A Water Adventure
We have had the most boring summer. Which is okay. I would WAY rather have boring, then drama and stress due to health, money, family concerns. Boring is okay sometimes. However, coming home last night, I thought, "Man, we really needed that." Sometimes you just need to switch up.
For the past 5 summers, we have vacationed with family friends. We didn't this summer. Between heading up to my brother's wedding, and the new house . . . a week at the beach wasn't in the cards for us. We decided to do some camping, but then our kids sports got in our way, and camping didn't work out. However- we WOULD hang out. Kids extra-curricular activities, mine and Alexa's squeamish-ness about all things outside, would NOT prevent us from hanging out. Plan B, after ditching the camping idea, was to just hang out at their house. Hours before we left to go visit, I texted, "Do we need to bring bathing suits?" The response, "Sure. You never know what's going to happen here. We change plans all of the time."
Once at their house, the Sunday plans changed- "Hey- let's go kayaking/canoeing tomorrow!!!!" After calling around, we found an outfit to rent canoes from, found a place to go and we were ready. They each had their own kayak, but we rented 2 canoes. Doug and Alexa in one. Me and Andrew in the other. Our guide was AWESOME! (I'm going to totally plug him, if you find yourself in Virginia near the Staunton, James, or Banister River in the Lynchburg/South Boston area, call Tri-River Canoe rental. Kevin was fantastic). We all got in the river without incident. We were paddling along. I found my new happy place. It was beautiful on the river. The current was fast enough we didn't have to paddle a whole lot, but slow enough we didn't feel like we were plunging towards our deaths. It had been raining a lot up there, so the river was full, and a bit muddy. We saw a heron, beautiful greenery, and hardly any civilization. We were out for roughly 4 hours- and saw one almost no sign of humanity. Andrew and I talked about how we felt like we were Lewis and Clark, and were finding new territory. As fellow Walking Dead fans, the adults all agreed we would only be a little surprised to get out of the river, at the end and discover that the world had experienced a zombie apocalypse (thankfully that didn't happen, because we didn't have the weapons we needed to successfully survive a zombie apocalypse).
As we're entering the river, Kevin- who we didn't hire to be our guide, he just felt like coming along . . . thank goodness! asked Doug- if he was going to get any giggles. Oh, he got more than giggles. We did great for the first hour. The were a few down trees in the river that we needed to dodge, but we dodged them like champs. Doug and Alexa got stuck in a tree for a bit, but Doug kept the canoe upright, and Kevin helped get Doug loose. All was good. We looked like professionals. Until we didn't. The kayakers were doing awesome, but they've been kayaking for years, so they knew what they were doing and were confident about what they were doing. Unfortunately, a tree across the river got one of the kayakers entangled and she fell off the boat, got tangled up in some briars, lost her oar under a root, shoes, and even though she was totally calm about falling off, her daughter panicked at the sight of mom falling off. Her panic created a series of events that included another lost paddle, more lost shoes, and a lost kayak. This is where Kevin became amazing. First- the current had picked up, so we were going faster. Second- there was literally NO place on the banks for us to pull over and help. The canooers couldn't get out- there was no where for us to get back in. We were somewhat helpless We tried back paddling to slow down, found a tree to grab onto, and wait a bit. We retrieved shoes that floated past us, Kevin retrieved the lost kayak, we retrieved both of the kids on kayaks, worked to calm down one of them. Kevin managed to get the retrieved kayak back to its owner. Everyone was back on their boats. Doug did a great job of keeping Alexa calm. While she was in no danger at all, this was her first expedition on the water. We didn't want this to be traumatizing for her, as we hope to do this again. We did some paddle switching, and we were off. A little shook up, but laughing as this was rather funny. No real injuries occurred and no one really felt like we were about to witness a life changing experience. One of the kayakers ended up in the canoe with Kevin, as she was NEVER kayaking again. Her canoe got tied to her dad's kayak, and off we went down the river.
Unfortunately, Andrew and I had trouble getting in synch. He's stronger than I realize so when he paddles- it makes an impact. I had trouble being able to say instructions (paddle to the left, I mean right!!!!) and hadn't quite gotten it all down pat, so as we approached another tree, we had to get to the far left. We were heading in the right direction. All looked great- until we were suddenly in the tree, and . . . out of the boat. Andrew handled it like a champ. He told me I was a turd. Ok. I can handle that, but as soon as we popped up (people- wear your life jackets!!!!!!!!!) we flipped the canoe over, and Andrew said, "Yes!!!!! My slides are still in there!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah- and the paddles." (yeah- his slides were safe. That was totally my first concern too). Again- no where to hang out on the bank, so we had to float along, holding onto the canoe for a bit, before we found a bank that would work in a pinch. Kevin helped us get the water out of the canoe, helped us get back in, and we went back on our way.
Shortly after that, we found a spot to stop for lunch, and drink a beer or Coke. Kevin assured us the rest of the trip was calm and he was right. There were no other incidents along the way. The river was calm, no obstacles, and it was lovely. Andrew and I laughed about falling out of the boat several times. We finally figured out how to paddle together. He finally let me be in charge. Duh. I was at the back of the canoe-I was supposed to be in charge! We landed with only a small incident between Andrew and I (he forgot I was in charge. I reminded him . . . kindly and without shouting. HAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! The whole river heard me tell him to get his head on straight, and chill out!!!!). Then out of the river we were bringing the boats up the vehicles, and climbing in to go home. About 2 hours later, I realized, "OMG my shoulders. OMG my arms. They're like jelly arms, hanging at my sides. They won't do anything. Well- that's dramatic. They're working, but man . . . what a workout!! What an awesome trip. On the way home, Doug and I started looking for areas around us to canoe- in lakes. And one of these days . . . we will own some kayaks. Anybody have one they want to sell? :-)
For the past 5 summers, we have vacationed with family friends. We didn't this summer. Between heading up to my brother's wedding, and the new house . . . a week at the beach wasn't in the cards for us. We decided to do some camping, but then our kids sports got in our way, and camping didn't work out. However- we WOULD hang out. Kids extra-curricular activities, mine and Alexa's squeamish-ness about all things outside, would NOT prevent us from hanging out. Plan B, after ditching the camping idea, was to just hang out at their house. Hours before we left to go visit, I texted, "Do we need to bring bathing suits?" The response, "Sure. You never know what's going to happen here. We change plans all of the time."
