Saturday, October 11, 2008

NICE Meeting today!

Our bi-monthly meeting in Grayslake featured several trip reports today. The first was Don's PowerPoint presentation on his recent sailing adventure out of Camden, Maine on the ketch "Angelique." They spent 6 nights aboard as they explored the waters of Penobscot Bay, visiting small towns, spotting waterfowl and seals, helping raise and lower sails, taking turns at the helm, and dining on tasty shipboard cuisine and even including a lobster bake on shore. You can see a photo of the craft on the poster behind Don. The naturalist and folklore specialists also added much to the educational component of this program.



We then viewed a professional DVD showing the boat and all its amenities, which along with Don's photos and descriptions had us all ready to sign up for the trip!



Then Chuck showed photos of his recent 9 day trip canoeing Utah's Green River as well as his 6 day backpack trip in Arizona's Canyon de Chelly National Monument. The audience was amazed at the scenery but not anxious to do the seemingly straight-up climbs to reach the mesa tops!



The next meeting is Saturday, December 13th, in Grayslake.

Writer's Group Meeting...

The writer's group re-assembled at Chuck's place after the NICE meeting and enjoyed a lunch...



... and stimulating conversation as we re-connected after a hiatus of several months...



... and then the readings of our latest literary masterpieces followed -- always a wonderful time as we learn more about each other and get ideas for future pieces we can write.



KC Bird also joined our group today, and though he attentively listened to all the readings, he never contributed any constructive comments!