I wanted to go canoeing and I needed a partner. I couldn’t think of anybody better to take with me that my lovely daughter, Sonora. When I asked her, she jumped up excitedly and was ready to go. I instructed her on the things I wanted her to wear and the spare clothes to bring along and went to changing myself.
We went out to the garage and packed our gear together into the van. Then she helped me load the boat on top of the van. The ride was fun all the way to the river. Once we got there, we efficiently unloaded the boat and set upon the water. We paddled upstream for about a mile, stopping along the shore when we had safe access to gather trash. At our highest point upstream, we stopped to pull 3 tires out of the river bank.
Sonora kept the boat on the shore while I stepped out to gather the tires. I sunk knee deep several times in the mud during the process. Ultimately the boat was a bit overloaded for our easy trip downriver back to the start.
Here we are at the finish with our prize. I rolled each tire to the top of the ramp and worked with the county parks police to get them picked up later and disposed of. It was a perfect evening with Sonora using our newest boat we won from a Stream Team raffle.
Here is me pushing the tires away from the river and up the ramp.
Most importantly, the boat earned a name on the way home. With it on top of the van, it continued to drop mud on the van. As it came on the windshield, I told Sonora it looked like her favorite Pokemon, Squirtle (cause it sounds gross). After she stopped laughing, we agreed on the name!
Hogan Haake