Family Day

Sunday, we scheduled a Family Day.

 

Matt was home for the holiday.  Becky’s birthday is later in the week.  With full family attendance, we decided to spend the day doing something fun and less routine and together.  Therefore, we all opted to leave the farm proper, to save us from luring ourselves into a waiting chore, and go canoeing.

 

Actually, the kids, adult kids nonetheless, decided.  So, we loaded up two canoes into the back of the pick-up, gathered up the necessary paraphernalia (paddles, lifejackets, towels, sunscreen, boating shoes) and took off for our destination, the Maury River.

 

unloading the canoes at the put-in

Matt and Becky seized the newer, shorter canoe.  Glenn and I got stuck with his near antique aluminum Grumman which is much longer and literally grabs rocks located near the surface of the river causing the canoe to stop forward progress and/or pivot in the current. The newer canoe model, an Old Town with ABS hull and also outdated as canoes go, just glides over these exposed interferences and continues without pause.

 

The river was low.  There were many rocks above the surface or just inches below.   And, our canoe kept grabbing those troublesome rocks in every little rapid we encountered.

 

Fortunately, despite the equipment challenge, the day was a perfect Family Day.

 

We all had fun paddling the peaceful, flowing river from the Rockbridge Baths put-in to our take-out at Copper Road.  The day was comfortable, quiet and bugless.  The water, a bit cool, was enticing enough for the kids to take swims from time to time.  I personally waded to my waist and then could not walk back the few feet to shore because the rocks lining the river bottom were slimy and slick causing me to slide further down into a deep hole along the shore.  I was near taking an unplanned swim when Glenn came to my rescue before I fell in and helped pull me up to the solid and dry shore.

 

The river is totally tree-lined and private except for a few weekend homes which all seemed to be vacant (odd for a holiday weekend) during our travel. 

 

The wildlife was sparse.  We did manage to see a few waterfowl like one Canadian goose, three ducks and a couple of soaring osprey along with a few fish and a deer. 

 

The sun was just the right temperature, air movement still.

 

The canoe trip was my idea of success.  If I do not flip over in the canoe, the trip is always considered a success in my mind.

 

take-out at Copper Road

We ended the day with dinner at a local restaurant.  No dirty dishes for me…

 

              another check in the success column.