We made it!!! We successfully completed the 8 mile course on the Buffalo River with only a few scary moments and minimal bruising and sore muscles. This was done I might add, with Will and Wyatt in the boat too!! It was so much fun and I would love to go again!!
We had 4 boats in our group (8 adults and 3 kids) and not very much canoeing experience. This did result in 5 flips for the group, some funny and some scary but we all made it out okay.
Our flip was scary, all I could think was "where are the kids". I saw that Will was between me and Trent, then I turned to see Wyatt floating down the river face down. It was waist deep water on an adult and was dragging Wyatt very quickly. Trent and I were able to grab both kids and the canoe and get to the side (minus one shoe each!). Luckily, the guys came to help and retrieved our shoes, waterproof bag, paddles and life vests (probably should have been wearing those) - which had floated down river pretty far. They helped us get situated again and we learned to tie the loose things down! No worries the food was safe and dry! The boys were fine but Wyatt was pretty unsure of our steering abilities for the next 45 minutes or so. Even after that, he would start crying again each time we scrapped bottom. (which happened to us even when the other 3 boats got through fine...what's up with that?!?!)
Along the river, there were several sandbars to stop and play, picnic and cool off. The boys loved this part of the trip. They would swim in the river, toss the rocks and of course, eat their snacks!
One part they don't tell you in the brochure...when canoeing with a wife/husband, be prepared for lots of fussing and arguing! It seems like we were fussing at each other the whole time - for two inexperienced canoers, we sure were experts on what the other was doing wrong! However, we weren't the only ones. In fact, the only canoe that didn't seem to have any problems was the one with Mom, Landon and Kerry. Poor Jane and John...with 3 flips (2 of which happened during rescue missions), a few injuries and 1 pair of lost glasses - wheww....
Even Alan and Kyle didn't make it out dry!
Overall, a great time, good memories and well worth the ride!!
Will's favorite part of the trip - "the part where we flipped"
Wyatt's favorite part of the trip- "canoe"
3 comments:
Let me get this straight... You own a boat with a motor and you went canoeing???? That's madness. I myself am not a huge fan of canoeing.. Did I tell you about the time Eric and I went canoeing in a lightning storm and we had to pull over and turn our METAL canoe on top of us to shield us from the storm. This was after we tipped several times, I lost a contact lense, all our food, towels, and we almost killed Eric's parents dog that was with us. Ever since then, I have been terrified of them. I might blog about it just for the memory. Glad ya'll had fun though. :)
What a fun day!!!!! The overall fun of the trip overshadowed the few stressful moments that we had. I'm glad we did it, however,next time I'll stay at "headquarters" and play with Wyatt!
By the way . . . is the pic of "I survived the Buffalo" upsidedown?
hey, you forgot to mention that you and Trent blew a secret stake-out operation. Leave it to you two to run into someone you know out in the middle of no where and blow their cover. Hurry up and call that guy. I can't wait to hear the rest of the story.
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