The Outer Banks Expediton by Mitchell Wilkinson- Harrison

This expedition the Tickle Sticks went to the Outer Banks. The drive over to the East Coast was about eight hours and it was very long drive. The first night in the Outer Banks there were a lot of bugs and other things biting us. It was a hard time for us because we were itchy and not supposed scratch our bug bites.

One day at the Outer Banks, we went to the beach to have some fun. I went body surfing, and I did a 360 under the water. The wave knocked me over and turned me full circle under the water.

We had a tour of the Coast Guard Station and we got to go on the Coast Guard boats that they had at the station. We went to Jockeys National Park to go dune jumping and we had a lot of fun when we were there.

One day we went to some of the lighthouses around the island we were staying at. On some of the days we went shopping to buy things to remember the trip.

We took our kayaks out to the beach to have fun in the water. We went kayak surfing in the ocean. When we were in town we out for dinner two times, the first time we went to a pizza buffet and the second time we went to a seafood restaurant.

Most of the campsites that we stayed at had cold showers, colder then the ocean. Most of the mornings we played ultimate Frisbee on the beaches near our campsite. One of the days we were on the beach, we played 500 in the water and the water was so shallow that we could walk for miles. 500 is a game that we played with a Frisbee where you get points by catching the Frisbee. You have to call out a number and then if you catch the Frisbee, you get that many points.

The last of our expedition we went to the Wright Brothers Museum to learn about the two brothers from Ohio. I liked this trip because it had air conditioning inside.

When we were playing 500 on the beach I saw some dolphins swimming around in the water. W e took a field trip to the aquarium in the Outer Banks and they had a shark’s pit that you can dig for shark’s teeth. One of the days in the town we drove around for a long time because we couldn’t find anything to do. I had a fun time at the East Coast because I had never been there before. I want to take my parents to see the places that I visited.

S At our last campsite, I made a big fire for the group. It kept everyone happy. I can’t wait to see my family and friends when I get back home for the summer.

Dune jumping at Jockey’s Ridge by Alec Thompson

The Tickle Sticks decided to go to Jockey’s Ridge for the day. I brought my football to play with when we got there. The ride was short and we got there in 20 minutes. We got to the visitor center and we got to the dunes and started to climb them. It was hard work climbing them and many of us fell down on the way up. We were all ok though. We climbed to the top and it was a great view of the ocean. Mark said to jump off the dune so we could take a photo of the group. We all jumped and landed softly on the sand. We took one more photo of us and moved on to a new dune. Mark, Mitch, and I played with the football. Mitch threw some great passes. One headed for the edge of the dune and I had it in my grasp and missed. I fell down the dune and caught up with the ball and stopped it. There was a problem with falling down a sandy dune. I had sand everywhere in my clothes and my mouth. It was really sandy. I was ok though. I walked back up the dune and showed Mark and Mitch where I caught up with the ball and they said good job. After we played for a while we went down the dune and found a phone in the sand. We picked it up and called the owner. He said to meet us back at the visitor center in half and hour. We walked to the original dune where we started and the phone rang three more times. It was really funny. We took one more picture of all of us jumping of the biggest dune and we all wiped out in very funny ways. We grabbed all our stuff and started walking back. We made it back to the visitor center and gave the phone back to the owner. Then I realized I left my football at the dune. I didn’t care for it so I left it there. We talked to the visitor center secretary for a while. We got some free stuff from her. We got a sticker and some sun block for our lips. We went back to camp and showered to get all the sand off. It was a very fun day in the Outer Banks and a great last expedition.

THE CLIMB TO THE TOP

As we the Tickle Sticks spent our expedition in the lovely Outer Banks we decided to climb the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, which is located in Corolla, North Carolina. The completion of this incredible structure was December 1, 1875. The Currituck Beach Lighthouse was built from approximately one million red bricks and stands at a towering 162 feet. The climb was quite fun, some of us were a bit skeptical of the old building and the height but we all made it up the 214 stairs to the top. The view from the top was incredible. Even the people who were afraid of heights made it to the top just with slight issues. It looked out over much of the northern Outer Banks on a warm, sunny, clear day. It was wonderful, the lighthouses are definitely something worth going to while in the Outer Banks.

