As soon as I got home on this June vacation, I told my dad I really wanted to get a canoe trip in with him. He hadn't been in two years and I think I was about that much time out too, if not longer. Our family used to go a lot when I was younger - and it's one of my favorite things to do with my dad. Of course when I proposed the trip he was completely on board.
We watched the weather and chose an absolutely perfect day to go out: Wednesday, June 16. Hardly a cloud in the big blue sky, high of 81 and plenty of water in the river. We loaded one of our canoes into dad's new cargo van and headed off for the North Fork of the Shenandoah. Our starting point was Red Banks where we left the van for the day. Almost immediately we passed some fishermen who said they hadn't been having much luck yet that morning but certainly were enjoying the day.
What a day it turned out to be! Dad wrote an eloquent description of it on his blog which I highly encourage you to check out because there is no way I can do our trip justice after reading that. I'll give it a little shot though! We ooh'd and awe'd at the beauty of the river and its surroundings, making sure each of us saw what the other spotted. I was in mid sentence about something and interrupted myself pointing down in the water at the five big catfish swimming by.
Wildlife, especially our winged friends, was out all around. We spotted a blue winged teal leading her ducklings over behind the branches of a low tree along the river bank and all of a sudden she shot out across the river, flapping her wings along the water and making really loud noises. I asked dad what she was doing and he said she was trying to distract us from her babies and get us to go after her instead. Of couse we had no intention of interfering with their life. But wow, I couldn't help but think about how our natural instinct to protect our children is the same as the wild animal instinct. I love the connection between all parts of nature! We were led down the river by a blue heron who flew gracefully every time we got a little close. There were also some green heron out, an egret and an osprey.
Dad spotted this great rock ledge along the bank and we decided to stop there for our lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, apples and some rosemary garlic rice cakes. Earlier that morning we had gone to The Market in Woodstock and picked up our father/daughter traditional drink, sarsparilla, which tastes similar to root beer but better. I enjoyed mine over our lunch break but dad, who couldn't wait and drank his on the way to the river, had to deal with some plain old water. Lunch was short because we couldn't wait to get back on the river. I was looking out for some fish and all of a sudden dad yelled "Look up!" Immediately I did and I'm so glad because I caught the sight of a bald eagle soaring around right before it disappeared in the trees. Gorgeous. A little further ahead we came to the dam and we sailed right over it with no problem! Niagra Falls is up next! Just kidding. We got out and walked the canoe around it. I'm not going over that thing.
Eventually our trip (between 15-20 miles) came to an end as we pulled into Narrow Passage. It's a great little beach area and there were a few families taking advantage of the gorgeous day, swimming and fishing in the river. Dad called his friend Ernie who came to pick up dad and take him back to the van while I stayed with the canoe. The sun got the best of me and I ended up dozing off on the edge of the canoe while I was waiting. Dad came back and we loaded everything up and headed out. It was just an absolutely perfect day. It's such a treat to get to make a trip like that with my dad.
That was so beautiful, Sarah. I read your dad's post too. Man, can he tell a story! These are definitely moments to cherish and I'm glad you did!
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