Floating the Bow

The Heritage Day long weekend was sunny and hot. We got a call from our friends the Robertsons to come out and canoe down the Bow River with them for the Holiday Monday. When K called me, he said they were probably going to borrow 3 canoes from his father in law, but I should see if I could borrow a raft, just in case his in-laws were going to come along and use one of them.



It's a good thing that I was able to borrow a raft, because when we got to his in-laws' place in the morning, we learned that two teenaged boys from church had borrowed one of the canoes the night before and had lost it in the river. Apparently, they got hung up sideways on some rocks and the canoe capsized and floated away while they abandoned ship and were helped to shore by a local resident. K's father-in-law seemed more amused than annoyed by it all.



We spent less than 2 hours on the water, floating from Bowness Park to Shouldice Park, but the real highlight for Scott was throwing rocks. We loaded up the boats with rocks before we shoved off and then used them to splash each other's boats. Strangely, no one was hit by an errant throw. Katie felt very unstable in the soft interior of the raft, especially as her posture was dictated by the oversize lifejacket. Basically, she was stuck in a reclined position, staring up at the sky. She bawled any time she got splashed, which was often.



We made a lunch stop on an island just after our initial supplies of rocks ran out. Joining their strength together, the three little boys managed to heave a very large rock into the water without smashing their toes. I think they threw rocks in the water for 1 hour straight.



How impressed are you with these muscles?