Illesheim Girls' Trip - Boynton Beach, FL

 We took an airboat ride out into the Everglades and saw lots of wildlife!

A visit to the beach!

There was a huge snowstorm up north and many flights were cancelled.

Sadly, I had to stay longer in Heidi's beautiful home.  She had a friend

and her son come visit so I hung out with them for a day and

we went to an alligator show.

Kayaking - Harpeth River - Break in the Weather

Harpeth River                                                      5.8 miles                    500.8 miles total
MLK Day - Me and Scotty
Put in at the Narrows 11:05 to 1:15 with 30 minute lunch break
We left and the temp was 47degrees, when we returned home it was 63degrees

Richie left yesterday for school, so it's back to just me and Scotty in the house.  We had the day off for MLK Day.  The weather was unusually warm for January so what else to do, but paddle!  We each had on an underarmour shirt and another long sleeve shirt, no jackets.  It was a beautiful day.  We only got cold if we paddled under a cliff where there was no shade.  We passed one guy fishing and that was it for the entire paddle.  The river was high, but we found a gravel bar for a lunch break.  Today we were able to paddle all the way back to the waterfall.  I picked up my boat and was able to put it into the water directly in front of the waterfall - all for a photo opportunity, of course!

Kayaking - Red River - Holiday Cruise

Red River, December 26, 2014                               11 miles           405 miles total
Porters Chapel to Adams, TN w/ Paddle Adventures Unlimited
me, Scotty, Richie, Ethan, Deb, Rich, Maria & Jason Stewart, Clyde, John, Boy Scout
37 degrees up to 54 degrees by end of day
10:15 -2:35

It was cold out, but we had layers and the 4 of us stayed warm.  To make it a holiday cruise, we wore our Santa hats.  Rich and John wanted to see caves along the way.  The first cave we came across, Rich, John and Ethan climbed up to see.  They said it went way back in.  They were in the cave for quite awhile.  We stopped about 11:15 and had lunch on an island in the middle of the river.  On this trip, we saw a dead raccoon in the water and a dead deer with the antlers sticking high up out of the water.  We also saw a fox running along the bank for quite awhile before we pulled over for lunch.  We saw LOTS of turkeys back in the woods.  There must have been at least 50.  It was a great trip and we were glad to get out of the house!