Draggin' out of Bed for Dragon Boat Racin'
by Denise Janus
We were all invited to breakfast at Mary Scanlon’s house, a team member of the Steel City Dragons, and Larry Wentzel, head coach of the Dragon Boat racing team www.steelcitydragons.org. Mike Means, his father Dave, Dr. Carpenter, Joe Wallace, and Dr. Gerhart accepted the offer and actually got to race in one of the Dragon Boats after a heavy meal of French toast and fruit! The hospitality never ends! Mr. Wentzel was impressed with the rowing capabilities of Mike, who he tried to recruit for his team, saying, “You aren’t going back to Detroit, you’re staying here with me!” Good work Mike!
The rest of us were just too worn out to drag ourselves out of bed after yesterday. I opted to stay in my sleeping bag, but those that raced in the Dragon Boat had an awesome time! The past few mornings have been painful. We’ve paddled about a hundred miles in five days. Add that to all of the events, excitement and sleeping on the ground and your body starts to tell you about it. Mornings are the worst, my shoulders hurt and my fingers don’t want to operate. Then when I try to sit up there’s an overwhelming force trying to pull me back down. But once I take a few ibuprofen and get moving the pain subsides.
When the team members came back from the Dragon Boats we all headed out to the Braddock Carnegie Library for the 250th Anniversary of the French and Indian War. We saw actual writings from Braddock and Washington, which was neat and really tied everything together. We watched some French and Indian re-enactors for a while, toured the museum, put our canoe on display for a while, and then headed back for some Pittsburgh time. We drove up Mount Washington to take some beautiful photos overlooking Pittsburgh and the Point, had ice cream, and then did a little bit of shopping. After that we hit the hay hard for our long drive back home – finally.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
This morning we packed up camp for the last time, packed up the vehicles, and headed back home. We accomplished what we set out to do, and while we’re all happy to close the door on this chapter and see our families once again, there is a touch of sadness that the adventure is over. I, personally, can’t wait for the next one…