Little River Adventure

The Little River between US90 and Lake Talquin near Talahassee was the scene of the next big adventure. JW, her friend D and I started what was supposed to be a 9 1/2 mile 'go with the current easy paddle' at 10:30 a.m. About 15 minutes later I flipped at one of the first snags. It was a combination of current, wind and inexperience that did me in. Maybe not in that order, either.

The boat dumped me as it went sideways to the current and wind, fetching up against the tree blocking the way. I was pushed up against the underwater limbs and got snagged on one. I was disoriented and started to panic before I remembered the old surfer's trick of letting out a few bubbles to see which way 'up' was. In the murky, muddy water I followed the bubbles.

D and J were on me in a flash. I knew I'd lost my shoes and probably my dry bag. Unfortunately my dry bag had my keys, wallet, phone and snacks to ward off the effects of diabetes during the trip in it. I was devastated, but there wasn't much I could do about any of it on Sunday anyway. The only option was to cry, and I didn't take that one. So we emptied the boat of water (that's when I decided not to tell them I'd been stuck in the tree underwater) on a sandbar and kept on going. Only later downstream did I discover my dry bag with my toes, jammed up into the bow. And everything in it was safe and sound and dry.

I immediately tied the bag to the boat! But the real funny part was that my hat and sunglasses stayed put on my head. It's funny what happens or doesn't happen 'in the twinkling of an eye.'

From there the trip kept getting longer and longer. We paddled; we went over, through and under obstructions; we paddled until we were dog tired. But, by then we'd reached the lake, thinking our adventure was just about over. But, nnnoooooo. Finding our take-out point took over and hour on a wind-blown lake with waves and rain. I was so tired I called Fishing Buddy Charles (FBC) hoping that he was on the lake that day. Alas, he wasn't, but he offered to drive from our home in GA to come and rescue us. He's that kind of guy.

But, all was not lost. We saw loads of turtles, a few 'gators and ospreys and their nests. The wild birds were awe-inspiring as well as breath-taking. And, we all ended up with stories to tell about the day.

Afterwards, we cleaned up at J's, and I cooked chicken cordon bleau while J made a killer spinach dip. We were so hungry we cleaned it all out. D had brought over a FL DOT map that showed where we had been, and figured out our 9 1/2 mile trip was more like 13. Remember I said we put in at 10:30? Well, we had hauled out, totally exhausted at 3:30 p.m.

What a day!