Canoe Trip

Late Friday night Jeff and I decided with our friends Brad and Amber to go on a canoe trip on Saturday. We got up bright and early to drive 1 1/2 hours south to Morrow, Ohio, where we could canoe on the Little Miami River. Little Miami River is considered one of the most scenic in Ohio. It is truly beautiful. The weather was perfect for the trip, hot, but not too hot, clear and beautiful. With the struggles we've had in our life recently, this trip was an opportunity to laugh and have fun. And we laughed so hard. Early in the trip Brad and Amber tipped their canoe twice. Jeff and I were pretty proud of our abilities... until we tipped a couple of times too.

The depth of the river changed drastically along the six-mile trip. At some points it was 15+ feet, at other points our canoes scraped the rocks on the bottom. One of the funniest moments of the day was when Brad and Amber had tipped yet again (and this time in front of a big group of people on the bank). Amber was thrashing in the water yelling "what do I do? what do I do?", so we yelled back to her "stand up!" She did, and realized the water was only a few feet deep at that spot!

About half of a mile into the trip we saw a big tree leaning over the water with an old rope hanging from it. We paddled over and I climbed out and up the tree then jumped into the river. It was a rush and I was immediately followed by a lot of other people doing the same. I must admit that I was pretty proud to have been the first, at least that day. Amber did it too, but when she got up there she was terrified. There were about 30 people around, in canoes or on the banks. By the time she finally jumped she had everyone cheering for her and counting her down. It didn't matter that we didn't know these people, we were all just enjoying the fun of the day. I was so excited when she did it even though she was scared!

Here are a few pics, the first (biggest) is a shot of how beautiful the river and scenery are. The second (clockwise) is Jeff playing air-guitar on his paddle. Third is a shot of the jumping tree over the river, and last is a classic picture of explorer-Brad.

I thank God for giving us such a beautiful day with each other and two of our close friends.