Willamette Canoe Adventure

I love canoeing. My first canoe experience was 4 decades ago. I went to camp the summer after my 4th grade year, wait...
Maybe it was after 5th grade.
Anyway, we took canoe lessens in the pool first.
Learned how to tip a canoe over,
How to utilize the air pockets in an overturned canoe,
Learned to upright a canoe in deep water,
As well as how to climb back in without re-tipping it.

Those lessens have stuck with me for decades, I think because I was so afraid of water then.
But along with learning how to canoe, I also had my first experience with learning to overcome my fears.

I suppose that is why I also HAD to learn to skydive.
But that is another story.

Last Saturday, after a long day of cleaning, sorting, and re-organizing the garage we headed across the Willamette River to run errands and I noticed all the water toys out playing. I mentioned to my husband, "another summer is nearly gone and once again I have yet to canoe the river."
He commented on how busy we had been and how much yard & house work we had accomplished this summer; leveling the yard, building the rock retaining wall, and putting up a fence.

While those are things we desperately needed to accomplish, at that moment my thoughts were of spending a relaxing day floating down the river.

DWNTWNimages.me
I asked, "so what do you have going tomorrow?"
He said, "nothing."
I followed up with, "why don't we go canoeing tomorrow?"
He said, "sure."
"My one stipulation...,
I want to be in back."
He agreed.
And the rest is history!