was a great high wall there - canoe trip expanded
"Was a great high wall there
that tried to stop me
A sign was painted
said private property
but on the other side
it didn't say nothing
this land was made
for you and me."
-Woody Guthrie- alternate verse to "this land is your land"
The canoe trip worked as follows: You go to the main business, outside they have a covered front porch with picnic tables where you sit and watch a safety video, after that they drive your group via old school bus to the launch site for the canoes. They explain in route how you find the pickup point, and give you a few very brief suggestions, then the drivers all leave, leaving your group completely on its own.
That was all fine, and we got all 8 of our canoes launched and headed on their way. I pushed everyone off, and it took me longer to get myself launched with no help, but I soon caught up with some of the others. No-one was getting very far, and it was frustrating being spun around by the wind, etc. None of the canoeing principles we knew seemed to apply. Steering was just not working consistantly. I was able to move myself forward with a great deal of effort, but it involved just letting the wind spin me and paddling backwards when needed. I had to keep going back for others though, and had made a quarter of the trip, a great number of times. Another very common thing that was happening was that people were only able to go from bank to bank, so we had some folks just stuck on a bank for a long time.
The banks in the area we were in, consisted of about a foot or two of extremely deep and soft mud, and then a twenty foot tall bank that had only the slightest grade to it. The first canoe that flipped over had 2 6th grade girls in it, and when we talked the one out of her panic she made it to the side of the river. The second canoe was mine, and my 6 year old was in the water, and that scared me into emergency mode, but we were ok, and I was able to walk to the side also. Another canoe joined us, and we regrouped for a minute. The only cell phone we had called the place, and they told us we needed to get to "the bridge" which was a very long way ahead of us considering that it was where we had been trying to go for more than an hour and a half. They made it sound like they werent coming for us otherwise, so we got back in our boats and tried to get to the bridge. Ultimately the girls that capsized first made it there I believe. My wife's canoe, and another group of girls, and another adult and child combo made it to where they could see the bridge. My oldest daughter and her best friend got annoyed and flipped their canoe, in the same way my daughter stomps and slams doors when she is annoyed. They popped up out of the water laughing, and made their way eventually to the side of the river where two of our other groups were sitting. My plan was to push on to the bridge then have the people go back for the others, but that changed when my canoe began to take on water, and I just decided to join the group on the bank.
I exited the canoe and got my shoes stuck in mud at every step. I had to dig them out, as I couldn't just pull them out. I almost fell several times, but I got to the person with the cell phone, and I called the canoe people again. They had a canoe in the water already coming for us, and ate least one set of people had been picked up already. Several of my group had to go to the bathroom, so I climbed the bank to see what was there. It was a huge flat field, with construction, where giant river-side mansions were being built, and there was a porta potty in sight. We pulled the canoes in, and climbed up. I sent the girls and moms to the potty, and within 5 minutes I had a sedan drive up to scold me about being on private property. I gave them the I have for conoes of girl scouts stranded here, cold and wet and blah blah blah speech, saying in my own way.. go ahead fuckers, kick the scared little kids back in the water... but they didn't. They were understandably concerned about the expensive building materials that are a prime target for theft, but probably not theft by 12 year old girls in canoes... but anyway... The couple in the sedan had their teeny tiny baby grand daughter in the car, and told me that they saw our pickup just on the other side of the private property.. at least a half mile away, but maybe farther. I do think the first inclination was to make us walk... Finally the guy offered to go talk to the van, and it came back, retrieved the canoes, and took us to the bus where the rest of our group was.
I swear I didn't appreciate it at the time, but one of the best parts was the half smirk my oldest was wearing the whole time, trying not to burst out laughing or in full grin. She had a great time. My youngest doesnt want to canoe again, but she might do tubing.
The company gave us free tubing for 16, on a different more shallow stretch of river (different river even) and when we asked people, every one of them was on board to do it if we are able, so no-one was scarred for life. We all changed out of our wet clothes, and we got sodas, and ate trail mix, and got back to the scholl about 2 hours late or so, with no further incidents.
that tried to stop me
A sign was painted
said private property
but on the other side
it didn't say nothing
this land was made
for you and me."
