Lots to catch up on. Deb arrived, grinning as she drove down the road, obviously glad to be here. We were glad not only to see her, but the great cookies and cake she brought along with her.
The last of our travelers, Gail and Paul, did not fare as well. They have a motor home, and just south of Cape Girardeau, MO they broke down. Reports are it is fairly serious, they were only able to drive in first gear to get into town. Luckily, they quickly found not only comfortable place to stay overnight, but helpful people in Cape. They are at the Ford dealer today being diagnosed, and last word we had was they had moved into a motel and cancelled their reservations at Montauk. We are really sorry they are having so many problems and will miss their faces around the campfire. Hopefully their problem will be quickly resolved.
We fished yesterday. Deb had a fish she was after, she named him Elvis. Said it was because both he and the fish had left the building! We didn’t catch a thing but had fun trying.
We had a HUGE storm night before last and it left our beautiful crystal clear stream muddy. We couldn’t get in to wade the stream because we couldn’t see the bottom. Fortunately, today it had begun clearing, and the weather along with it. We have had a spectacular day, blue sky and puffy white clouds. Early this morning fog was creeping all along the stream and low into the hills but cleared as we slipped our kayaks into water at Baptist Camp.
And we were off!
We floated eight miles of the Current this afternoon. We had a blast! Deb and Diane both rented sit on top kayaks and the rest of us had brought our own. Deb has kayaked before, but Diane had not. Diane is hereafter know as River Dancer, a name she earned on this trip. We would enter a swift current and Diane would pirouette down the stream, making graceful circles around everyone.
That worked really well for her until Cheryle stopped for a bathroom break in a most inauspicious spot. Before we knew it, we were all struggling to come to a stop to wait for Cheryle. Diane, crashing into Jenny, decided to take a little swim. She did that very gracefully too, climbing out of the stream, fluffing her hair and climbing back aboard.
Downstream, we approached a rapid with a left turn in the stream and an island in the center. We all stayed left of the island and bedlam ensued. First Jenni got hung up, decided to stay in the corner for everyone else to bounce off of her. Cheryle hit her, glanced off and went through. Luanne, Diane and Jeanne became their own armada in the bend of the stream, and all took on a great deal of water though no one capsized.
I came through to the left of them just as they were breaking loose. I thought I was doomed, knowing I was going to be turning over soon. Turns out there was just enough room to skinny through with trees tangling me all the way. Deb followed my line and skinned her arm, actually she said “I ate that tree branch!” and Teresa did pretty much the same thing. However, we emerged victorious, all a little wetter and more river savvy!
We floated eight miles in three and a half hours. It was so beautiful, the bluffs, caves, great blue heron, trickling water, ducks, turtles, fish and us! Our kayaks looked so pretty on the water and I’m going to load some pictures to give you an idea of our day.
We are all back now, having a beer, a shower, a dog walk, just taking it easy. Looks as if we might have another shower, but we have had the best day ever!!!!!
Boy did we have a lightening storm, a good excuse to go out for dinner and post this
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