Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop

Announcing for January 2011...

Hello Muddah Sleep Away Crop!!

Thursday, January 27th through Sunday, January 30th

Starting at 12pm on Thursday and going until 5pm on Sunday prevening!

Your long weekend will include:

-A huge cropping room with plenty of personal space!
-Accommodations for your weekend stay!
-All meals, drinks and snacks all weekend long!
-Games and shenanigans!
-Small goodies for everyone, with a unique twist on the "goody bag"!

Cost for the long weekend:

-$170*

(This is a long post with LOTS and LOTS of important information in it. Please read it all!!)


We will be staying and cropping in Florida's beautiful O'Leno State Park in High Springs.

This park is located along the Santa Fe River and is full of natural charm. The park has a wonderful suspension bridge over the river that along with the cabins and surrounding buildings were constructed in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps.


We will be staying in a large cabin loop that is for our private use during our visit. Our area consists of 17 rustic cabins, one large arts & crafts building, a pavilion, two restroom facilities including one with showers and a very large dining hall. The dining hall has windows around the room and two very large fireplaces on either end of the hall. It also has a huge kitchen where all your meals for the weekend will magically appear from!


Speaking of food, it will be my pleasure to be cooking for you all weekend! Your weekend fee will include: lunch, dinner and late night snack on Thursday, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks on Friday and Saturday and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. There will be drinks available all day long. If you are not familiar with my cooking style it is good, old-fashioned "make you happy" meals. There is no diet food at crops! (Unless you pack it in yourself!) I always have a vegetarian (not vegan) option at every meal, but cannot take "special requests" at meal time! There will be a menu posted ahead of time so that you can make other arrangements if something doesn't strike your fancy or doesn't meet your special dietary requirements. If you need a bit of 'fridge space, please let me know in advance. The park does allow alcoholic beverages as long as it remains in your cabin or in our rooms. Basically, our camping area. So you can feel free to BYOB! (And specific mixers your require!)

About the cabins! Yes, I know that some of you are worried by now about that word "rustic". I would love to paint a spectacular picture of these cabins, but they ARE "rustic"! They were built in the 1930's. They do NOT have AC or heat. (This is why this trip is not in the spring or summer time!) They DO have electric and electric plugs. The do NOT have bathrooms in the cabins. They DO have doors and windows! They have bunk beds. Most cabins sleep between 6-8 people. Depending on the number that I have sign up, I will assume that most everyone wants a bottom bunk. So unless this crop is extremely popular or you have a large group that wants to bunk together, I'm shooting for bottom bunks for all!!

About the bathrooms! Again...y'all worry too much! There are bathrooms in our cabin circle. There are two bathrooms in the crop room. If you've ever been to a state park you know what the bathrooms look like. They are concrete buildings with men on one side and women on the other. One set of bathrooms have showers, this is the one closest to our cabins. The other is located just a bit away from us and has no showers. The one with showers has a row of sinks with mirrors and electric outlets. Then it has a row of private showers. They have bench seating just outside each shower stall. There IS hot water!

More about cabins and bathrooms! There are actually two types of cabins. "Scout" cabins and "Leader" cabins. There is a LOT of "scout" sleeping accommodations, but only a few "leader" beds. There are actually 3 leader cabins. Leader cabins do NOT have AC or heat either and DO have bunk beds, but they DO have their own bathrooms. I would like to offer these cabins up to those who are a) "infirmed", b) "old" or c) "sissies"! (I have just officially cracked myself up at those last comments!! Honestly! I cannot stop laughing...) But, if you feel like you would only be able to come if you had an indoor potty, then these spaces are a little more money and are on a first pay, first get basis! You can email me for room/bed configuration for you and/or your group. I will also take on a first pay, first get basis requests to be in the cabins closest to the bathroom facilities. There are four of those cabins, so once they fill I will move out from there! Unless you have something else you want to be close to!

About the weather! I have no idea what the weather will be like come the end of January 2011! I CAN give you the last three years in weather history from that area according to Weather Underground. 2008: high 63/low 58, 2009: high 61/low 39 and 2010 high 68/low 53. Suffice it to say you will need cool weather clothes. The crop room, where you should be most of the time, will be heated with two giant fireplaces located at either end of the room. (I am looking for experienced volunteers who know how to start a fire to help me out here!!) Since the cabins are not heated you will need to bring nice warm bedding and/or a heater or electric blanket. Each cabin will only take one heater, so once we have cabins assigned you can talk amongst yourselves about who has a heater! (If you plug in more than one heater, you MAY blow a fuse! They draw a LOT of electric!!)

