Day 8 Blog post continued

Lunch was fast as well; it seemed like there was a sense of urgency because we all knew what lay ahead in just a few hours - a hot shower! Before we headed off, and after we ate some delicious gluten free brownies, Jenny gave us an ultimatum; we could either paddle Tuckertown lake or take our time site seeing and go to our campsite early at Morrow Mountain State Park. I'm sure you know what option we chose. So we all piled into the van and headed to our first destination High rock dam. On the way I absolutely got what I asked for, we went from seeing water and trees to small towns and stop lights. It was a new perspective of the river basin that I didn't expect to see. We listened to some awesome classic rock and before we knew it we were pulled into parking lot in the town of Badin across the street from the ALCOA factory. We took pictures and made mean faces in front of the factory then Cameron informed us that ice cream was on him! We were stoked. I had delicious vanilla Orange cream on a waffle cone. We sat outside in the hot sun and ate that ice cream fast as we could. I don't remember how it happened but someone brought up the showering later and I freaked because we had no shampoo nor conditioner. By the grace of god I remembered my credit card and we were by a gas station and bought the last set of shampoo and conditioner left. It was an exciting moment for everyone, we would finally smell good! We arrived at camp around five and luckily, since I bought the showering supplies I was the first to use them. That was honestly the best shower I have ever had; and of course after the fact I found out that shaving my legs was a possibility because Aislinn had a razor!  After the life changing shower the rest of the day and night were pretty relaxed. Dinner was so so good, we ate potato soup with all the fixings made by Tucker, I think it's everyone's new favorite camping dish. Before class Austin and I made a trip down to the lake, it didn't last long though because for the second time today he was attacked by some vicious ants. It was pretty funny watching him dance around like a crazy man. My favorite part of the night and the last event to occur before I begin this blog was our group discussion on the communication of recreation, conservation and education to the people who inhabit the Yadkin river basin. Everyone expressed some great ideas and opinions on the subject, seriously we are a bunch of smart and creative individuals! Before bed we also reflected on what each of us has learned so far on the river. In all I really enjoy our group dynamics and our ability to communicate effectively, it makes for bunches of interesting conversations. I am looking forward to our upcoming adventures but for now I am hitting the sheets!