Russian River Canoe Trip 2013

Santa Clara, CA - If this latest heat wave isn't a big enough sign that summer has already started, rest assured it is here and well underway, due to the fact that the Russian River Canoe Trip has come and gone for 2013.  June 7th to 9th we all headed up to Healdsburg, CA again for the umpteenth time to soak up a bunch of sun, river and beer.  As usual, I had a blast. I hope all who joined us had a great time as well.

6:37 pm Friday.  Planning  Done, Beer in Hand.

Here are the numbers:  68 people and 3 dogs joined us on the river this year.  We packed into 32 canoes and one kayak.  74 people came to the BBQ on Saturday night.  3 sets of grandparents came along to help wrangle the wee ones.  2.5 kegs drained.  1 somewhat serious injury as I tore a muscle in my shoulder after jumping for the 1 rope swing we found this year.  0 divorces directly linked to this trip so far, as it has become common knowledge over the years that couples should not canoe together especially if the half of the couple that thinks they are the better driver, isn't.  0 number of new sunglasses Paul has purchased for however many years he's been coming on this trip, due in part to the copious amount of duct tape attached to his current pair. 1/2, how far down the river the keg made it before we emptied it (blame the heat and the pace of the keg boat captains). 10 or 11ish number of friends Damon brought along this year.  Go Damon!  All good additions! 5:15 pm, time our last boat drifted in, this being one of our latest years yet (blame the slow, slow flow and the pace of the keg boat captains).

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the cooking and organizing.  Thanks to Suwei for paddling your gimp husband down the river, and for not giving him too hard a time for his stupidity, and for helping out with this whole endeavor year after year.  You Rock.  Thanks to Tasos, Joe, & Eng-Shien for contributing photos to the slideshow.  Thanks to Dave and Damon, our keg boat captains, for taking great care of our most precious cargo (especially with temps like we had this year).  Thanks to all those who provided pain medication.  I'm not so sure I would have been as pleasant without them.  Thanks to everyone who came this year.  Hope to see you back again!

Here are some of the pics from the trip.  Check out the slideshow below for more.

On The Beach

Russian River Canoe Trip 2013

On The River

It was hot out there this year!

Thanks to Eng-Shien for capturing the moment when I tore my shoulder.

At the BBQ

If you are interested in joining us next year, here are some links you should check out:

Here is the link to our brand new Google group: http://groups.google.com/group/RussianRiverCanoeTrip?hl=en

Here are some links to photos from past years:

2012 - http://somehowlostagain.blogspot.com/2012/06/russian-river-canoe-trip-2012.html
2011 - http://somehowlostagain.blogspot.com/2011/08/russian-river-canoe-trip-2011.html
2010 - http://somehowlostagain.blogspot.com/2010/11/russian-river-canoe-trip-healdsburg-ca.html
2009 - http://somehowlostagain.blogspot.com/2009/06/russian-river-canoe-trip-healdsburg-ca.html
2008 - http://somehowlostagain.blogspot.com/2008/07/russian-river-canoe-trip-healdsburg-ca.html

And a big miss mash of years on Facebook going back to 2001 - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109770982368574#!/album.php?aid=83062&id=649406713

If anyone has any old pictures from past years that they would like to send I'll thankfully accept them.  If you know the year they were taken, even better!

If anyone is reading this and would like to plan their own trip, I highly suggest calling Lollie at River's Edge Kayak and Canoe in Healdsburg.  They have been very good to us!

Camping info can be found at http://www.alexandervalleycampgrounds.com/

Parting Shot

Here is the link to the slideshow (there are 71 photos in there):

Russian River Canoe Trip 2013