Jake DeHaan

On the Tickle Sticks last expedition we had an amazing time in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. One day around mid-way through the expedition we had found a restaurant the group had been interested in going to. The name of the restaurant was Dirty Dicks Crab House. After spending about half a day at the beach James and I had the idea of presenting this scheme to Mark. We half joking ask him seeing at the group didn’t have a lot of personal money and it was a far drive. Despite the odds, Mark shot us with a challenge. The challenge was to bury him in sand, up to his head. He gave us the time limit of 10 minutes for him to get out, and if he couldn’t, SOAR would pay for the dinner. The team was ready and exited for the challenge. Right away we got to work. We used a skim board that James had bought a few days before to cut through the hard sand. After about 3 feet we had David go face-first into the hole while I held his legs so he didn’t fall in. After about four feet we hit water, which made it even harder to go through. But some how we had it deep enough for him to stand upright in. Not all to surprisingly Mark was able to get out in around 3 and a half minutes. Despite him beating the time, Mark was so impressed with the group’s hard work he allowed SOAR to pay for it. So we hopped in the van after a quick shower and in about an hour we arrived. I ordered calamari and alligator tail, which was absolutely amazing. We left Dirty Dicks and went to bed right away. The next day on out way to the ferry Ocracoke, which was about 10 minutes from our campsite we passed another Dirty Dicks. We all laughed as we realized we had done two hours of driving when all we could had done was 20 minutes. Over all it was an amazing trip with a lot of really great experiences.

Our Expedition to The North Carolina Outer Banks By David Hollander

The tickle sticks went to the Outer Banks last expedition and we had a lot of fun. We had many surprises such as bowling, and going to eat! My favorite day on our expedition happened when we were on the beach and I was craving seafood so we ended up talking Mark into letting us go out to dinner. Before he said yes, he said we needed to build a deep enough hole in the ground for Mark to stand up in. after we dug the whole Mark stepped in it and we got to bury him. We timed how long it would take him to get out of the hole. He told us that if it took longer then ten minutes he would pay for our dinner out. Unfortunately it only took three minutes, but because we worked so well together he decided to pay. We each had a $25 limit for our meal. The restaurant we went to was about an hour away, so we all piled in the van and arrived there at about 8:00. Our manners and behavior was so good at the restaurant even the waitress commented. After we ordered our seafood and ate we stopped in the gift shop and several people bought shirts. J Then we headed back to our campground and went to bed. The following morning we got up and packed camp. We headed the other direction on Hatteras island and then realized there was the same restaurant about five minutes away, it made us all chuckle. I am really happy we all ended on such a good note!

 

