’t cooking this year so it’s not about the food. If he wanted to do a nice appetizer or something that would be fine, too.

The Rebel Rivers Canoe Club


Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Org. Meeting is May 4th

Our one and only member meeting prior to the spring trip will be next Thursday, May 4 at the tiki bar in Roy's back yard. You probably remember Roy working on his totem pole for the tiki hut on the Spring '05 trip.

























The finished totem looks great and you'll be able to see it at the bar next week. Roy will be on hand to answer questions about why he chose this particular carving and his technique.





















I will bring all the maps and float books and we'll make a final decision about our destination. Mike and the Pot Wrassler will unveil the menu and show off the Big Mother Oven and we'll need volunteers to work on restoring the lantern. We will also need to get a head count and figure out how many canoes we need.

This being Nashville, Roy has a pool shaped like a guitar amplifier and it will be open in time for the meeting. So dress accordingly.













A cowboy only takes his boots off for one thing.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Checklist

There's a countdown clock to the trip in the upper right corner now. Here's what's been accomplished so far with less than three weeks to go.

120 Days Out: Set the date.

90 Days Out: Chose the river.

60 Days Out: Selected a motto.

45 Days Out: Released a CD.

30 Days Out: Appointed the cooks.

20 Days Out: Shaved the Club dog.










Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Acquisitions

We have been gathering essential items in anticipation of the spring trip. We didn't know they were essential until we found them and they weren't essential on the last five RRCC canoe trips but they are now.

First, the Pot Wrassler drove all the way to the Lodge Cast Iron Cookware Foundry in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee and brought home the largest production model, street legal Dutch Oven ever made. 16-inches across, 3-gallon capacity, and weighing in at an even 20 lbs. It will ride nested in the bottom of the canoe with the Big Daddy Skillet. We are calling it the Big Mother Oven.



















Our second find was a 1955, traditional, white-gas-burning Coleman lantern. If we needed a lantern to sip Bald Pussies by we could have gone to REI again. Like their coffee "systems" they have the "Electric Northstar Lantern w/ Nightlight", the "Coleman Retro Full-Size Lantern w/ Remote Control", the "Coleman Lantern Keychain Fob" and the "General Electric Retro Steelbeam Krypton Lantern". But we like the hiss and glow of the real thing and we think this antique model will add an an element of danger on the gravel bar that was missing before; the kind that turns a trip into an adventure. And you will be able to spot any RRCC member across a party because he will be the one with no eyebrows. We are calling this one The Collossal Mistake.








































Original travel case!






















Needs some work.

Friday, April 07, 2006

Thursday, April 06, 2006

'06 Kitchen Lineup Announced

With Jim on paternity leave and Kirly scouting for Derby cars, Mike C. and The Pot Wrassler will be donning the aprons for the spring trip. Watch this space for menu news.