Misadventure

As far as I'm concerned, the misadventures are what really makes a trip. Look, anyone can say "I went camping." Few, however, can say "I saw a guy catch a fish when he dumped his canoe." (Yes, I saw that happen some years back.) The trips provide you with a few new experiences and some fond memories, but it's the unexpected twists that give you the stories you can tell and tell again for years to come.

This year's trip has two unexpected twists...

As I've said many, many times, we've got some experience when it comes to these trips. We've camped in the snow, the rain, hail... you name it and we've probably camped through it. It was our third day of the trip, and our second day on the river when we arrived in this small river town. We had a five-block portage, so we could get around a pair of dams in town. Fortunately, Boogie bought a pair of canoe wheels, which saved us a lot of time and untold amounts of physical exertion. Wheeling these canoes down main street in small town America is a story itself. Folks were accustomed to the occasional watercraft being carried through town, but this appeared to be something new. We got a couple of inquisitive looks over that. This isn't the main story though.

Almost immediately upon arriving in town, folks started asking us if we planned to stay in town for the night. There was some bad weather on the way, and people were expressing concern over the prospect of us being on the water during the approaching storm. Since we've seen it all, we really didn't give this much thought. Rather, we didn't think much about it until we passed the fire station. When the firemen cautioned us, we took it to heart.

We had one set of wheels, and three canoes. This means that we took three separate trips. Each trip up and back, someone warned us about the weather and encouraged us to stay in town. One guy even offered to help us portage our canoes. (We politely declined, because we had the wheels. Why ask him to carry stuff when we can let the wheels carry the load for us?) One of the firemen offered to ferry us to a nearby campsite, and many people said that we should stay at one of the local bed and breakfasts.

We just finished portaging the third canoe, when the rain began to fall. It came suddenly and relentlessly. Fortunately, the downstream end of the portage was in a small park, and we high-tailed it to a picnic shelter while we pondered our next move. Realizing that the rain would be around for a while, we also understood that we wouldn't be able to build a fire, so we decided to eat at the local pizza joint.

After a couple of days on the river, I know that we appeared, shall we say, well-traveled. Despite our rough appearance, the lady of the establishment was courteous and friendly. In addition to the friendly reception we received from our waitress, the gentleman of the business brought us all a laugh through his wry sense of humor. Setting a votive candle on our table, he said “I heard you’re camping. I figured I’d bring you some fire, because this is the only fire you’re getting tonight.” We all got a good laugh out of the joke. In addition to the friendly, full-service accommodations of J-N-J Pizza, I will also say that the food was great! Delivering a fine pizza with fresh crust, and generously covered with tasty toppings, this small town establishment could definitely show the larger chains a thing or two about making a pie.

Once we finished our evening meal, we headed back to the park. I proposed simply setting up the tent up under the shelter and riding out the storm. G-man liked the idea, but Boogie said that he was going to check out the bed and breakfast. He dropped in, got the pricing and came back... $150 for the night. That was a little out of my budget, and G-man was determined to stay with his gear, but Boogie decided to splurge. He stayed at the B&B, while we toughed it out in the tent (with a little booze to help keep us company). About an hour after the tent was up, the rain stopped, and the rest of the evening was quiet and peaceful. Here's a pic of the tent, taken the next morning.

Speaking of the next morning, many people stopped by and asked us how our evening went. One guy, who lived across the street, asked us if we'd had breakfast yet. I suspect he was going to offer us some food, but we'd already eaten. I was so impressed by the friendliness of this town that I wrote an editorial to their local newspaper.

Our next misadventure was a couple of days later. When we reached the takeout point, we discovered that the aforementioned rain storm washed out the takeout ramp. As we sunk knee-deep in mud, we quickly realized there was no way that we'd be able to get our canoes up the ramp. Fortunately, I have a pick-up truck. I backed the truck partway down the ramp, and we tied a canoe to the truck with the rope. Since the canoes are flat-bottomed, they easily slid over the mud, and we had the canoes over the mudslide in no time. Here's a shot of G-man and Boogie at the takeout.

This trip will definitely give us a couple of stories to tell for many years. If you're interested, you can see a slideshow of our trip here. You can also see a YouTube video I made here.