Our Experiences in The Wild Wild West Whitney Theriot

The the Nothing But G's started off the expedition living a luxury life at the Wyoming Base, Eagle View Ranch. When we first arrived at Eagle View Ranch it was under 6 inches of snow. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to upper base, where the cowboy tents are, so we settled for Plan B. We camped in our tents by the gear shed. Camping there could have been the best decision we made all expedition . Not only was it right next to the school house, that we were allowed to use during class, but it was near the lower base kitchen and director offices. It was great to be able to use this area and be out of the snow. While at EVR, the group partook in various activities that made our stay more enjoyable. The group spent a lot of time outside creating giant snow balls and sledding down the hilly Wyoming Base. The group went snow shoeing up the Two Oceans Ridge Section of the Continental Divide. The Trail we took up to the ridge was only partially cut; Evan and Jeremy had the pleasure of doing the rest. While on the way up the mountain, there was a very narrow trail that we had to follow. I found out the hard way if you veered off the trail you will fall into various tree holes packed with 4 feet of snow. This hike was not a piece of cake; part of the hike we were climbing up a vertical wall of snow that would have been impossible to climb if we were not wearing our shoes. Once we made it to the top, the group enjoyed some cold pizza bagels. Some of the boys peed off the ridge, which according to Jeremy will eventually end up in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. The way down was the most enjoyable part of the trip, because the group created our own personal trail down. Getting a hang of the snow shoes was not an easy task. The whole group ate many falls while stumbling\skiing on oversized shoes down the mountain. The group also enjoyed riflery, which we did twice through out our stay in Dubois, Wyoming. We shot a .22 caliber rifle. Some of the boys even got to shoot an old World War II rifle. After this the group went on to better explore this scenic state. The group went to Thermopolis, Wyoming. Once we arrived in Thermopolis, the group was pleasantly surprised when they found it was 66 degrees. While there, we went to a hot spring mineral pool park called The Star Plunge. We enjoyed relaxing in the hot water. While there the group partook in many water fights and played basketball in the pool. While in the warm pools the time flew bye. The 3 hours we had allotted for the Star Plunge quickly disappeared. After the Star Plunge, the group spent the next day fishing at Boysen Lake, which was very unsuccessful. The nothing but G's didn't catch any fish, instead we caught numerous rocks and trees. The next day we began our two hour drive back to Dubois,Wyoming where we had dinner at Jeremy's house and split wood. Unfortunately, while splitting wood I missed and split my toe with the maul. While I was getting fixed up, the group started making hobo dinners and had fun around the campfire. The next night the group went out to dinner at the Cowboy Cafe for our final outing, bringing an end to our spectacular expedition.

Our Experiences in The Wild Wild West Whitney Theriot

The the Nothing But G's started off the expedition living a luxury life at the Wyoming Base, Eagle View Ranch. When we first arrived at Eagle View Ranch it was under 6 inches of snow. Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to upper base, where the cowboy tents are, so we settled for Plan B. We camped in our tents by the gear shed. Camping there could have been the best decision we made all expedition . Not only was it right next to the school house, that we were allowed to use during class, but it was near the lower base kitchen and director offices. It was great to be able to use this area and be out of the snow. While at EVR, the group partook in various activities that made our stay more enjoyable. The group spent a lot of time outside creating giant snow balls and sledding down the hilly Wyoming Base. The group went snow shoeing up the Two Oceans Ridge Section of the Continental Divide. The Trail we took up to the ridge was only partially cut; Evan and Jeremy had the pleasure of doing the rest. While on the way up the mountain, there was a very narrow trail that we had to follow. I found out the hard way if you veered off the trail you will fall into various tree holes packed with 4 feet of snow. This hike was not a piece of cake; part of the hike we were climbing up a vertical wall of snow that would have been impossible to climb if we were not wearing our shoes. Once we made it to the top, the group enjoyed some cold pizza bagels. Some of the boys peed off the ridge, which according to Jeremy will eventually end up in the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. The way down was the most enjoyable part of the trip, because the group created our own personal trail down. Getting a hang of the snow shoes was not an easy task. The whole group ate many falls while stumbling\skiing on oversized shoes down the mountain. The group also enjoyed riflery, which we did twice through out our stay in Dubois, Wyoming. We shot a .22 caliber rifle. Some of the boys even got to shoot an old World War II rifle. After this the group went on to better explore this scenic state. The group went to Thermopolis, Wyoming. Once we arrived in Thermopolis, the group was pleasantly surprised when they found it was 66 degrees. While there, we went to a hot spring mineral pool park called The Star Plunge. We enjoyed relaxing in the hot water. While there the group partook in many water fights and played basketball in the pool. While in the warm pools the time flew bye. The 3 hours we had allotted for the Star Plunge quickly disappeared. After the Star Plunge, the group spent the next day fishing at Boysen Lake, which was very unsuccessful. The nothing but G's didn't catch any fish, instead we caught numerous rocks and trees. The next day we began our two hour drive back to Dubois,Wyoming where we had dinner at Jeremy's house and split wood. Unfortunately, while splitting wood I missed and split my toe with the maul. While I was getting fixed up, the group started making hobo dinners and had fun around the campfire. The next night the group went out to dinner at the Cowboy Cafe for our final outing, bringing an end to our spectacular expedition.

