[mfdanko99]

A big THANK YOU is in order for Mark & Jodi. They had everything organized and ready to go.
Most of us don’t know the Pittsburgh area and marks directions were very good. Most of us all made a wrong turn at the same location due to road set up with signs. Mark went the extra mile and had two bright pink signs to help us know where we were and parking.
I was so happy to see a good turnout. We had 17 boats (3 Canoes, 2-two man kayaks, & 12 kayaks) with a total of 20 paddlers.
I thought the shuttle would be tougher than it was. Mark had a game plan and knew how to do it. He had three option for the paddle. It all depended on how pack the location were for us to have enough room to park.
We scouted option A and no room, so we went with option B that had plenty of room especially for Jerry and his trailer.
I would also like to say our two way radio’s once again came in handy. Mark had one and I had the other during the shuttle and Stan brought his set as well. Made the shuttle that much easier for lead car and the last car to stay in touch while in downtown Pittsburgh. They also helped on the river to make sure we stayed together.
Once on the water all I can say is WOW. The views from the water into downtown was amazing. Pittsburgh is a pretty city with tons of thing to look at and lots of bridges to paddle under.
The boat traffic of the Allegheny & the Mon was good and made for some nice waves
We took a small break at Heinz field and we put our special touch on it.
Nate, Pete, Shane and myself stood in front the stadium and did the O-H-I-O sign and broke into a great rendition of “We Don’t Give a Damn for the Whole State of Michigan” While singing some folks looked at us like we were crazy.
After that some of us paddle up to a WWII submarine then across the point to the take out at Warf’s landing where there was a fire truck show going on.
What an excellent day in Pittsburgh!!! I sure hope we see this trip on future schedules.

Mike Danko