Day 1 Blog post: Aislinn Dugan

Today was an eventful day to say the least! We met up bright and early (7am) at Ross hall to pack up the trailer, and enjoyed some delicious biscuits and honey courtesy of Robbie D. We said farewell to those who came to see us off and hit the road around 9am.
After a few hours of driving/gangsta rap music/dancing/sleeping we arrived at the Green Park Inn, in Blowing Rock North Carolina, and the source of the Yadkin Pee Dee River that we will be paddling to the coast of South Carolina. I was expecting to find a flowing pristine spring head on the property of the Inn but instead we were directed to a metal grate in the middle of the paved parking lot we were parked in. About 10 feet down there were a bunch of pipes. Coming out of a small yellow pipe was a steady stream of clear water which we concluded was the source.
A few Kodak moments were captured and as newly initiated V.O.R. members we were told it is tradition to collect a small container full of source water to carry with us on our journey.  we were given the option of getting water at a lower point seeing as the source was a little out of reach, but being the determined group that we are we decided not to settle for less but to honor age old tradition. A few ideas where thrown out involving grate removal and sponge lowering. As we were all standing around the grate contemplating our task i looked down and saw  the head and torso of a man coming out of one  of the larger pipes. After I screamed I realized it was Brian who decided to shimmie into the pipe to get to the source. Task complete and time for lunch with a view on the Parkway.
After lunch we drove to our put in below the W Scott Kerr reservoir where we packed up, went over river safety and finally got on the river to begin our journey to the coast.
We paddled for 7.6 miles to Smoot Park in North Wilksboro. We were greeted on the river bank by Max, Monty (president of Yadkin River Association), and some serious storm clouds. We pulled our boats up and unpacked. As the last tent was zipped up the wind picked up and lightening started flashing. Next thing I know tents are being ripped out of the ground, rain is pouring down and people are scattering. Some headed for shelter under one of the pavilions, the rest frantically retrieved tents and stakes from the trees.
We met up under the pavilion (completely soaked) to wait out the storm. The local police rolled up a few times to check on us and after about an hour the lightening subsided and our next missions were dinner and tent relocation. After retrieving tents from puddles we dined on the most delicious burritos I've ever tasted. It's been a pretty eventful trip so far and the adventure has only just begun.