SOAR’S CRACK SHOT SHOOTERS by Isaac J. Inglis

“BANG! Click. Chink. Clink. Click. BANG!” The sounds of the firing and reloading of a .22 rifle. It’s quite a simple set of sounds that were heard frequently by the Nothin’ But G’z while they were in Dubois Shooting Range in Wyoming. While here they all shot about 15 .22 caliber rounds in 3 different .22 caliber rifles, provided by Jeremy Neidens, the SOAR director of the South West group.
The Nothin’ But G’z were hanging out at the EVR, Eagle View Ranch, Base just outside of Dubois, Wyoming where they had set up camp in the snow because they could not get to upper base. It was planned to go snow-shoeing that day, but then Jeremy called and asked if the G’z would like to switch their plans and go shooting that day and snow-shoeing the next. It was majority rule and the G’z packed up their daypacks and headed down the road to meet up with Wes and The BBB, the van that is used out west called The Big Black Beast, because the ice on the roads made it to unsafe to drive with everyone in it.
At the rifle range, the G’z ate lunch and had a meeting with Jeremy about safety. Now most people would think that shooting rifles is a dangerous thing to do but, in fact, it is one of the safest things SOAR does. This is because of all the safety measures that SOAR has during this activity. Some examples are that you will always treat the rifle like it is loaded, anyone can call “STOP!” when they see something unsafe, if your rifle does not fire, keep it pointed down range for a short while and then if it still doesn’t fire, call stop and call over a staff. These are just some of the many safety procedures that are involved while shooting.
Now to get the fun part, talking about the guns and shooting them. There was much joy from the G’z when they did this activity. There were even some amazing shooters in the group, such as Isaac Inglis and Evan Anderson. II, or 2, was the crack shot with the .22 rifle, making all 5 shots in the 8 circle and 4 shots in the 9 circle! The requirement for getting shots with the Mosin-Nagant, a high power Russian rifle from World War II that shoots 7.62X53mm and 7.62X54mm rounds, was to get at least 3 shots in the 7 circle, which would grant you 1 shot with the Mossy. If you managed to get 4 shots in the 7 you got 2 shots with the Mossy, and you got 3 shots if you got all 5 .22 rounds in the 7. There were 5 circles on the grading paper with numbers ranging from 5 to 9. For size comparison on the circles just look at the circles on rifle targets.
The G’z went rifle shooting 2 times, once during the 1st week and once during 2nd week. The first time the G’z went shooting, everyone shot the .22s and Evan, Ben, Isaac I, and Isaac V got to shoot the Mosin-Nagant. There was only one round of shooting the .22s and only 1 round of shooting the Mossy. Each person took their turn, Isaac I going first with 3 shots, then IV with 2 shots, followed up by Evan with 3 shots, and finished by Ben Sacks with 2 shots. In this group the crack shot with the Mossy was Evan, who placed all his shots in a nice little pattern. If you didn’t hold the gun right then the kick from it, which is very strong, would seriously hurt your shoulder. Plus, even if you did hold it right, it would still hurt after a few shots and definitely hurt later on in the day.
The second time the G’z went shooting, they did two rounds of .22 shots. This meant that there was a chance of getting six shots with the Mossy, although no one managed to get all 6. Most everyone shot the .22, except for Whitney Theriot, A.C. Berry, and Ricky Diez. Once again 2, IV, Ben, and Evan were able to shoot the Mossy, but 2 decided to trade his 5 shots with the Mossy for another 5 shots with the .22 rifle, leaving 3 people with Mossy shots. Once again, 2 went 1st with his 5 .22 rounds, proving his title of .22 crack shot, followed by Evan with 4 Mossy shots, defending his title as Mossy crack shot, then it was IV with 5 shots, and it was finished by Ben who had 4 shots.
When shooting, you don’t look for score on the target, but rather patterns of shots. That’s why we had a clear sheet that we used to grade the shots. When it came to grading, Evan and Isaac I were at the top of the class, each using a different rifle. II was the best with the .22, he said it’s because he has the shooting genes that his grandma has. Evan was the best with the Mossy, he said it’s because shooting the Mossy scares him so much that his grip is solid and not wavering.
Shooting the rifles was an activity that everyone of the G’z enjoyed and will remember with crystal clarity. “Just the act of holding the rifle is heart pounding.” Says Isaac I, “It’s exhilarating to lay there on the mat, leg propped up to help you keep stable, as you look down the sight at your target, finger horizontal across the trigger guard, and you breath in and out. Then you take a deep breath, steady your hands, slip your pointer finger onto the trigger, and pull it slowly so you don’t jerk the gun away from your target. The gun roars, kicks back against your shoulder, and the bullet whizzes towards your target. You lie there for a second and let out your breath and take in another. After that you look up from the sight, slide the stock of the gun back under your arm. You lift your trigger arm up to the bolt action, flick it up, and slide it back, releasing the bullet cartridge, sending it spinning through the air. After that you reach down for another round and place it into the chamber, then you slide the action back into place, raise the rifle back up to your eye and get ready for another shot.”

