Coley

The Suwannee River was a very fun trip. We got to do a lot of fun things like going to the world’s best pizza. The slices wer the biggest that I have ever seen in my life. We did a lot of community service. It was very fun. We got to go on the rope swings. Before we went back to NC we went to Blue Springs. It was cool we got to swim in the springs. That was a under cove that led to the other side of the springs and we swam under it. It was Very fun. But Jon and Mike and I did the real fun thing we free dived 50 feet to the cool cave. It was cool and fun. Now I am back in NC and it is good weather, and I am getting ready for my next trip. The end

Coley

Suwannee River X Blog BY ALEX WILDS

           The first thing that I noticed about Florida was how well it was kept. There wasn’t much trash in the state parks, the roads were in really good condition, and the campsites were the best I’ve ever stayed in. The campsites were normally screened in platforms and they had water. The only problem was the way the water tasted. It tasted like sulfur or chemicals.

Suwannee River X Blog

By: Alex Wilds

3-22-11

 

            The canoeing was really fun. The river flowed at 2 miles per hour so paddling was a breeze compared to the Everglades. We did a 20 plus mile day once. We guessed we went about 27 miles. I say we went about 25 miles. There was a solo boat with only one person. I didn’t get the solo boat but others did. We went down some white water in the canoes. I was guiding and Isaac was taking a video.

            We saw a lot of wild life on the Suwannee. We saw mostly turtles and birds, and sometimes a fish jump or a lizard on a tree. We didn’t see any snakes or alligators witch was a downer.

            We went to Lazy Moon Pizza again because it’s really good. After Lazy Moon Pizza we went to tour Rollins College for a few people that are looking at colleges.

Isaac Brenman x3

By

Isaac Brenman

This expedition was the third one. It was on the Suwannee River. The campsites that we stayed at were like four star hotels. They had electricity and hot running water. We got no fish on the river. The water looks like Coca Cola so we call it the Coca Cola River. We met a lot of nice people on the river. One of the camp hosts had a dog named Poop dog. Poop dog was a very nice dog. That’s was at Blue Springs just off the Suwannee River. The water was crystal clear. You could see the bottom of the 30 ft. deep pool. The water was 72 degrees. Which is pretty warm for a spring? On the way back we went to Lazy Moon pizza. The expedition was a lot of fun.

ANDERS MOST INTERESTING EXPEDITION

Hello again my loyal viewers!

            This weeks blog is going to be a very interesting one, mostly because I was unable to go on the expedition with my team.

            Due to some unacceptable action which I had prior to leaving for my team’s second Florida trip, I was put on OSS. For those who are unfamiliar what OSS is, OSS is out of school suspension.  So instead of going to Florida, I had to stay at base camp in North Carolina in the semi cold and live in the X cabin for about eight days.

            I can tell you that the X cabin is definately not my favorite cabin. When it rains, it leaks, and it has no insolation, so when it’s cold out it just freezes the cabin.

            Though I would rather have gone to Florida, I believe that my time on OSS was essential for me so I can turn over a new leaf at Soar and really succeed.

            While I was in the X cabin, pretty much the only thing that I did, and was allowed to do was, sit in my sleeping bag, and process all of the consequences of my actions, and everything else that had to do with why I was on OSS.

            I was probably able to go over every instance of bad, which I had done while I was at Soar, and recognize all of the consequences that those actions had here at Soar, and not at Soar. It really shocked me when I finally realized all of the effects that my actions have caused. Since OSS I have made it my goal right now not to get back on OSS and to go on the straight and narrow road, so I don’t run of and fall in a life’s ditch.

Well this is pretty much my whole expedition. I know its not very exciting, but trust me, it could have been much worse!

            Well thanks for reading this weeks blog!

            Anders Deboom

Isaac Brenman x3

By

Isaac Brenman

This expedition was the third one. It was on the Suwannee River. The campsites that we stayed at were like four star hotels. They had electricity and hot running water. We got no fish on the river. The water looks like Coca Cola so we call it the Coca Cola River. We met a lot of nice people on the river. One of the camp hosts had a dog named Poop dog. Poop dog was a very nice dog. That’s was at Blue Springs just off the Suwannee River. The water was crystal clear. You could see the bottom of the 30 ft. deep pool. The water was 72 degrees. Which is pretty warm for a spring? On the way back we went to Lazy Moon pizza. The expedition was a lot of fun.

