After serving as the co-chairperson for Savage Fest 2017, Norma was willing and ready to take on leadership responsibilities less than a week later by organizing a family-friendly camping weekend at Tuckahoe State Park for our friends. The last time we did a trip like this was June 17-19, 2016. She's really good at putting together this kind of stuff. Just as importantly, people are drawn to her magnetic personality and willing to attend events that she organizes.

Norma and I left the house around 1430. I was hoping to get across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge before the mad rush to get to the eastern shore but we were not successful. I guess that was not surprising. For many families, this was the first weekend of summer vacation and the first sunny, warm weekend in quite awhile. Just ten days prior, I was still kayaking while wearing a wetsuit but this weekend, none was needed.

The forecast called for lots of sun, warm weather, and no rain. Almost ideal for me though Norma would have preferred it to be a little cooler.

Rather than take highway 50 south, we took highway 301 east followed by back roads that kept us off route 404. These back roads reminded me why I love the eastern shore. There was one house with a flagpole that proudly displayed our national and state flags. On top of this pole was not a ball or an eagle finial, but rather a chicken. I found it funny, lighthearted, but yet sacreligious at the same time. Overall, I liked it though I don't think I would have the guts to do the same.

Upon arriving, we were greeted by Stacy, her granddaughter; Harald, Rekha, their two sons; Mark, Allison, and their daughter.

A park ranger came by to show us one of their raptors in their scales and tales program. It was a screech owl.
After dark, Joyce and Jimmy and their two daughters arrived.

We went to bed just a little later. I often sleep with ear plugs to get uninterrupted sleep but I wanted to hear the nature sounds so tonight I did not. We heard owls and what we think was a pack of coyotes. That was worth getting woken up for.

Norma was up early cooking breakfast. The plan was for our group to be at the lake boat house when it opened at 0800 so we could all rent boats. On such a nice weekend, there was a possibility that a large youth group would rent them all. I headed out first with Stacy and her granddaughter right behind me.

The last time we were there on July 11, 2015, the boat house opened about 15 minutes late. This was also the case today. Fortunately, there was no line. Stacy rented a tandem kayak as the others trickled in.

Allison was not feeling well so Mark and their daughter decided to stay behind to be closer to her.

I got a call from Federico who was on his way with his son.

We didn't get on the water until 0930, an hour later than I would have preferred. I would have liked to have given an introduction to paddling and the area before we got on the water but folks got on the water at different times and we were all anxious to get going so that didn't work out.

I took the lead while Norma pulled up the rear. I was prepared with my first aid kit, tow ropes, and loppers.

Joyce had a tough job paddling her canoe while keeping watch over her younger daughter. This really wasn't a good trip for young, restless children.
From the lake, we made our way up Tuckahoe Creek which was lush was vegetation.
Norma and some of our group in the back spotted this northern water snake. Unfortunately, I missed it.
There was never a time when our whole group was together so this is about as close as we got to a group photo.
The water looked flat but there was a very gentle downstream current to remind us that we were paddling upstream.
Federico probably had the toughest job paddling his single kayak with his son on his lap. This would have been quite a physical challenge for anyone. Yet I never heard any complaint from either of them.
In the upstream area, we encountered various obstacles. But that's part of what made the trip interesting.

I helped the others when I could, though it wasn't always obvious to me that people needed help until I saw the paddlers behind me having difficulty.
There were more turtles out than I could count. But there was other wildlife too, such as this red-winged blackbird.
I found some turtle eggs that were not buried and had gone bad. These had imploded. Unlike chicken eggs, the shells on these are more flexible so they bend rather than crack.
We reached out destination which was the campground canoe launch. Norma took folks to the bathroom for a break and then checked up on Allison. After about 25 minutes, we headed back downstream. I took a slightly different route to give the group a little more variety. Both the upstream and downstream routes had some obstacles. I've taken beginner kayakers on this trip before without any problems but I don't think I would do this again for beginners with families. Things get difficult when you have two adults and two young kids in a canoe.

We were out for around three hours and paddled approximately four miles.

As we pulled ashore, I saw Rey, Esther, and their sons launching. I took them to the mouth of the creek and told them they should go until it splits and gets shady. They ended up being out on the water for 50 minutes until their kids decided they were done.

Later that afternoon, we went to the park office for an owl pellet dissection.
Owl pellets are slimy pellets formed by the owl's digestion system and then regurgitated. They're composed of hair, bones, teeth, feathers, scales, and insect parts. Since their stomach acid is relatively weak, these hard parts of the prey are relatively intact. So dissection of the pellet easily reveals what they've been eating.
- from Pellet.com - Owl Pellet Dissection

The staff at the park office didn't seem to know this event was on their schedule until a large group of us showed up. But it didn't take them long to get set up. They had lots of foil-wrapped, dry owl pellets for folks to open up and dissect. They provided rubber gloves and tools for dissecting.

We were introduced to the same screech owl we saw yesterday.
While I'm sure this little owl in the above pic produces pellets, I believe the ones we dissected were from the larger owls. The raptors maintained by the park are deemed non-releaseable because they would not survive in the wild on their own. So instead, they are kept at the park and used to educate the public and enhance our appreciation of wildlife.

We got to go into the office and see some of the reptiles. Here's Stacy's granddaughter petting a corn snake.
Federico and his son left. We wouldn't see them again over the weekend.

After dinner, Stacy took us to the lake dam where she taught the kids how to fish. She brought a lot of small fishing poles on loan from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

If you wanted to try fishing, today was the day to do it because June 10th is designated a free fishing day (no license required) in Maryland.

This was a great place to fish. The only problem was that sometimes turtles would go after the bait.

There were plenty of blue gills to catch, and after about 90 minutes, every kid fishing caught at least one fish. Since we were doing catch-and-release, it is possible that the same fish was caught multiple times.

This is me helping Mark and Allison's daughter bait a hook. I am a novice when it comes to putting a worm on a hook but with more practice, maybe I will be a master baiter. Ha, ha.
After fishing, we saw a large turtle by the lake that was laying eggs. Here, it is covering them up.
Around the evening campfire, the kids sat around and played their video games. Why bother interacting with each other when you've got a personal video game?

That night, we heard more owls.

On our last day, we met back at the park office and got a private tour of their aviary.

After packing up, Norma led us on a walk on the Lore of the Land Nature Trail. We saw some prickly pear cactus in bloom.

On the way home, Harald, Rekha, their sons, Norma, and I stopped at Red, Hot, and Blue in Annapolis for a late lunch. Not surprisingly, traffic was slow but at least it kept moving.

Thinking about this trip, I realize how difficult it is to find an activity (e.g. kayaking/canoeing) that is suitable for all ages. Oftentimes, I don't think it can be done. Children of different ages have different abilities and level of interest/attention span. What I think is a suitable route might not be good for families with small children. I think activities such as this might best be left to park staff who have experience dealing with children. They tend to know the cutoff in terms of ages for what is and isn't suitable. It may not be apparent to me, but maybe that's because I'm not a parent.