Who says you need a Road to take a Road Trip?
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. Downed 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 sun 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!
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 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.
Comments (11)Subscribe to CommentsComment