The Suwannee River Expedition

   The Suwannee River Expedition By Chris Veno

          On this expedition we went to the Suwannee River in northern Florida.  We canoed for five days and had a lot of fun.  I have been working on my rad tan and sick-nasty abs.  We saw 103 turtles while we were canoeing on the pristine Suwannee River.  I paddled with Jon, Doug, Aaron, and Alec.  They all thought that I am a powerhouse in the front of the canoe. 

          At Holton Creek the temperature went down to 31 degrees Fahrenheit at night which is very unusual for March in northern Florida.  We saw five Gulf Sturgeon jump in the river and one of them was eight feet long.  They are an amazing sight to behold when they jump out of the water. 

At Lafayette Blue Springs I got Poison Ivy while I was digging up Bullbrier Greenbrier for the roots because you can make flour out of the roots.  Digging up Bullbrier roots takes a lot of strength because you have to break through tree and plant roots and that is a lot of hard work. 

          At Hanna Park we went to the beach and Doug and I played catch with the Frisbee.  While at the beach I went swimming in my boxers because I was wearing jeans and I did not want them to get wet.  While I was swimming the waves pants me a couple of times and it was really funny. 

Memorable moments on the Suwannee By Jon Adkins

One of the main memorable moments that I had while I was on the Suwannee is the day that I paddled over twenty miles by myself in a canoe. One of the parts that made it more memorable is that I tied two canoe paddles together and made a make-shift kayak paddle. That made it go by a lot faster than it would have if I just used a single paddle.

            Another memorable moment that I had on the Suwannee was on the third to last day where we stopped for lunch on the river where there was a rope swing. The main part that made it more memorable for me was that Sophie had her camera and was taking pictures of us jumping off the rope swing. The part that I remember the most is the picture of Chris that was of him in a ninja position in the air. It was very funny to see.

            The final memorable moment that I had was when we were at the Lafayette Blue Spring and was when Aaron, Alec, Chris and I were asked by the camp host to bring an aluminum framed park bench up a flight of stairs and couldn’t do it because of the heaviness of the bench and the width of the stair well. However all we could do was the all wood bench (which by the camp host was thought to be heavier than the aluminum framed one). We got that one up the stairs in no time and even got a bit of time to talk to her and got to go on a private porch that only the camp hosts get to go on.

            In conclusion there were many moments while I was on the Suwannee River that I will remember always with the Rebel Tribe.

The Wild Water by Alec Thompson

On the Rebel Tribe’s third expedition to Florida, we had a 27-mile paddle day on the Suwannee River. It was a warm sunny Florida day and we had already paddled 2o miles. We were paddling at a good rhythm and we heard the sound of rapids and thought we had miscalculated the river plan. We knew the river was low and we didn't expect the river to have rapids.  We looked ahead and saw some small rapids. The next thing we saw as we approached the rapids was a huge gulf sturgeon jump out of the water and land to my left. It surprised my boat (Chris and I) and it surprised Sophie’s boat (Sophie and Aaron).  After stopping before the rapids we saw two more jump. Then Sophie called out to be ready to run the rapids. Sophie’s Boat when first, then it went in this order: Jon( who was in the solo boat), Alex and he- shall-not-be-named, Chris and I, and finally Doug and Coley. It was a wild ride and Chris and I barely touched a sunken log in the water and got some water in our boat. It was really exciting and we finished it without any flip-over’s.  We paddled the rest of the day rapid free and made it to camp before sunset. This expedition was filled with fun and adventure, so I hope Costa Rica is the same way.  Our second to last expedition is coming up fast! it will be a fun filled and hopefully be a awsome ride, and many stories will be coming back from costa rica.

Everglades Expedition By Alex Wilds 3-4-11

            I write song lyrics a lot and on this last expedition I have written 4. A lot of my team members are musically talented. I am hopeful that we can write and play some songs together. That would be really cool and really great. I am going to try to make a band when I get home with some of my friends. It’s a good idea to put together a temporary band here at SOAR because we have a songwriter, base player, guitar player, and some people that play the drums. I have a few songs that we can make. One is Plastic Bag and another I can’t find right now. I hope that we can play one or two songs at the end of the semester.

Fishing and Catching Sun in the ‘Glades Aaron Gordon

            This latest expedition, we traveled to Everglades National Park for a 6-day canoe trip that took us through the brackish mangroves all the way out into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.  Throughout the whole canoe trip, we caught tons of Catfish, some Sand Perch, and Jon and I caught a Black-tip shark.  This expedition was the first time I actually caught a decent sized eating fish, and not a baitfish. 

