Obstacles

I'm exhausted.

Ive spent the last three days in a canoe.

Still processing the weekend.

No sure if the weekend is what i expected. I didn't really know what to expect, but i had a really great time. We arrived (all 40 of us) at the river around noon, helped unpack the canoes and all our crap, loaded it up, and took off. It was intriguing to watch how the women interacted so differently while on the river. Some were unsure of the water and the critters, hasd trouble navigating the obstacles i.e. logs all over the stinkin place, or thought it was a race and battled each other for the front spot.

Me?

I was dead last, with a partner in my group who is just. Like. Me. Meaning, every tree we thought looked cool, we pulled over to take a picture. If the group was all going to the left, we tackled the narrow point that would lead us under a low-lying tree. Snake in the branches? Forget it-- we were there in a heartbeat to check it out. She had said her husband prayed for all us women to be little girls on the river,and that we definitely were. Exploring and laughing our faces off when we got stuck on YET another log, jumping in to swim at the deepest points, pulling over constantly for a snack break because my partner brought 4 times the food that was necessary for a weekend... We were definitely little children that day without a care in the world.

We set up camp that night and I attempted sleeping in a hammock, which was okay despite the fact that I didn't put it high enough and had my butt resting on the ground, but I wasn't about to get out of that thing to fix it.

Day 2 was tougher-- I was the stronger paddler and had to guide my new partner most of the time, but we still had fun. It took a lot longer than expected, because the water was so low and trees were down every where. The majority of the time was spent dragging the canoes through the 6 inch water or hauling them over logs--We were pooped by the time we reached camp, didn't have much daylight left, and on top of all that- the cmp was full of "critters." spiders, Mosquitos, and two lovely water moccasins that the men had to come and chop their heads off. I don't mind the critters, but the general morale of the group was low at that point.


Day 3... Today was the easiest... I got to know my new partner, a girl at church I've always wanted to meet... We had a fun and relaxing time floating on the current and got out to help, led for a while... It was a lazy day. I'm pooped. I feel much better after actually showering and drinking an ice cold beer. And maybe it's good I'm alone to decompress and catch up on sleep. But I'll continue this story on a new post. Ready and go.