Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Enchanted Forest Hike
We had a very informative, and wonderful hike in the Enchanted Forest. As the airshow at TICO was going on in the background, we learned about many of the natural remedies the flora of Florida provided for the native Indians. Our naturalist guide, Joe, showed us toothache trees, Florida olives, Florida coffee trees, poison ivy, poison ivy cure, and the list goes on. It was a bonanza of natural information, and all the hikers were very engaged and we left brimming with info.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Round the February Campfire
In a word AWESOME. That's the best description of all of the activities that Creek was part of this weekend.
I didn't arrive until Saturday morning, so I sadly missed much of the camaraderie that the Friday night campers were destined to enjoy, and we had a new tribal member show up. Ricky and Mark (fellow Yawlies) joined us for most of the weekend. Thanks for coming out guys.
We jumped right into the qualifying heats for the Pinewood Derby competition, and what a series it was!! The Creek had some wonderful entries which were both creative and fast. After the qualifiers, the Creek winners chosen to represent the tribe were: Wild and Growling Cougar, and Running Buffalo. Another fast car that was close to a qualifying time was created by Bengal Tiger. Great job all of the Big and Little Braves of the Creeksters.
The afternoon found the Creeksters in some heated political debate as led by Freddie, and our illustrous and elusive Sachem, Captain Chuckles. Meanwhile, Vince was preparing one of his signature meals which was delicious, nutritious, and included chicken, beef, and fish. A crowd pleaser, and not enough yums in yummy.
That afternoon under the pavilion, the fastest cars from each tribe squared off to determine the Canaveral champion. Our Creek entrants put up a brave battle, but were edged out by some of the other tribes' cars. But the fastest runswas reserved for last in Creekland.
In the evening's pavilion activity, the Dad's had an open competition for fastest car. No holds barred, no weight restrictions, and a singular rule of "not damaging the track" There were a couple entries which seemed fast, a Bud Light can strapped to a car, an electric turbo fan driven vehicle, and some heavily weighted others. However, a hush came over the pavilion, and a safe zone was established several feet from the track as Ray Corriveau, known affectionately as Crazy Cheetah stepped up to the starting line.
Ray pulled from his car storage kit a real rocket of a car, rocket shaped, and rocket propelled. Driven by a CO2 cartridge. The anticipation of the "launch" grew as Ray prepared his rocket for race. The crowd eagerly awaited as the nail ignitor attempted to find its mark. However, as in many space missions, the first attempt failed. The Canaveral crowd grew restless and impatient as Rocket Ray prepared for another ignition. Watiting for seconds which seemed like minutes, the crowd was finally rewarded with: BLAST OFF. The rocket propelled Pinewood Derby car screamed down the track, unbelievably hugging the lane and accelerating, while sending out a plume of exhaust in the humid evening air. As the rocket car hit the flat plateau, it accelerated through the timing block, so fast that a time did not even register. Hitting the deceleration rails, it failed to bring Rocket Ray's cast to a stop, and provided just the bump of lift that the rocket needed to find flight, as it launched over the end of the track, and continued into the starlit night sky.
There was a moment of pause, as the recognition of the event registered in the minds of the Canaveral spectators. As the pause closed, and recognition became reality, a clamorous and deafing uproar erupted in the Pavilion signaling the victorious Dad's entry as flown by Rocket Ray.
Uncontained laughter, and high fives were generously distributed all around the Pavilion that evening for the finale of the races, and a clear victor of the Dads entry.
The chili cook off followed, and was a heated event, with some great chow which was won in the end by the Chippewa.
What a great weekend. I humbly thank all of the Braves of the Creek tribe, Big and Little for their participation, enthusiasm, creativity, and ambition, once again showing the Canaveral Nation who the standard by which all other tribes are to be compared.
As always, it warms my heart to see our Little Braves continuously engaged in fun activities, grappling, fishing, playing basketball, sitting around the fire, and simply being boys. We have a great group of kids, and dads who are taking full advantage of an awesome opportunity for father and son bonding.
Please register for the Pow Wow, here is the link and it is also on the blog: (creekofcanaveral.blogspot.com)
Registration for State Pow Wow: http://www.2011statepowwow.info/
A couple of other links for you fitness freaks:
Registration for Warrior Dash 2012: http://warriordash.com/
Registration for Never Quit Beach Fest in Jax: http://neverquitnever.com/
Freddie: Surf trip in April: http://www.surfnicaragua.com/
The raffle tickets have been distributed, and the proceeds from the sales are due by the March meeting.
Thats all for now, my fellow creeksters,
Pletch
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