Canoing Trip

Last Tuesday we went canoing on a river with the 4-H Wildlife group. It was a last minute decision that I had made the night before. Oh goodness, it was all a mistake. I was informed at the carpool meeting place that there were going to be snakes along the way. Joy. (I'm scared of snakes.) When we got there, there was a whole bunch of mud. I hadn't planned on getting my (slip-on) shoes dirty to begin with. Mom had worn her good white tennis shoes ... bad idea. "Sakura" was my partner. Thankfully, she plays tennis, so her arms are strong. Because I could barely carry that canoe. Those things are much heavier than I originally thought. I could barely pick the thing up, let alone carry it a little ways. I kind of just slid it along in the mud. It was so muddy when we were "dragging" our canoes to the actual river, that they kind of just floated. Then I lost a shoe. Here I am in my sock, (it was a white one, I might add) trying to pry my shoe out from under the boat. It was then that I told myself it was time for new shoes anyway... Also, if anyone needs a way to turn socks brown, I have a solution. It's simple, quick, and easy to remember. Finally we were in knee deep water. Not too long ago, we were also informed that these snakes were the exact color of the mud. I was, uh, ... thrilled. So here I am, I've now lost a shoe twice in the mud and both my socks are brown. We finally drag it across these boards and were almost in the river. Sakura and I climbed in and floated out into the river. The rest was madness. We didn't know how to paddle or turn. We were quickly told to grab a branch or something for a quick lesson in paddling. After that, I must say, it was rather enjoyable. We canoed for quit a while after that without interuption. We had lunch on the canoe which was fun. The rest of the trip was eventful. To say the least. At first, he pointed out one snake in the bushes, but I couldn't see it, so we paddled quickly by it. The second snake he pointed out was on the other side of the river and it was just sunbathing. After that, we stopped for a "bath room" break, to say the least. It was no more of a bathroom than the middle of the woods. Some of the people went, but people like me and others decided, "We could wait." The next snake we came across is the one that people have apparently been talking about for the last week. I don't blame them, quite frankly. Ok, so I jumped out. There you have it. The tour guide told everyone, there's a snake up here. Lets just say that Sakura and I were not the best at turning last minute. We were heading right for the log with the long scary looking snake on top of it. So, terror stricken, I decided there was only one thing left to do: bail. Sakura, also panic stricken decided not to do anything and just head straight for it. Probably frozen to the canoe. So, the real question here is: "What would you have done?" The million dollar question right there. Anyway, I hightailed myself back into the canoe, almost tipping my partner over in the process. Also, in more normal Sourpatch spirit when I got back in, "I'm okay!!" I learned later from the tour guide, the snake was a water moccasin. It jumped in the water when I bailed out, too. Lovely. It gives you a great feeling to know your swimming with a water moccasin. (We're not even to the best part yet!) Rachel and Mom (they were partners) were laughing their heads off when they had to pass us. I didn't appreciate that too much. The funny thing is, they flipped the bend up-ahead. So, in normal Sourpatch fashion, I couldn't help but laugh a bit at their sopping venture either. You can check Rachel's blog for details on her flip. Meanwhile, their paddle had floated downstream, so we picked it up. The current was the fastest it had been the whole trip anyway. Sakura and I beached ourselves on purpose, but the current was so fast it was pushing us off of the shallow spot. I had my paddle stuck in the sand to keep the canoe from moving any farther. Meanwhile, Rachel and mom are trying to flip their canoe back over. Which, apparently, was really hard to do without having water in it. The guide had to come help them. Notice it was only our family that had to get wet. Zach escaped unscathed. We made it to the end which was kind of sad. I had a jolly time anyway. We had to change beneath a car bridge that goes over the river. A truck or something went over and the bridge broke! Okay, not really, that was for drama. It was really loud!! Rachel and I finally got changed and we headed back home. I was thrilled, okay I wasn't thrilled that I had basketball practice that night either. The end. I am also not thrilled that I missed today's basketball game because we didn't even hear about it. Oh well, the house is clean. I am going to go pop myself a big bowl of popcorn and watch some TV. Lesson of the day: Be very afraid of snakes. Tata! Make sure to look at my new "Favorite Quotes" section on the sidebar! sourpatch