All Work and All Play!

I am busy, busy, busy, but the work all adds up to play! I have some really exciting Team Green treks coming up over the next six weekends or so and am not sure if I should consider them work or paid vacation! This weekend, Labor Day weekend, I'm spending three days and two nights at the Len Foote Hike-Inn at Amicalola Falls in Northern Georgia. The inn is only accessible by foot on a five mile trail and is named after Leonard Foote, a conservationist, biologist and nature photographer. He dedicated much of his life to teaching of conservation, oudoor saftey and preservation of the wilderness. The inn, therefore, is a tribute to him and exists as a completely green structure. The building is LEED certified (Leader in Energy and Environmental Design) with composting toilets, solar panels, rain water harvesting. The staff at the Hike-Inn will cook all of our meals for us, provide linens and hot water, so all we need to do is hike, relax, and enjoy our labor-less weekend!

The following weekend I could choose between the Oyster Urban Adventure Race or the Ocoee White Water Rafting Weekend Getaway. Since Laurel will be participating in the Oyster Race, I will be co-leading the white water rafting trip. We will leave Friday evening after work at car camp at the Big Frog Campground. Saturday we will raft the full Ocoee (Upper and Middle sections) and Sunday we have the choice of either rafting again for half a day or mountain biking... Decision, decisions.

The Upper section was apparently used during the 1996 Olympic Whitewater challenge! This will be my first time white-water anything! The tech department has equipt me with a helmet cam, which I used during the Dragon Boat Race last weekend. I will be mountain biking on Sunday, so if I don't fall in the water and completely destroy the helmet cam on Saturday, I'll get to catch any crazy mountain bike bloopers I may encounter!

On the weekend of September 12 through the 14th, Team Green is going on its always popular Pickett State Park Weekend Getaway for more camping and hiking. If we get a large enough crowd for that event, I will be joining Suzanne as co-leader, otherwise I will stay in Nashville and help out with the Nashville Clean Water Project:Percy Priest Lake Cleanup event on September 13th. I had to miss out on the last cleanup because family was in town and did not want to subject them to the horrible littering that has infested Percy Priest Lake islands. People boat out to these islands, camp, party, and leave all of their trash behind, assuming what? That the magical Percy Priest fairy will waive her magic wand and make all the garbage disappear? No. Instead volunteers from around Nashville, LaVergne, Smyrna, and all over come out do what they can to reverse the damage. Check out these articles from the Tennessean and Channel4 News.

Events to follow include the Buffalo River Canoe Float, in which we will take the lessons from Percy Priest and help collect trash as we float along the scenic Buffalo River, and Tsali Weekend Adventure at Nantahala Recreational Area in North Carolina. We’ll mountain bike at Tsali, hike the trails around Tsali and the Smokies, and paddle the Nantahala River. Because this trek is so far away and there are so many things to do, Team Green added a day to make this weekend adventure a four day trip. Again, I don't know if I should consider this work or paid vacations!