            While we were in the Keys, I had no idea what I was doing when it came to fishing.  However, over this past expedition, Anders has helped me a lot with fishing.  He began teaching me fishing knots, and giving me his all- knowing knowledge on fishing.  Anders, Jon and I spent countless hours fishing during our canoe trip.  All around, it was awesome! 

            Along with all of the fishing we did, we caught a lot of sun.  As it usually goes with people who don’t face the sun a lot, we faced some pretty nasty burns.  However, the aftermaths of the burns were some nice looking tans. 

            Overall, this expedition was a lot of fun.  The Everglades is definitely a place I would like to visit in the future, maybe without the bugs though.  

Everglades

       I just got back from the Everglades, it was a great trip I had a lot of fun. We had a lot of luck on fishing.  We got a lot of catfish and shark and ate them for dinner. They were great to eat. We got to see some great views and the green flash, it was cool. We got to stay at a campsite where a killer lived in the 1800’s.  It was cool. The name is the Watson place. We also stayed at a beach called picnic. It was cool. I had my tent on the beach an inch from the water and I got to fall asleep to the sound o

Anders amazing post

3/4/11 Anders Deboom

Hello again my loyal fans!

This is Anders Deboom with this week’s SOAR report. This week I’m going to be telling you all about the animals and fish that we saw during our last expedition to the Everglades. The categories I will be talking about will be animals, fish, wildlife, and cool views.

The first thing I am going to be talking about is the fishing. We were able to fish literally every day, even if it was only for a little time. While we were fishing, we were able to catch many different types of fish. A few of these were: lady fish, mangrove snapper, sail cat, sea cat, and lizard fish. Since we didn’t bring any bait with us into the Everglades, we were made to catch our own bait using our natural resources. We found shell fish and cracked them open to use the meat on the inside, and we brought a casting net which we were able to use to some good.

The second thing I will be talking to you about will be the interesting animals that we saw. There were very few actual animals that we saw, but of the few that we did see, there were lots of them. The main animals that we saw were: alligators, crocodiles, key dear, white tail dear, various types of lizards, and way too many raccoons.

                The third thing that I will be telling all of you about is all of the amazing sights which I saw. Probably some of the most amazing sights that I saw were the amazing sunrises and sunsets. During these times, the sun literally turned blood red with some sections of the sky turning a brilliant pumpkin orange.

                Another thing that I saw that I think that everyone would like to know is all of the crazy tide pools that I saw. Unlike the sludge like mucky water that you paddle through the different places in the mangroves, these tidal pools are crystal clear and full of crazy and interesting organisms. One of the coolest things that I saw while in these tidal pools was the horse shoe crabs. Horse shoe crabs are crazy, because they are not only millions of years old, but when they bleed, their blood is blue. Also inside these tidal pools you will find small crabs, hermit crabs, and many amazingly different colored shells.

                These were the most amazing things that our group did, and see throughout this entire trip.

After all of these things above which I have talked about, I have had a special request from a few bloggers to tell some of you a story or two that occurred during our amazing adventure to the everglades.

My first story is going to be of the water fights that our group had.

                Throughout the entire trip, Sophie was constantly splashing us. Her excuse for it was that we weren’t paddling hard enough. Or on another instance, someone splashed Sophie, and whenever you splash Sophie, that to her is a declaration of WAR! :). Once Sophie or anyone else starts a war, it becomes every boat for himself. My boat which for most days was Isaac (and I), attempted to get away from it. In the end our cause was hopeless, because after every water fight, in the end we needed to bail water out of our canoe.

My second story is going to be about those little furry annoyances called raccoons!

 The raccoons I saw were some of the most rambunctious and fearless little fluffy devils that I have ever seen. They never gave up, and never showed any signs of fear.

                The most hilarious experience that anyone here had with the raccoons was Aaron. One night when we were having dinner, I was stalking raccoon with Alec. We noticed that there was a raccoon over by our gear pile right next to Aaron’s gear to we called him over to make sure nothing was being taken. Aaron walked over to investigate his gear, and noticed that par of one of his swimming trunks was sticking half way out of one of the bushes, and being slowly dragged into it. He grabbed his trunks lifting them up. When he pulled the swimming pants up, on the end of it was a nice little furry paw that didn’t want o let its colorful prize go. Aaron gave a hard yank, and the raccoon gave sudden yelp and upon letting go, ducked back down under the bush and galloped away. I could just imagine that silly raccoon chastising himself for his bad luck. Trust me! No one left anything out after that! J

Well this is the end of this week amazing outdoor adventures. Thanks for reading, and don’t hesitate to put up any personal requests for what you would like to know.

