One of the most anticipated events of this vacation was the canoe/kayak trip down the river. It was part of our adventure package and really a great deal! Juliana and Alex drove in from town to join us and we packed into a van from the campground down to the launch area.
We set out in canoes and kayaks. We were given a map and planned where to stop for lunch. Jamie and I paddled together; Jim and Natalie paddled together, Juliana and Alex paddled together. Lauren, Gloria and Katie each had a kayak.
It was super fun … at first! But everyone found out it was a little more tiring than they thought it would be, even going down river. We had a little snack stop after only about a mile and a half of paddling.
The BEST part of the trip was stopping at the sandbar island for lunch and a wade/swim over to the rocky island just upstream. I think we would have been satisfied to end the trip here. The kayaks were a little harder to manage than Lauren and Gloria though they would be. Jamie and I ended up towing Gloria a couple times before she and Lauren ended up trading with Alex.
We had another stop downstream and struggled along to make it to the pick up point in Osseola. Juliana tipped over in her kayak and was NOT happy about it. There was no turning back so we just made the best of it, floating often and trying to avoid the windy spots, where I had an especially hard time controlling our canoe with just Jamie in the front. We were glad we did this trip but don’t think we need to run right out and book another round any time soon!
