Paddle party

Moo! It's 5:15 a.m. Time to get up! Don't sleep your life away! The morning birds have been chattering for some time now, warning that Jim Meyer, our cargo master, would soon be tip-toeing through our campsite carrying that boombox. Every year he comes up with a different wake-up incentive. Rex Klein, our trip leader, is adamant that we Rumblers are down at the landing for his briefing by 8 a.m. It's the beginning of another wonderful day on the Great River Rumble (GRR).

Since 1995, I've planned my summer vacation around this one-week adventure with this eclectic group of paddling enthusiasts. Every year GRR takes us on magnificent waterways. The Mississippi River is usually included. We've also paddled the Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri rivers, and several major tributaries, like the Des Moines, Red Cedar, Chippewa, Kickapoo, Grand and Gasconade rivers.

Lying in my tent, I can hear the camp stirring and the doors on the port-a-potties slamming. Breakfast is being set up by our caterers. There's always plenty of hot coffee and a hearty breakfast waiting for us. Each of our campsites has been meticulously planned since our annual meeting the previous November by a volunteer landing chairman. This person ensures we have comfortable campsites, showers, a hearty dinner and breakfast, showers and clean port-a-potties.

Oh, there's our landing chairman now calling us to breakfast. Have your six bucks ready for a full gourmet meal of eggs, sausage, fruit, biscuits, coffee and milk. Sometimes we get a local service club or Scouts to flip pancakes. Lunches are often pre-ordered. Dinner last night was served after we landed, pitched our campsites, showered and practiced rolls or rescue at Pete's School of Kayaking.

Happy hour with friends new and old is a time-honored GRR tradition. Evenings are mellow with singing around a campfire, stargazing or scouting the local town for ice cream.

After breakfast, it's time to take the tents and equipment down, and get all the gear loaded in our cargo truck. Meyer knows precisely how to get duffle bags, camp chairs and coolers for 150 paddlers transported to our next landing.

By 8 a.m. the fog has usually burned off the water and Klein is ready to have us all "gather in close" to hear the details of the day's route and what to expect at the coming landing.

Klein and John Miller are the fellows who have put together the trips 15 years now. Klein is the guy behind the megaphone, and Miller is the guy behind the computer. Both carry big paddles. Klein knows intimately the river and the route we will take today. Miller usually steers our Voyageur trade canoe, a replica of those used during the fur trading era of the 1700s.

There is nothing more magical than pushing off from shore on an early summer morning with 130 of your closest paddling friends. To see 90 canoes and kayaks on the river at once is beautiful. On other occasions we may paddle with several friends or maybe a dozen boats at once. But to be gliding down the river in a flotilla of this size causes people on the banks to stop and stare, and sets motorists honking as we pass under bridges. Many times, particularly on the Mississippi River, we fill a lock with our canoes, kayaks and safety powerboats.

The view from the boats is of the bluffs, blue skies, sunlight reflecting off the water and bald eagles and other birds circling downstream.

Another awesome site is of the occasional black thunderhead. We're off the water during lightning and thunder, and we have prearranged safe refuge at each landing. As Klein says, "We never fool with Mother Nature." Safety is practiced on the water, safety boats are manned by certified first responders and we're guided by paddling experts.

Klein leads, sometimes out on the main channel, sometimes through the sloughs. There are days when we face head winds and whitecaps, and others where the warm winds push us downstream like sailboats. By the end of each paddling day we've covering 15 to 30 miles.

Lunch is enjoyed on sandbars or in riverfront parks. Many days we pull over to just play in the sand for an hour. People enjoy swimming, relaxing on the beach, flying kites, playing Frisbee and sharing snacks with their new and well-established summer friends.

These summer friends are what bring us back year after year. Many Rumblers paddle together in the off-season and keep in touch throughout the year. We all have a common love, and that is reserving seven days from late July to early August to enjoy these beautiful rivers together.

While the event has grown, the cost has not over the past 15 years. GRR charges $200. Meals cost $20 to $25 a day more.

Our final evening together we celebrate with a banquet. Awards are given for memorable occurrences during the week. Recognition is given to the Rumble's volunteers who make the whole thing happen. Last pictures are taken, and e-mail addresses and phone numbers are exchanged. After a year of planning, the week goes by too quickly. In a couple more weeks it'll be fall. GRR will get together the first weekend in November to start the cycle over again. You can bet on it.

Join us this year, July 31 to August 7, as we paddle 135 miles down the great Mississippi River from just north of Dubuque, Iowa, to Muscatine, Iowa. Find us on the Web at www.riverrumble.org.

Moo! Don't sleep your life away!