Nothing but G’s at E.V.R. by A.C. Berry

Soar has two bases, one in North Carolina that you guys may know about, but do you know about Eagle View Ranch? E.V.R. is the base in Wyoming. Something interesting about E.V.R. is that they have cowboy tents. We did not stay in them because they take too long to set up. The day that we flew in, we went straight to E.V.R. to set up camp. We stayed right beside the stable. When we got up to the spot where we were camping it was covered with snow. Ben, Evan and myself decided to clear a spot for our tent. It took a while, but it was worth it because we did not get wet what so ever, I cannot say that about the others tents. Something else we thought about was to make pee trails so when we woke up in the middle of the night we did not have to walk in the snow.
This expedition was one of the easiest for warmth. Why? Because E.V.R. has a kitchen at the upper and lower houses, and a schoolhouse that has two rooms. it would have been a complete disaster because it was so cold.
I think the coolest thing about E.V.R. that it is the complete opposite from the North Carolina base. North Carolina has cabins while E.V.R. has cowboy tents with a fireplace in them. Awesome! Also there are so many views from the top of the mountain that you can see at E.V.R. There are alot of mountains at E.V.R. and from the base in Wyoming you can really tell when weather is coming. In North Carolina you can sometimes tell, but the weather can throw you off. Although I really hate the snow with a passion, it was really cool to see the Nothing But G’s having a good time with about three feet of snow. Some of the activities we did were sleding. I could not because of the doctor’s orders. Something that we could have done if there were not a lot of snow, would have been throwing hatchets and archery.
I think that the nothing But G’s had a very good time at E.V.R. I personally think that it was a very good change to let us finish our final expedition on a good note. Why? Because if we did not have the inside for school and eating we would have not finished it off as well as we did. This was a great way to end our final expedition.

Hobo, Party of 12... By Ben Sacks

During the last week of the final expedition to Wyoming, the Nothing but G’s had dinner at South West Course Director, Jeremy Neidens’s house. That special that night was hobo dinner. Hobo dinner is when one takes a sheet of aluminum foil, folds it into a bag-like shape, adds the ingredients, cooks the food on an open fire, and then enjoys. The ingredients that were available were potatoes, broccoli, carrots, cheese, onions, butter, garlic powder, ketchup, and elk and deer meat. For dessert, there were chocolate chip cookies.

Before the group could eat though, they had to earn their “meal tickets”. The task, like usual, was to split logs for fire wood. Each member needed to split a grand total of 5 logs with a maul or blunt axe. Some had an easy time with the log splitting; others not so much. One group member in particular, Whitney Theriot, had the unfortunate experience of missing the log and instead cutting her toe. Whitney, after a little medical attention from Wes “Wonder Bread” Stanforth, in the form of some wrappings, reported having some discomfort but felt better. Her shoe on the other hand, didn’t fare too well and suffered some “internal injuries” and might need stitching.

