Kayaking - Red River

 Kayaking - Red River.                     11.3 miles

The temperatures were in the 70s. This was a perfect day on the Red River. The water was fairly clear, and we scraped bottom very rarely. Skies were a bright blue with fluffy white clouds and a sim hunting sun. Even in the direct sun, it wasn’t too hot. We saw a large brown bird soaring above at one point - we believe it was a fledgling bald eagle. We had lunch in our favorite out of the way creek. I cant think of a better place to celebrate our 32nd anniversary! 

Kayaking - Harpeth River

 Kayaking - Harpeth River, Kingston Springs to Harris Street Bridge                      9.5 miles

It was 3 of us today - me, Scotty and Dick.  As we traveled down to Kingston Springs, the temperature was in the 80's and when we got out, it was in the high 80s.  It seems the beginning of this river has more shade cover from the trees and at the end - when you're ready for the paddle to be over, is when there is little shade cover.  We had lunch in our favorite creek spot.  

Kayaking- Current River, Mussouri

 Kayaking- Current River, Round Spring to Two Rivers Campground                  18 miles

Rather than drive almost 2 hours to the planned kayaking route, we chose to stick closer to Eminence. We dropped our boats off at Round Spring campground and Scotty took the truck to Two Rivers Campground and Dick drove him back to the put in, as Dick was going to leave right after that. So we got an early start on the water and it was just the three of us today. We realize we were making excellent time anywhere from between 11 minutes to 13 minutes per mile. The first few miles was cooler and at times we went through some fog. The day warmed up quickly and it turned out to be a hot day. We had beautiful blue skies, white puffy clouds and the river was lined with trees and bluffs. The water was crystal clear and it was another beautiful paddle. There were not any obstacles on this river as it’s a pretty wide river.  Ethan chose to make it a little more challenging and went down every little alley that went off of the main channel. We only stopped twice and one of those times was for lunch. We were on the river for just less than five hours, but our paddling time was three hours and 47 minutes. After loading up the kayaks we went over to Ally Springs and took a few pictures. This is a beautiful spring and mill and is depicted on the Missouri state quarter. We then went to the most popular spot in Eminence Missouri, the Dairy Shack. We all had milkshakes and felt that we had definitely earned this treat. We also caught up on emails, social media etc. as we were able to connect to cell service. It was then back to the camper where we were able to shower and once again realize how much we loved coming back to a camper.

Kayaking- Eleven Point River, Missouri

 Kayaking- Eleven Point River                                                8.6 miles

4.0 mph avg moving, 9mph max speed, 2:09 moving time, 3:56 elapsed time

We got to Round Spring Campground at 8 o’clock and then carpooled over to the outfitter. The outfitter loaded up the boats fairly quickly and we were off to the river and in the water by 11:20. The put in was spectacular today as there was fog on the river and we hung out taking some photos before paddling off. This is another beautiful river with beautiful clear water, although it did seem deeper than Jack’s Fork River. After about 4 miles we finally found a gravel bar where we had lunch. From the put in to lunch we were averaging about 5 mph. This beautiful river turned out to be deceptively tricky as many kayakers today flipped. At one point I had a choice to go right of a tree or right through the tree.Scotty thought he heard me call his voice in a panic, but I was actually yelling "Scotty, watch this!" (haha). And into the tree I paddled facing three obstacles (through 2 branch openings and over a log) and making it out to the other side. Joshua  said he was impressed. I did not see it but apparently one of the women from Florida also tipped her boat and was floating down the river holding onto her paddle face up. The other 'concerned' kayakers were yelling at her to look up at the eagle as she was trying to survive without a kayak. Another time Susan decided to go under some branches and one of her dogs jumped off and Susan flipped her kayak. Fortunately there were some locals in a boat who came up to rescue her boat while she rounded up her dogs. Christina flipped her kayak on her second go round over the falls and although she was not hurt, she did lose her phone. The falls is a slight drop off maybe 3 feet towards the end of the river and it really is a fun little section, but very difficult to go back for a second round. Also on this river is Bose Springs. You paddle up a short inlet and there is a wall where an old mill used to be. We parked our boats and walked up the trail to where the springs originated where there was a beautiful blue water spring We paddled 8.8 miles today, but it seems to me that today was the most adventurous day of all and give us all something to laugh about.