Pleas have a nice day, and ill tell you something new next time on…… Anders Amazing Adventures:  du du du dum!!!!!

By ANDERS DEBOOM

Everglades Expedition By Chris Veno

           Everglades Expedition By Chris Veno

            We had a long drive to get down to Florida, but it was a fun drive because we were jammin’ to our music.  The first campsite that we stayed at was Manatee Springs State Park and we had a lot of fun there.  While we were there we dug up loblolly pines because they were invasive and they outgrow the longleaf pines.  Digging up the loblolly pines was a lot of fun and we uprooted a large loblolly pine.  At Manatee Springs some of us went swimming and others went fishing.  At Manatee Springs I saw a brown water snake chillin on a tree. 

            The next place that we went to was Collier Seminole State Park and that is when Sophie braided my hair on the van ride there.  My braids are sick and twisted.  Everyone says that I look like an indigenous tribe member with braids.  At Collier Seminole State Park Aaron took pictures of me head banging while playing “Another Way You Can Die” on Alex’s acoustic guitar.  Next we left for our canoe trip in the Everglades.  On the first and second day of canoeing I was paddle partners with Alex Wilds and we told lots of funny stories to each other.  On the third day I paddled with Doug and we were jamming to LYNYRD SKYNYRD on my iPod Touch and it reminded me of when dad used to drive me to school and we would jam out to LYNYRD SKYNYRD in the car.  On the last days of canoeing I paddled with Alec Thompson and we came up with a good paddling system that benefited both of us.  On the last day of canoeing there were dolphins that were swimming right next to our canoes and following us.  We also got along really well and he is now a great friend. 

            The Everglades are absolutely amazing and I identified a couple of species of plants and animals.  I really want to go back there some time because it is very pristine and beautiful. 

Some Adventures on the Second Trip to the Everglades By Jon Adkins

Even though I’ve been here to the Everglades before there is always something new when you go back. This time around I even got to go to some of the same places that I went the first time. They were Pavilion Key, Picnic Key, and Watson Key. We also stayed at a new campsite to me called Lopez Key. That was a lot of fun to go to those campsites on the islands in the mangroves, but we also stayed on some beach campsites where it was a bit windier. That was a pretty good thing because the wind would blow away the biting insects and leave us alone even though we weren’t always wearing bug spray because most of use ran out of the stuff. In order the keys that we went to are Lopez, Watson, Pavilion, and Picnic.

The second place that we went to was Watson Key. Watson key is the one with all the old farm equipment, fireplace, and water holder. It was also one of the only ones that we were camping on dirt and not sand which was a very nice commodity. That was also the day that caught a few catfish and in the night get the cast net destroyed by some raccoons.

I believe on the third day was when we went to Pavilion Key which is a beach campsite and stayed there for two days. While we were there on the second day when we were fishing Aaron and me caught a three to three-and-a-half foot Black tip Shark. We also caught a combination of eight catfish that were mostly caught by me. We also did some school while we were there but mostly either went swimming, fishing, or exploring.      

In conclusion there are many things that I will always remember that is good and bad from this expedition for example going to the Lazy Moon to see some of Doug’s friends and to get some great pizza in Orlando Florida.

In the Canoe

The rebel tribe’s second expedition to Florida was warm and fun- filled. On our second to last day in the Everglades we stayed at Picnic Key for a chill day. The paddle day before, we didn’t get to fish so we did school and then had about three to four hours of fishing. Aaron had caught three Sail cat (Catfish) already. I caught one Catfish too. Jon was fishing when we heard him say “I got a big one”. We all rushed over to him and once he reeled it in, we grabbed it and put on the stringer. It was three times the size of the other Catfish. We identified it and it was another Sail Cat. Jon casted the line back out and in about two minutes he had something big on the line. Aaron reeled it, and it was a Blacktip Shark. We cheered and then we realized that we had lost the fillet knife at the last campsite. What would we cut the fish and shark with? Then Doug came out with the knife and said to earn it back we would have to do a song and dance (involving fishing, canoeing, “pumping”, bronzing, and the fillet knife). The name of the title hints our song. It will be very funny if you look very well, you might even see a penguin attached to a fishing line!  This is our video of the performance, so enjoy!