Kayaking - Flint River -Visit with Ethan

Flint River                                                                              14.6 miles     549.8 total
Me, Scotty, Ethan
Average Speed 4.2mph, Max Speed 9.2 mph, 3:28 traveling speed

Oscar Patterson Rd at Baptist Church to Highway 72 Bridge (Talado Landing)

We traveled down to see Ethan, and brought our kayaks.  We stayed with my cousin Jim and his wife, Karen, and this river is close to their house.   We put in at 9:50.  There had been a lot of rain earlier in the week and the river was a bit high, but not at a dangerous point.  The river had a very nice flow.  Because it was high, there weren't very many places to pull over.  We found a nice place for lunch.  It was soon after lunch the we saw a man fishing and what appeared to be a small waterfall.  I went first and he pointed to a place I could go over.  I made it - barely.  Ethan followed and flipped, and then Scotty came along and flipped.  The waterfall was probably less than 2 feet high, but they both said the water was over their head. I had to giggle a bit, only because I got over with no problem; and also because the nearby fisherman never even flinched at their mishaps!

This cat was watching us from a ledge up above the river.

Beautiful spring blossoms along the shore.

Do you see the wisteria trees?

See the 'huge' waterfall behind them?  That's where they flipped.

Even after they flipped, this guy just kept on fishing.

HONK!  HONK!  She made sure we stayed away from her nest.

The next day we made a visit to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Visitor's Center.  NASA and space travel has always fascinated me, maybe because it was such a huge fascination and accomplishment for my generation.  And it also could be that Ethan now works there and I'm incredibly proud of him.

Kayaking - Red River - Beer Angels

Red River, April 12                                                                 11.6 miles        535.2 miles  
Me & the hubby
Beautiful day, up to 80 degrees
Put in at Porters Chapel, Take out at Adams

There's something about kayaking on a Sunday.  A church can have absolutely beautiful music, but when I'm out on the river I know I'm hearing God's music.  Today I was really paying attention to the sounds around me.  I almost wish I had a tape recorder.   It's so very quiet out on the river and I can hear all kinds of different birds .  For the majority of the trip, it was just me and Scotty and of course, we could hear our paddles hitting the water.  At other times, we'd hear the splash of a turtle as it would quickly jump in the water once we approached.  We passed a few waterfalls and the gentle rush of that water always sounds nice.  We saw the usual wildlife - turtles, birds, hawks, an owl, 4 ducks that kept flying ahead of us and herons.  This time we paddled under several herons nests - or a rookery.  The Red River is not usually a fast river, but we did go through a few spots where the water was going a bit faster.  Earlier this week there was a lot of rain which made the river a bit higher.  But, there were signs that the river was probably a good 6 feet higher possibly a few days earlier.  We saw water marks on the banks and leaves, debris in the branches above us.  

And then amongst all of that beauty, this happened!  Red River had posted this week that they were not renting boats to beginners or children due to the rougher conditions.  I'm wondering if they shouldn't ban some adults such as the ones we saw today!  We came across a couple that had just tipped their canoe.  They lost their phone and apparently many beers.  They were okay so we paddled on.  But, then we noticed beer cans floating along the river. It made for a fun scavenger hunt for us as we paddled back and forth across the river picking up clementines, and empty and full beer cans.  Farther down the river we came across another group of young people in kayaks.   We asked them if they wanted any beers, and they were thrilled when we gave them 10 full beer cans.  After paddling away, we could hear them yelling after us, "Thank you, beer angels!"

Saw lots of spring blossoms today - wild phlox and redbuds.

See the leaves in the trees?  The water had been higher recently.

Herons!

A group of heron nests is called a rookery.

See the slide?  That's where the otters come sliding down.

Our lunch spot.  We couldn't find many places to pull over as the water was so high.

Scotty's collection of cans from our scavenger hunt.

Beautiful scenery on the way home!