Last weekend our canoe ended up in more trees than I can
count on both hands. I was in front and can’t tell you how tangled I got. We
repeatedly made the mistake of paddling even harder whenever it looked like we
were going to run into something, trying to right ourselves, when it actually
just pushed us into the obstacles at a faster rate, thus shoving me deep into
tree after tree after tree. I had all sorts of leaves and bark and branches
down my bathing suit, my floppy hat was whisked off by branches numerous times,
and at one point even Michael took some branches to the face.
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| After canoeing, at the Ogemaw County fair monster truck mud bogs |
He’d get mad because as we swiftly headed toward another
tree, I would resign to our fate and duck to protect myself rather than try to
prevent what was about to happen. But each time, I knew there was no stopping
us! Then we’re sideways in the river, trying to straighten out, suddenly
floating backwards, etc. It was a mess. As funny as it was, we were both getting
frustrated, but managed to keep our cool with each other. I kept telling him I
love him so that when my directions unintentionally came out a little bossy, he
wouldn't think I was getting mad at him.
With open arms, we welcomed the break about halfway through
the trip. We all pulled up to a picnic area on shore and had some snacks while
we chilled for a bit. It must have been good for us because Michael and I were
the first pushed off from shore, and unlike the first leg of the trip, we were
in front the entire time and even managed to leave everyone else in our wake!
Where before we were second-to-last so that Nic and Tonya (last) could help us
out of trees and off of logs, this time we cruised down the river with
precision, leaving Mom and Dad, Nic and Tonya, and Lucie in her kayak all
behind.
We managed to master the art of turning by inserting the
paddle into the water and pushing backward, which also helped in slowing down
when we started to head in a direction we wanted to avoid. Our only blunder
during the entire second leg was when we came to the end of the trip and wanted
to row up to shore. There were several kayaks on shore, blocking our way, so we
ended up going a little further than we wanted and I had to hop out and try to
pull the canoe slightly up-stream. Then we sat and waited a good TEN MINUTES
for everyone else to arrive – that’s how smoothly things went!
It was great fun and quite the adventure, but Michael and I
decided that next time we’ll take kayaks!
