Poropotank Paddle 5/10/2011

It was a crisp morning for the month of May, but the sun was out and the day was warming up as 10 intrepid Tuesday Groupers arrived at Tanyard Landing to unload their vehicles for a paddle on the Poropotank River. Its a long drive for those traveling from VA Beach, but as the day wore on it was evident it was worth the trek. The spring greenery was in full force, the bald eagles were plentiful and put on an aerial show to the paddlers delight. Turtles were launching all along the shore, ducks were honking on takeoff, and Bob Hosang had to go to the bathroom--what a show! After noting that we were putting in at near-low-tide, we remembered the last time we tried to access the midway lunch spot at low tide. It didn't work out too well--we wallowed in mud. This year we decided to skip the muddy lunch spot--nicknamed "shoe suck point"--and paddle to the end of the river despite low tide. Bob Hosang still had to go to the bathroom. After turning around and investigating alternative sites for lunch, we eventually picked a site half way back to the take-out. It was a treat to get out of the boats and stretch our legs. The locals talked of a large snake--we thought they were just trying to scare us off. And Bob Hosang was satisfied that he had stretched his bladder to a larger capacity that might let him sleep through the night. After telling tall tales and watching the water rise, clouds began to form, so we finished the trip and headed out to Short Lane Creamery on Route 17 in Gloucester. All agreed there is something special about what they do at Short Lane. After gorging, we wanted to know just what ice cream place Phyllis was going to find to match Short Lane after next weeks paddle on Queens Creek. She made no promises.Groupers on the paddle: Ellis and Marti, Vic and Margaret, Don, Phyllis, Bob H, Bob M, Jean however you pronounce her name Brzozowski, and Brian.

Visit the link to view photos from this trip: https://picasaweb.google.com/crashneumann/PoropotankPaddle?authkey=Gv1sRgCP6O0KfF4aG5twE&feat=directlink