After completely downing the second round of food, Ben “Sack Attack” Sacks contently said “That dinner was wonderful!” He wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the food. Apparently, the entire group enjoyed the hobo dinner and the chocolate chip cookies. “If I ever had the chance to make a hobo dinner again,” Ben “Sack Attack” Sacks said, “I would definitely do so again.”

The “G’s” With Fire Power By: Evan Anderson

Have you ever imagined the ferocity of the rifles used in WW2? On the Wyoming final expedition, the nothing but G’s got to test the strength of the Russian WW2 Mosin Nagate. After firing rounds from a .22 rifle, the few accurate people such as Isaac Vaisberg, Isaac Inglis, Ben Sacks, and I got to shoot the Mosin. Derek and Wes, our staff, were probably the best with the rifle. Derek shot straight through his second hole with his third shot. And Wes owns the same gun, so of course he is good with it. He shot a small piece of wood all the way down range. We were allowed to fire a few rounds from this rifle. This gun is a beast. It was extremely powerful, loud, and had a fairly good kick to it. When it fired, a storm of smoke would fly out in front of you chasing the bullet. It was hard not to close you eyes. The logs we used as targets were more then enough to stop the .22s but when you take a Mosin round to it, the log stood no chance. The bullet went straight through and plunged into the hill a ways back. If not held right, the rifle could prove potentially dangerous to the handler. A few people did have aching shoulders after firing. Not long after our first try with the rifle, the G’s came back for more, hoping to get one more chance with the rifle. Of course we got that chance. We just couldn’t get enough. A question frequently asked was, how did soldiers fire the rifle without blowing out there eardrums?? We were wearing earmuffs and it was still loud! They must get used to it was our answer. A sense of satisfaction came over the group when the Mosin was fired, and everytime we left we were happy and ready for our next challenge.

Split-Pee ... By Isaac Vaisberg

Imagine, if you will, Big Foot lending you his feet for the afternoon to do a little hike. This is what the Nothing But G’s felt like as they strapped on their snowshoes for the first time at the bottom of the Two Oceans hike. Snowshoes , for those of you that don’t live in Wyoming, are footwear for walking over the snow. They work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation". Technical stuff aside, they’re giant feet. Anyways, up went the Nothing But G’s through the Two Oceans hike. Many of them struggled, ran out of breathe, and fell on their faces (cough cough, Whitney), but they pushed on and on up the side of the giant mountain. The journey was long and hard. Jerremy’s dogs, Lucy and Birch, would run up and down the line of G’s, swiveling in between their legs, checking up on everyone, making sure the “herd” wasn’t slacking. Two and a half long hour later, we were at the top.



Now, bear with me through this, for my title will make sense in just a quick second. The Two Oceans Hike is famous because it lies on the continental divide, that is, half the mountain’s melted snow winds up in the Atlantic Ocean, and the other half winds up in the Pacific Ocean. My title make sense yet? Well, for those of you that need a little clarification, there is a magical deed to be performed at the top of the mountain. See, if you pee and swing yourself from side to side, half of your pee will end up in the Atlantic, and the other half will end up in the Pacific. It is truly incredible if you think about it: a cross country pee. Many of the G’s partook in this awkardly-delightful right of passage and were proud of it. I know I was.



Split-peeing aside, it was time to head down the mountain. A question was posed: take the trail, or off road it and ski with our giant feet down the powder snow? If you know us, you know what we decided. All you could hear from afar was the sounds of “WOOOHOOO’s!” and tons of snow falling down in mini avalaches as we skiied down the side of the mountain. At one point, the avalanches got so big that one of the G’s, me, surfed his way down as another one, Evan, was literally doing the breast stroke to keep himself from drowning in the powder snow. It was a thrilling ride down.



All in all it was an incredible experience. From the difficult hike up, to the split-pee, to the “kawabonga”-style descent, it was a good time for all.

