Caloosahatchee Campout
Caloosahatchee River Park, Alva, FL, February 10-12, 2017,
Bicycle paradise! If you like bikes, this was the campout for you. As Friday afternoon led into the cooler evening, the GSN tribes had a chance to settle into their sites for dinner, dessert, campfires and a rare astronomical triple play of full moon, lunar eclipse and comet – along with Chief Chupacabra and his Spirit Stick!
Everyone was up early on Saturday to start a full day of activities. With 768 acres of pine flatwoods, scrub oak, cypress swamps and oak hammocks, the options were open. Some of the Dorados started with the hiking trails. The Chesapeakes started with the bike trails. Despite being only 5-10 years old, their kids took on the intermediate trails and took down all 3.6 miles of trails, hills, jumps and stunts. Their parents are so proud. Later in the day, the Catawbas tackled the advanced trails with ease!
Events for Saturday afternoon and evening were represented well by all tribes. At 4 o’clock we had a critter race, with a spider and a butterfly racing to win. 7pm was the GSN Lighted Bike Parade. The kids bikes were all decorated with glow sticks, Christmas lights, magic wands and the like. After meeting at the Caloosahatchee Boulder, the dozens of GSN kids proudly paraded their bikes throughout the entire park, getting much applause. The Arawaks were very well represented, as Becca took one prize, along with Sam of the Chesapeakes for best decorated bikes.
Just as it was time to start settling down, the Dorados and Chesapeakes put on movie night, with The Secret Life of Pets entertaining the kids (and dads). With the kids tucked into bed, the dads huddled around the campfires for another gorgeous full moon night. Unfortunately, on Sunday the weekend was over and it was time to go home. After driving through the sites for final inspection, not a single piece of litter could be found – the GSN was well represented.
