Canoeing in the Rain

This past Saturday Dave and I decided we were sick of being indoors. That get's tricky with my broken foot and a cast. I was given the go-ahead to start putting a little weight on my foot, so I slowly hobble around. When deciding what outdoor activity would be well suited for a gimp, I thought of canoeing at Kickapoo State Park, near Danville, IL. Saturday morning we checked the weather, there was a 23% chance of rain and decided it was worth the gamble.

We drove the 45 minutes east to Kickapoo and rented ourselves a canoe. We decided that the 8 mile section of the river would be a good start. As soon as we bought our tickets and rented our canoes, oars and life jackets it started to rain--and not just sprinkle. It was a nice midwestern rainstorm, lots of rain in a short period of time. The rain did not stop the tour, though. We all piled into a school bus and were driven to the mouth of river where we would enter. It was sprinkling by this time, but it was warm. I hobbled down the muddy path carrying our oars while Dave managed the canoe. We got it in the water and shoved off. Three hours later, after 4 or 5 intermittent rainstorms , and one capsizing incident we made it to Kickapoo landing. It was a great day!

Dave assured me that he had his canoeing merit badge, so there would be no problems. Except for the current we misjudged that flipped our canoe and sent me floating downriver to catch my oar. Don't worry, I got wedged on a log, and when Dave and another canoer flipped the canoe back around I only got smashed by the boat and forced a little mit more into the log. If I didn't know Dave loved me, I might have to thing he was trying to off me. ;)

Next time we're hoping for higher water levels, as we scraped bottom a few times. I think the water level was at less that 2 feet, which I find surprising for the amount of rain we've had this summer. When my foot gets a little better we'll switch to kayaks as well. Dave is done with this canoe thing...he wants to be a champion kayaker. Is there a merit badge for that?

P.S. We don't have any pictures from the day, cuz when the boat capsized our camera got a little wet, despite the ziploc bag it was in. We didn't want to turn it on and ruin it.