-Woody Guthrie- alternate verse to "this land is your land"
The canoe trip worked as follows: You go to the main business, outside they have a covered front porch with picnic tables where you sit and watch a safety video, after that they drive your group via old school bus to the launch site for the canoes. They explain in route how you find the pickup point, and give you a few very brief suggestions, then the drivers all leave, leaving your group completely on its own.
That was all fine, and we got all 8 of our canoes launched and headed on their way. I pushed everyone off, and it took me longer to get myself launched with no help, but I soon caught up with some of the others. No-one was getting very far, and it was frustrating being spun around by the wind, etc. None of the canoeing principles we knew seemed to apply. Steering was just not working consistantly. I was able to move myself forward with a great deal of effort, but it involved just letting the wind spin me and paddling backwards when needed. I had to keep going back for others though, and had made a quarter of the trip, a great number of times. Another very common thing that was happening was that people were only able to go from bank to bank, so we had some folks just stuck on a bank for a long time.
The banks in the area we were in, consisted of about a foot or two of extremely deep and soft mud, and then a twenty foot tall bank that had only the slightest grade to it. The first canoe that flipped over had 2 6th grade girls in it, and when we talked the one out of her panic she made it to the side of the river. The second canoe was mine, and my 6 year old was in the water, and that scared me into emergency mode, but we were ok, and I was able to walk to the side also. Another canoe joined us, and we regrouped for a minute. The only cell phone we had called the place, and they told us we needed to get to "the bridge" which was a very long way ahead of us considering that it was where we had been trying to go for more than an hour and a half. They made it sound like they werent coming for us otherwise, so we got back in our boats and tried to get to the bridge. Ultimately the girls that capsized first made it there I believe. My wife's canoe, and another group of girls, and another adult and child combo made it to where they could see the bridge. My oldest daughter and her best friend got annoyed and flipped their canoe, in the same way my daughter stomps and slams doors when she is annoyed. They popped up out of the water laughing, and made their way eventually to the side of the river where two of our other groups were sitting. My plan was to push on to the bridge then have the people go back for the others, but that changed when my canoe began to take on water, and I just decided to join the group on the bank.
I exited the canoe and got my shoes stuck in mud at every step. I had to dig them out, as I couldn't just pull them out. I almost fell several times, but I got to the person with the cell phone, and I called the canoe people again. They had a canoe in the water already coming for us, and ate least one set of people had been picked up already. Several of my group had to go to the bathroom, so I climbed the bank to see what was there. It was a huge flat field, with construction, where giant river-side mansions were being built, and there was a porta potty in sight. We pulled the canoes in, and climbed up. I sent the girls and moms to the potty, and within 5 minutes I had a sedan drive up to scold me about being on private property. I gave them the I have for conoes of girl scouts stranded here, cold and wet and blah blah blah speech, saying in my own way.. go ahead fuckers, kick the scared little kids back in the water... but they didn't. They were understandably concerned about the expensive building materials that are a prime target for theft, but probably not theft by 12 year old girls in canoes... but anyway... The couple in the sedan had their teeny tiny baby grand daughter in the car, and told me that they saw our pickup just on the other side of the private property.. at least a half mile away, but maybe farther. I do think the first inclination was to make us walk... Finally the guy offered to go talk to the van, and it came back, retrieved the canoes, and took us to the bus where the rest of our group was.
I swear I didn't appreciate it at the time, but one of the best parts was the half smirk my oldest was wearing the whole time, trying not to burst out laughing or in full grin. She had a great time. My youngest doesnt want to canoe again, but she might do tubing.
The company gave us free tubing for 16, on a different more shallow stretch of river (different river even) and when we asked people, every one of them was on board to do it if we are able, so no-one was scarred for life. We all changed out of our wet clothes, and we got sodas, and ate trail mix, and got back to the scholl about 2 hours late or so, with no further incidents.