Suwanee 30 mile paddle by Christian Humber

The SEC team did 30 mile paddle in one day on the Suwanee trip. This challenged the group physically and mentally. Most of the group members were in foul moods due to exhaustion and hunger. The paddle took eight long hours to complete. When we got to our destination we set up camp and began cooking dinner. We then had to take down camp to go to the campsite because we stopped at a boat ramp and we couldn't sleep there, which blew big pink bubbles, because we had to take down camp repack the canoes and paddle upstream though an eddy to reach our campsite. The path was flooded so it was sketchy paddling around the trees in the darkness of the night with only headlamps to guide us. Some of the students took the tents and set them up at the campsite while dinner was being cooked.

When dinner was over we got all our stuff packed in the canoes and began paddling to the campsite, which did not take very long to get to. the team got the rest of the chores done and went to bed. The next morning we found out the host was a cranky-old dude who made us clean the bathrooms, which was annoying, but we got it done. Some boy scouts came and trashed the bathroom so the grouch said we did a bad job and some of the members had to clean half before the boy scouts admitted they trashed it. Some of them had rather ill mouths while going to clean the bathroom. We finally got to paddle to a national park where we did some community service, which was raking leaves and helping take a tree down. After we did the community service we got to swim in the spring, which felt really good on the hot day, and finally finished up the expedition. Most of us forgot to put sunscreen on so we got burned. The final spring's water was so crystal clear that we saw turtles swimming, and the animal that gives the spring its name, the manatees. This was one fun expedition because it challenged us and helped us enjoy the river.

The Kestrel and the Ducklings, by Jake DeHaan

On The Tickle Sticks last expedition we had some very exiting moments on the Suwannee River. The moment that stuck out to me the greatest was around half way through the trip the group had been paddling for a while when my boat (which was on of the boats closer to the front) heard a strange sound. The sound came from what I believe to be an American Kestrel hawk. The hawk was attempting to catch some very small ducklings as they swam with their mother in the river. As the hawk began its attack, the ducklings and their mother got separated. The mother went for cover, with a few of her young ones under the protection of a tree, that’s branches hang into the water. The ducklings that were separated began to swim down stream, away from the protection of the tree and their mother. Having the sudden urge to help these small ducks, I began to herd the ducklings back to the protection of their mother. The task was not very easy. Paddling up stream was very hard. The river was flowing at about four miles per hour and paddling upriver makes coordination much harder. Luckily the paddle wasn’t extremely far, only at most 30 feet. Once we returned the ducklings to their mother, and saw that the hawk was gone, we decided it was safe to continue our way down the river. It was an amazing experience to see a hawk hunting in its natural environment. I have had experiences with an injured Kestrel before, so it was nice to see in out in the open. Overall the Suwannee had some truly amazing experiences that can’t be forgotten. Their were many great times, which made it very hard to choose from, but watching the hawk duck interaction was absolutely amazing, and I’m so proud of myself and my group from making it through all one-hundred-twenty-five miles.

My Favorite Memory By David Hollander

 

The South East Coastal Tickle Sticks paddled the Suwannee River while on our last expedition. We paddled a total of 125 miles in about ten days. There were many great memories on our trip but my favorite memory didn’t happen till after our paddling. It was the first morning off of the river and we all knew there were some surprises coming our way.

            After we packed up camp we drove about 30 minutes to Atlanta where we stopped at a mall, we shopped around for about one hour. We all thought that the mall was our surprise but that wasn’t it. We then headed to borders bookstore where we shopped around for about an hour. People also bought some books. It was a good time because everyone loves reading books and listening to music. After the bookstore we went to the movie theater and saw Alice In Wonderland! I didn’t think it would be a good movie but it wasn’t that bad. We even had the opportunity to play games in the arcade before the movie. We played air hockey and basketball. After a hard day we headed back to base to go out for dinner. We ended up eating dinner at a place in Asheville called Mellow Mushroom they have very good pizza. I shared a meat lover’s pizza with James. We also shared garlic cheese bread. Unfortunately we forgot to invite April to dinner and she is disappointed because Mellow Mushroom is her favorite! L   Our day was a success and we all really enjoyed it!