Once at their house, the Sunday plans changed- "Hey- let's go kayaking/canoeing tomorrow!!!!" After calling around, we found an outfit to rent canoes from, found a place to go and we were ready. They each had their own kayak, but we rented 2 canoes. Doug and Alexa in one. Me and Andrew in the other. Our guide was AWESOME! (I'm going to totally plug him, if you find yourself in Virginia near the Staunton, James, or Banister River in the Lynchburg/South Boston area, call Tri-River Canoe rental. Kevin was fantastic). We all got in the river without incident. We were paddling along. I found my new happy place. It was beautiful on the river. The current was fast enough we didn't have to paddle a whole lot, but slow enough we didn't feel like we were plunging towards our deaths. It had been raining a lot up there, so the river was full, and a bit muddy. We saw a heron, beautiful greenery, and hardly any civilization. We were out for roughly 4 hours- and saw one almost no sign of humanity. Andrew and I talked about how we felt like we were Lewis and Clark, and were finding new territory. As fellow Walking Dead fans, the adults all agreed we would only be a little surprised to get out of the river, at the end and discover that the world had experienced a zombie apocalypse (thankfully that didn't happen, because we didn't have the weapons we needed to successfully survive a zombie apocalypse).
As we're entering the river, Kevin- who we didn't hire to be our guide, he just felt like coming along . . . thank goodness! asked Doug- if he was going to get any giggles. Oh, he got more than giggles. We did great for the first hour. The were a few down trees in the river that we needed to dodge, but we dodged them like champs. Doug and Alexa got stuck in a tree for a bit, but Doug kept the canoe upright, and Kevin helped get Doug loose. All was good. We looked like professionals. Until we didn't. The kayakers were doing awesome, but they've been kayaking for years, so they knew what they were doing and were confident about what they were doing. Unfortunately, a tree across the river got one of the kayakers entangled and she fell off the boat, got tangled up in some briars, lost her oar under a root, shoes, and even though she was totally calm about falling off, her daughter panicked at the sight of mom falling off. Her panic created a series of events that included another lost paddle, more lost shoes, and a lost kayak. This is where Kevin became amazing. First- the current had picked up, so we were going faster. Second- there was literally NO place on the banks for us to pull over and help. The canooers couldn't get out- there was no where for us to get back in. We were somewhat helpless We tried back paddling to slow down, found a tree to grab onto, and wait a bit. We retrieved shoes that floated past us, Kevin retrieved the lost kayak, we retrieved both of the kids on kayaks, worked to calm down one of them. Kevin managed to get the retrieved kayak back to its owner. Everyone was back on their boats. Doug did a great job of keeping Alexa calm. While she was in no danger at all, this was her first expedition on the water. We didn't want this to be traumatizing for her, as we hope to do this again. We did some paddle switching, and we were off. A little shook up, but laughing as this was rather funny. No real injuries occurred and no one really felt like we were about to witness a life changing experience. One of the kayakers ended up in the canoe with Kevin, as she was NEVER kayaking again. Her canoe got tied to her dad's kayak, and off we went down the river.
Unfortunately, Andrew and I had trouble getting in synch. He's stronger than I realize so when he paddles- it makes an impact. I had trouble being able to say instructions (paddle to the left, I mean right!!!!) and hadn't quite gotten it all down pat, so as we approached another tree, we had to get to the far left. We were heading in the right direction. All looked great- until we were suddenly in the tree, and . . . out of the boat. Andrew handled it like a champ. He told me I was a turd. Ok. I can handle that, but as soon as we popped up (people- wear your life jackets!!!!!!!!!) we flipped the canoe over, and Andrew said, "Yes!!!!! My slides are still in there!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah- and the paddles." (yeah- his slides were safe. That was totally my first concern too). Again- no where to hang out on the bank, so we had to float along, holding onto the canoe for a bit, before we found a bank that would work in a pinch. Kevin helped us get the water out of the canoe, helped us get back in, and we went back on our way.
Shortly after that, we found a spot to stop for lunch, and drink a beer or Coke. Kevin assured us the rest of the trip was calm and he was right. There were no other incidents along the way. The river was calm, no obstacles, and it was lovely. Andrew and I laughed about falling out of the boat several times. We finally figured out how to paddle together. He finally let me be in charge. Duh. I was at the back of the canoe-I was supposed to be in charge! We landed with only a small incident between Andrew and I (he forgot I was in charge. I reminded him . . . kindly and without shouting. HAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! The whole river heard me tell him to get his head on straight, and chill out!!!!). Then out of the river we were bringing the boats up the vehicles, and climbing in to go home. About 2 hours later, I realized, "OMG my shoulders. OMG my arms. They're like jelly arms, hanging at my sides. They won't do anything. Well- that's dramatic. They're working, but man . . . what a workout!! What an awesome trip. On the way home, Doug and I started looking for areas around us to canoe- in lakes. And one of these days . . . we will own some kayaks. Anybody have one they want to sell? :-)
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