We filled one large raft, one canoe, and one kayak. The morning started with a fairly steady rain, and so we didn’t carry the digital camera with us on the river. Some pictures were taken with a one-time water-proof camera, but those pictures will have to wait until they are developed. I’d love to be able to share with you the images of watercrafts stuck on shallow rapids, children swimming from boat to boat and learning how to paddle, dozens of turtles and a few beautiful herons avoiding our noise, and most especially a certain canoe partially capsizing on “Dead Man’s Curve”. Once in the water we realized how strong the current was in this spot; you could keep yourself upright with feet planted on the ground but couldn’t move feet or the rest of your body at all until help swam over.
That night I realized that in addition to sunburned spots on my shoulders and knees, I had bright bruises and fresh cuts all over. I guess that one tumble out of the canoe and into the rocks was more powerful than I thought! But despite the litany of ouchy spots, I couldn’t be happier about the day on the river. And some of the most pleasurable canoeing was right before and right after the spill. Sleeping that night was pretty much ruined as every way I turned seemed to press a sore part into harsh sheets, but I made it up the next day with a nice nap while hardier souls braved the river a second time.
I haven’t thought about “pay at the pump” as a gas station feature in many years but on this trip I’ve learned that it’s just arriving in parts of the country. One station not only required you to go inside and leave your credit card first, but the purchase was totalled by analog dials moving around inside the pump. The sound reminded me of my first alarm clock and I almost took a picture. Another anomaly on the trip: the Best Western we stayed in had so few towels that they came around and collected them all in the morning, then returned several hours later with clean ones. Showering or using the swimming pool in the meantime was fine but you’d find no towels at all. But the motel experience worked out fine over all.