Madison Kayaking

We were back to kayaking today, but this time it was with the family for a few hours on the Chestatee River.  This picture above sort of sums up the day, a relaxing ride along a river on a beautiful day with the family.  There were many moments of pure tranquility, as we were able to take the oar out of the water and float along, listening to the sounds of nature around us.

We met at Ye-Ye and Nana's house, and from there we drove up to the drop-off, all ready to go.  Here we are with our oars, just before getting the boats.  Up until now, the weather this week had been downpour after downpour.  In fact, last night there was yet another heavy rain that woke us all up.  This morning, the clouds looked heavy and dark in places, but for the next few hours - and in fact the rest of the day, the rain backed off so that we could enjoy ourselves on a memorable day.

This was Madison's first trip on a kayak.  Previously, she's been on a canoe down in Florida, and she really enjoyed those days.  But today was something new, and I was somewhat concerned given all the water that was going down that river this week.  The Chestatee River was quite full, and I have not been down this particular section before.  But in fact, the water was just high enough to make the ride quite pleasant.  Most of the rapids weren't really there, if there were many at all, because the water level was up much higher.  Only one place at the end had a little bit of anything, with the rest of the "rapids" just being very easy to coast over.

Ye-Ye and Nana arranged this some time ago, a big family outing for us all, and they even paid for everything.  It was a fantastic day together.  There were so many moments gliding down that river, places where we could just sit and talk, and during much of the journey we had the river to ourselves.

Aunt Shain took all of these pictures - she had her phone with her, and she had that in a ziplock bag just in case.  The last journey, Nana had her phone with her, and unfortunately, it didn't survive the voyage.  This was because there were a few places where the boat capsized last time.  This time, however, that didn't happen.  But you never know, so into a ziplock bag the phone went just in case.  Madison and I both had their boats tip over, but at the oddest spot - we made the entire trip just fine without any difficulties, and then at the very end, we got caught up in the log jam of people getting out of their boats - we had caught up with a summer camp of 26 kids.  Right there at the end, Madison was trying not to pass by the place to disembark, and she turned sideways and caught the water in her boat and tipped over.  And I did too!  We both went past the spot where we were supposed to get out of the river, both clinging to our boats and oars, fighting the current and trying to get back.  That was really the only place where we had some challenges, because otherwise, the trip was a remarkable little cruise.

I got in the boat just ahead of Madison, just to make sure I could be down river in case something happened.  This was the first time I've been in the sort of kayak where you get inside the boat, rather than on top of it.  The control was so refreshing, although from what I understand, with heavier rapids it might be more of a challenge.  Anyway, next it was time for Madison to climb into the boat.

She was fearless, and not nervous at all.  She had her experience with a canoe, and obviously there are differences, but she was able to build on that, and glide right out there with confidence.  I stayed with her for a good bit early on, but as the journey downstream progressed, it was apparent that this wasn't really necessary.  She stayed at the front of the pack the entire trip, with Ye-Ye by her side, the two of them talking, learning how to use a kayak, and just enjoying the tranquility of the river.

And, of course the splashing.  With Madison and water, it is inevitable.  Though, to be fair, Ye-Ye started it.  His oar somehow accidentally splashed a pretty good distance over to Madison when she wasn't looking, and let's just say from that point on, it was on.

She has this one trick that got Nana, Ye-Ye, and myself with.  She slows down and looks like she's just resting a moment as you pull up behind her somewhat and then.... SPLASH!  Her oar launches a whole bunch of water at you, and she's suddenly rowing quickly forward to get away, laughing the entire time.

But the trip was more than just splashing each other of course.  It was getting into the great outdoors for a wonderful day, and enjoying the nature around us.  The turtles were everywhere.  Nana and Ye-Ye said they saw a lot more last time, and this time we had seen at least forty to fifty of them along the banks of the river.  It became a battle cry of sorts whenever anyone saw a turtle:  "Turtle!"  Aunt Shain was wanting to get a few pictures of the turtles, and by the end had several photos.

Only at the end of the trip did we encounter anything close to the rapids that I've been used to on that portion of the Chattahoochee.  The Chestatee River was so full though that this was just a place where the water went downhill a bit faster.  Madison found a place to the right of the river, and surged downward with ease.  Ye-Ye and I went down the middle, and got very wet as we hit a small bit of standing wave that hit us head one and dumped a few gallons in our laps!

Overall, it only took us a few hours to make the trip.  It was really just long enough for a an introduction to kayaking.  We all felt like we could just keep going, really.  It was just a perfect day, so peaceful and the temperature just right.  The water was obviously pretty cool, as most river water is.  But it was also refreshing.  It was certainly more brown and turbulent, as all the rain and quantity of water had stirred it up quite a bit.  But it was all very pleasant.

Madison loved it.  Just past the turtles here, you can see her way up ahead, coasting along without really using the paddles.  She's just taking it all in, enjoying the scenery and the experience of guiding her own boat along the waters.

All good things must come to an end though, and as you can see here, there's a hanging sign up above, a finish line of sorts that tells you to get ready to go ashore.  It was here that Madison and I had our little adventure, and funny enough, everyone else was so preoccupied with getting out of their boats that they didn't realize that Madison and I were downriver somewhat!

But we made it safely, as you can see here from a picture afterwards.  Madison and I are soaked at this point, but there's a place to get changed and we brought towels to dry off with.  You can see by our expressions that it was a lot of fun today.

Madison's first kayaking expedition was a huge success.  She did very well, and was a quick learner.  It was very easy to control the boat, and again, the waters were so full that it wasn't so much of a challenge today.  She's ready for something more challenging, though.  She said that towards the end, that she wants to try out some bigger rapids.  We might try this stretch again sometime when the water is not so full, and we might see how different it is.  But until then, this was the perfect starter for a first-time kayaking trip.  She had a great time.  We all did!

We went to Chick-Fil-A afterwards, and after that, went home to rest a bit.  But not for too long!  Today Madison had taekwondo once more, and she was soon getting ready in her uniform, and yes, we were out the door once more for an session at the studio.  Ms. Walker and Tucker created an obstacle course for the students, and then of course there was some working on form and those high kicks against the wall.  A lot of stretching involved with those, but Madison is working hard to get her kicks higher and higher.

The whole time, I was watching her, and watching the clock.  Forward 2020 started at 7pm tonight, and this would be Madison's first Forward.  It's all online this year, as opposed to the massive experience at the Gwinnett Arena.  All that is sorely missed, of course.  So this is somewhat like the river today, a starter kit of sorts.  It's a taste of what Forward is, without diving fully into it.  After tonight's session, Madison can't wait to go to Forward at the Arena.  For one thing, there's a Tribal competition, and she loves that sort of thing a lot  She's with a tribe called the Saints, and after tonight, they're in second place.  With Forward, there are games like with Summer Xtreme, and of course there are Tribes.  There's worship, and there are guest speakers for each session.  With the online app that Madison has on her phone, there's a chatroom and there are games too.  She's enjoying it a lot, and how great to see her listening to the guest speaker, taking notes.

As you can imagine, we were pretty worn out by the end of the day - and how nice to enjoy a free backyard online concert from Hot Club of Cowtown!  It was a bit windy, but it was super fun to see the band mostly back together.  We had this up on the big television screen in the living room, tapping toes and singing along.

Lots going on!  But tomorrow will be a good day too, with more Forward to come.  We said our prayers tonight, and yes there was an episode or two of our binge-watching to do.  But somewhere short of midnight, we were in bed, fairly exhausted from such a full and wonderful day.