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Who says you need a Road to take a Road Trip?

By
Home Inspector with Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia

Who says you need a Road to take a Road Trip?

 

swatara sojourn

 

My wife and I participated in the 23rd Annual Swatara Sojourn, a canoe trip to clean-up the river. 

The Swatara is a river in a State Park in Lebanon County, PA about a half hour from Reading.

Our plan was to help clean-up the Swatara River during this 30 mile canoe trip. 

 

Well, things didn't go exactly as planned.  First, I should say we've only been on a canoe one other time about 12 years ago.  We aren't canoe experts and it showed! Second, we decided to bring our dog, Buster, to share in the adventure.  Buster didn't help keep us dry on this particular day.

 

We started off the trip just trying to find our rhythym and keep our dog in the canoe with us.   Because of all the rain and storms we've had the last several weeks, the water was very high and there were many downed trees.  Downedswatara sojourn trees = obstacles.  I think we were dry an entire 15 minutes before we went overboard.  We weren't quite ready for the first set of rapids with a sharp right, followed by an immediate sharp left, so we ended up running into a tree.  Buster helped take us for a swim.  

 

The water temperature was in the mid to high 50s and the weather was in the low 60s and very windy, so it was a bit chilly.

Because we wore some proper clothing, we started to dry almost right away.  We were able to pick up and dispose of some trash before our dog panicked in the next set of rapids and... you guessed it... capsized the canoe again.  

This time, the current took my wife down the river a bit and Buster went along with her because he's always looking out for her.  They were able to swim across the current to some flat land until I got the canoe back to them and we set off again.. colder!

When we stopped for lunch, we changed into some dry clothes and mingled with the other volunteers.  The Buster paddlingsun was out, we were dry for the first time in 4 hours, and the food was great!  Then it was time to continue the clean-up of the Swatara River.  Again, I don't think we were in the water 20 minutes before we went overboard again. I hate to blame the dog again, but it's true.  I think he felt this boat wasn't natural for going down a river.  He thought we should all be swimming! 

 

swatara sojourn

 

This was really a trip to remember and it was great we could help clean up the Swatara River.  

 

Next time, I think we'll be renting single person kayaks and leaving Buster with a dogsitter! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

david in alaska

 

 

David Artigliere with ARTI Home Inspections LLC is an ASHI-Certified Home Inspector in Reading, PA and surrounding counties.  He offers home inspections 7 days a week.  Call us at 610-220-1907 or visit www.readinghomeinspector.com.

 

Posted by

david the home inspectorDavid Artigliere, owner of ARTI Home Inspections LLC, is a home inspector in Pottstown, Reading, Norristown, Royersford and surrounding areas. 

He is available 7 days a week and can be reached at 610-220-1907.

Comments (11)

John Michailidis
Real Property Management of Sarasota & Manatee - Sarasota, FL
Real Property Management of Sarasota & M

Cute title! I liked your post and thank you for sharing it!

May 11, 2011 05:56 PM
Diane McDermott
Realtor®, GRI, Landis e2 Real Estate, LLC - Charlotte, NC
Charlotte NC Real Estate Market

Sounds like quite an adventure (and workout!) for a good cause

May 12, 2011 07:33 AM
Shannon Milligan, Richmond VA Real Estate Agent/Associate Broker
RVA Home Team - Richmond, VA
RVA Home Team - Winning with Integrity.

What a journey! It doesn't matter if you didn't do it "in style" it just matters that you did something! I bet you all slept well!

May 12, 2011 12:41 PM
David Artigliere
Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia - Collegeville, PA
ARTI Home Inspections, ASHI Certified Home Inspect

Thanks for reading!  And yes, Shannon, we slept very well!

May 13, 2011 02:11 AM
Elyse Berman, PA
LoKation Real Estate - Boca Raton, FL
Boca Raton FL (561) 716-7824

David,  It sounds like fun, but this road trip sounds exhausting! 

May 14, 2011 03:13 PM
Susan Emo
Sotheby's International Realty Canada - Brokerage - Kingston, ON
Kingston and the 1000 Islands Area

Sounds like an adventure my husband, dogs and I would have.  I know for sure we wouldn't be dry and I know for sure we would do it once and my husband would say never again :0)  Good for you!

May 15, 2011 08:26 AM
David Artigliere
Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia - Collegeville, PA
ARTI Home Inspections, ASHI Certified Home Inspect

Susan- haha..yes, my wife did state "never again".  She was quite cold that day!  

Elyse- let's just say we slept really well that night!

May 15, 2011 09:32 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

David, this looks like fun, but also for a good reason.    We don't really have too many rivers, so have not heard of a "clean-up" canoe trip.      Nice to have it as a family adventure!

May 18, 2011 03:26 AM
David Artigliere
Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia - Collegeville, PA
ARTI Home Inspections, ASHI Certified Home Inspect

Thanks Joan, we plan to do this again next year.  Whether we bring Buster remains a question until then. haha!

May 26, 2011 07:29 AM
Gloria Todor
Premier Property Sales & Rentals - Springfield, PA
& Doug Durren (484) 431-3686 in SE PA

Hi David, Gosh your clean up trip was more like a clean up of you 3! lol!  Your heart was in the right place.  Kayaks are the way to go.  Buster might enjoy a kayak ride if you have an open one.  Doug and I have basic kayaks and just love the response of them.  Canoes are good for fishing and meandering slowly down a river, in my opinion.

Good story!

Gloria

Jul 11, 2011 01:35 PM
David Artigliere
Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, Philadelphia - Collegeville, PA
ARTI Home Inspections, ASHI Certified Home Inspect

Thanks Gloria,

Kayaking would certainly have been a better choice here!  I'll save the canoe for the more peaceful, relaxing water trips.

Jul 21, 2011 07:06 AM