Friday, August 19; 1:30pm
Creeking Adventure
Moreland’s Bend in Butler (10 minutes south of Alexandria, KY)
FREE
Organizer: Susan F.

All the recent dry weather has created some of the best conditions in several years for exploring creeks and river areas. Vikki Rawe, with the KY Board of Fish and Wildlife, will lead a fun learning adventure on the creek. Vikki likes to invite children to explore the waters, the life in the water, and to discover the joy, cleanliness, and respect for this aspect of nature.

This cool activity will begin around 1:30. It is best suited for ages 8 and over, though younger ones will be accommodated.

Susan wrote: We will meet at the Flour Creek Church parking lot at 1:20 pm Friday, and leave there at 1:30. The creek area is about ¼ mile away. We will carpool to the drop off area, then hike the few hundred yards to the creek. Moreland’s Bend is at a riffle in the creek, with the area above it ankle to knee deep on a grownup; and the area below fairly deep. Flour Creek Church is on US 27, go south, past Alexandria to Butler, KY, and turn left at Lock Road Here is the address, and phone number: (859) 472-2130 1109 Ky Highway 177 E Butler, KY 41006

What to bring: net for catching creek creatures, magnifying glass (optional),sunscreen, Change of clothes, Towel, Water bottle,Snacks (people get hungry on creek adventures!),Life jackets if you have some

Please note:
For those with little ones, strollers can be carried to the area; there is a large flat rock area that they can set on.

It will be important to keep a close eye on young children and those who aren’t swimmers. We will need some parents of younger children to specifically watch out for them.

The program will include catching and identifying creek life, and discussing how this helps to rate the health of the creek. Also, we will learn about mussels, and endangered animal. (Here is a link to a relevant recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050813/NEWS0103/508130393/-1/back01 )

The program is planned until 3:30. There will be time to hang around and swim or float along and enjoy the creek for awhile.

It is NOT recommended to carry little ones in carriers or in arms into the water. It gets slippery and people do fall.

Also…NO flip flops…it would be best to wear water shoes or old gym shoes, but feet need to be covered

Please call (*******) or e-mail with any other questions. I usually do not check e-mails on Friday, so call on the phone if you haven’t e-mailed by Thurs night. Thanks! See you Friday, Susan

Well, it only took us about an hour to get there (thanks to me not trusting mapquest and believing the directions the organizer sent me which she had pasted off the website...it obviously didn't know that the new quarry now stood in the way) but we got there in the nick of time! Vikki, from KY Fish and Wildlife did a WONDERFUL job presenting the info to the group and the kids absolutely LOVED wading in the river searching for mussels and other critters. We were fortunate enough to also be joined by another KY employee, Mark, who only added to the depth of the program. One of the girls found a baby queen snake, it was such a cutie! We found lots of critters that indicated that the river was very healthy and therefore safe to play and swim in. Vikki gaves us handouts that indicated what types of critters we should find in a healthy river, the kids and I can't wait to go down and see how healthy our local river is using the handout.

We were thrilled that the Ridimans made it to the program (they followed the same directions I did and also got "detoured"). You could really see the love of the river in David's face and you could also tell that he shares his enthusiam with his girls. Tabby found an elusive water penny and Mandy found a rare mussel (while searching with Vikki).

The kids caught crayfish and Cade found a bunch of Asiatic clam shells. He was thrilled with them. I was glad I had heeded the advise of the coordinator and didn't bring Will, it was quite slick and steep getting in and out of the river. Sophie LOVED being in the water.

I can't wait to get my pictures back. I will try to remember to post them. I know Kas took a bunch of pictures, I will go and steal...err...I mean borrow them off her blog once she posts them!

During the long drive Emily and Grant and I played the alphabet game, looking for words that started with each letter of the alpahbet....Q was a toughie, until we passed the QUARRY and then we got stuck on X until we made it back to Ohio and saw a XAVIER window sticker....Grant and I found the Z just blocks from the house thanks to a ZICKA sign near the new subdivision up the road!