Tom arrived around 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon and found the area next to the Blanchard River marked with Wil and Gloria's tent. They were precisely downtown Gilboa, Ohio, in a lot that was graciously furnished to them adjacent to a maintenance building. They had an iron bridge over the river next to them which dated back to the early 1900s, but better than that was Hillside Winery just across the street. The winery seems to be the only attraction to the village, and the number of people it attracted was amazing, but the opening hours seemed to be too short. Harold and Laurie were next to arrive; Tom had to finish his glass of wine to go greet them.
Gloria arrived and immediately set a kitchen to start a Dutch oven chicken pot pie. Jock and Deb came in and set up, by this time trip leader Wil showed up from his new retirement job. Liz and Maria arrived and set up their tents and Paul also came in. Lance came in for the evening but had business to attend to the next day.
As Gloria's big chicken pot pie was nearing readiness Wil and Tom had gravy and biscuits for an appetizer. The big pot pie was a real hit, and everyone else brought out their food for dinner on Friday evening. After dinner they had a nice little campfire and refreshments that all enjoyed until bedtime. They had to walk a few blocks to find an outhouse type facility, but no one complained.
Saturday morning all had breakfast, Wil and Tom again shared gravy and biscuits. They left Gilboa by 9 a.m. and Jock shuttled all the boats to Blanchard Landing for the put in. Gloria took pictures of them before they left. The trip had some interesting areas of history and some strange sites like a bucket about 15 feet up in the tree, a sure sign of high water in the past. The river was up moderately, they would have had a hard time of it with less water. Arriving back at camp around 1 p.m., all enjoyed their lunch, after that most of the group went to the hillside winery for a glass or a bottle of wine.
Harold brought out the games which drew a lot of interest under the shade tree, and quarters were changing hands rapidly. Tom left early for other commitments and the rest of the group went to the county fair to enjoy themselves and have fair food for supper.
View All Pictures From the Blanchard River