Even more about the cabins! You need to bring your own bedding and towels. Each bunk has a mattress pad (upgraded since the last time I was there!), but you will not, I repeat NOT want to use that as your only pad! I would suggest getting one of those egg crate mattress pads in a queen size. Fold it in half to make a super, thick twin size. Get a twin size flannel sheet set (I found a great plaid set at WalMart!)and bring blankets! You could even layer in one of those shinny emergency blankets between the layers!

About the area. I cannot tell you just how beautiful this area is. This crop will be a great chance to escape the everyday and recharge with friends, this hobby we love AND nature! There are great opportunities to just sit and be one with the beautiful Florida landscape. Hiking trails, the river, canoeing or just sitting on the porch in a chair and relaxing. This location doesn't disappoint... O'Leno State Park is about 30 minutes from Gainesville and about 5 miles from "downtown" High Springs. This is where the closest area restaurants, grocery, etc. will be located. You can come and go from the park but if you come back after dusk/the park has closed, you will need a gate entrance code to get back in. IF you should want to come to the event, but really cannot see yourself plunging into the camp adventure, you could check out hotels in the High Springs area. You will not hurt my feelings one tiny bit, but you will also still be paying the same event fee as well! But it is an option!

About the crop. Before I settled on this location, I asked a bunch of y'all where you wanted the 2011 trip to be and what kind of crop you wanted. So, from my informal poll it was determined-O'leno State Park, add an extra day in and do it on a "budget". So this crop will be just that! I've added in a Thursday and kept the cost super low! As per the poll, there will be no lavish goody bags and no door prizes. No give-aways and no make-n-takes. There will still be games and fun organized things to participate in at your leisure! BUT! We have come up with a really unique idea on the goody bag/make-n-take notion. Actually Diane, Dianne and Kathy came up with this idea at my spring crop. I will set a theme, pick the colors (and possibly a line from a specific company) and the album size and anyone who wants to contribute a handmade goody for each of the croppers is highly encouraged to do so. You could make a tag, a page topper and embellishment, a title...whatever! You would just have to make enough for everyone. Then we will swap and hopefully we will have enough stuff to make a killer album! More on that to follow.
I am also opening up the big arts & crafts room to any of our croppers who want to teach a class! If you are interested in this, just email me and I'll get you the information. So that means if we have anybody who wants to teach, we'll offer classes at an additional fee. More on that as it happens!
If you are a direct-sale merchant (like CM, CTMH, SU, MK, PC, etc.) and want to be heard from, just email me quickly and we'll talk! There will only be one person representing a company, so contact me soon!

Just a few more tips.

-Socks and lap blankets.
-You can easily walk between your cabin and the crop room, but if you prefer, you can drive!
-This is the Florida "woods". You may encounter wildlife. Deer and raccoons are very common in that area.
-We have to respect the other campers and keep our party to a dull roar.
-If you bring extra lighting, you must bring your own extension cord.
-Hobby Lobby is on the way up from the Tampa/St. Pete area!
-Insects will be sleeping in January!
-More tips will come as it gets closer!

The registration form is in the following post, so if I have convinced you that this will be an unforgettable and fun adventure, then print out the flyer and send it in with your payment.
I take checks and money orders. There is a payment plan if you like. You can pay in full-easiest and you will be my best friend! Or pay $50 now and the rest in three installments. The fee will depend on the cabin type you get. BUT that payment is what holds your spot!! So if you want to get a leader cabin or a cabin near the potties, you must get that deposit to me ASAP. Once I receive your payment/deposit I will notify you on what cabin you got. So if you are making payments, you will know how much to send.

Crop cancellations-A full refund will be given if the crop is cancelled before January 1st. If you need to cancel the crop after January 1st then all but the $50 deposit will be refunded.


Please call, email or holler any questions you might have. (My personal email is: mavenjen@yahoo.com) I am REALLY looking forward to this adventure! We are gonna have a grand time and remember this...“Art flourishes where there is a sense of adventure.” -Alfred North Whitehead