Continuing on with our camping trip at Turkey Run...Saturday morning we took a hike on some trails and were hot and sweaty quickly. The temps were rising and the sun was bright. After lunch, 19 of us headed out to canoe, tube or kayak on Sugar Creek. The moment we stepped up to the window to pay for our trip, it started raining. It did not stop raining for about 3 hours...actually it stopped the very moment we pulled our tubes, kayak and canoe out of the creek at the end of the trip. Literally.
I'm not kidding when I tell you that I just laughed and laughed. It was freezing and the rain was coming down on us the entire time. I can only guess that the water was around 70 to 75 degrees and there were many times, we actually got out into the water just to warm up. I would take the water with my hands and splash it onto my legs to keep warm. The air/rain was freezing.
We were in swimsuits and creek clothes prepared to get some sun and come back with a glowing tan. We brought nothing with us. As soon as we set sail, Jay handed me his t-shirt. I put it on my head. I know I looked like a first-class idiot, but just having the rain off my face made it doable for me. I had long since given up on looking stylish.
I had practically begged Lane to get a kayak and he was having none of it. He wanted a tube like the 14 other people in our group. I went with the kayak and loved it. It was so great to maneuver and zip around in. I could go with the current or against it without much effort. At our halfway point, he asked if he could try out the Kayak...I never saw it again. I was stuck with a tube. To me, it wasn't nearly as fun, but had it been sunny, maybe it would've been.
About 45 minutes into the trip when I could see there was no end in sight for the rainfall, I started hollering out all the positive aspects of the weather. It wasn't hot (I don't like to sweat), no chance of sunburn, no bugs, we were still burning calories (we had just eaten taco salad and nachos for lunch, yummy), it wasn't hailing, there weren't high winds (although we had some wind every now and then...brrrr), water levels were good, we weren't going to waste our whole day out there on the creek and we were MAKIN' MEMORIES - it was a given that we would never forget this trip.
On a side note, there was a group at the end waiting for bus pick-up that had lost their car keys in the creek. They had nothing but the wet clothes and shoes they were wearing. And they were an hour-and-a-half from home. Things can always get worse...
We made it down the creek and headed back to the campground where the evening ended pretty well. There was one couple in the camp family that stayed behind with their one-year-old daughter. They decided to head to the creek and go kayaking on Sunday since they had someone to watch their little girl. I told "Sherri" that the kayak was the only way to go and it was fool-proof. Famous last words. I wish I would've been a bird in a tree along the creek. She ended up rolling her kayak three times. THREE TIMES. Apparently the bottom was full of water and no one realized it. The weight of the water caused her to roll if she leaned any at all. It still makes me laugh just thinking about it because my kayak was so smooth and easy to handle. Good points - she got her money back and they had full sun!
Sunday, we completed a full day without rain. I know back home they got nailed, but we stayed dry. The boys took Jay and I on a bike ride to this really neat trail...only it wasn't really a trail. It was a humongous ravine where the kids were sliding down the sides on their butts in the mud...there were logs and branches every which way. It was a total suicide mission. I could barely stomach watching. Those are the kinds of things mothers don't need to witness.
We had a good Sunday lunch with some guests and celebrated a little fella's birthday. That afternoon we visited the pool at the state park for a few hours and later that evening we went on a really neat trail, and although we were nearly smashed by a semi on the highway (we got off course a little) it was an enjoyable evening.
We headed home bright and early on Monday to avoid the impending rainstorms headed our way. It was a nice weekend of makin' memories for the most part. I have decided that 10% chance of rain in Sarah's world doesn't mean 90% chance of sunshine. What it really means is rain.
1 comment:
I can just see you owning that kayak!! Thanks for the lesson, too, because maybe now I won't be such a chicken (I'm afraid I'll flip and stay upside down!). Sounds like a fun weekend because your attitude was right--rain or no rain. ;-)
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