We called up our good friends Kelly and Jeff and asked if they wanted to do a paddling double date on the Missouri river. I promised to bring all the supplies and do most of the work if they provided the company. I was quite surprised when they agreed. Of course I needed to make the trip reasonable, so we only paddled just shy of 10 miles. As an added bonus, we would go out to Augusta, MO to visit a winery after we finished paddling. We met around 10 am and drove to Klondike boat ramp. There, we promptly unloaded (after I finished talking to some paddling people I knew that happened to be at the ram). Jeff and I shuttled my car and trailer back to Weldon Springs where we would finish. After a slight fiasco looking for his car key, we drove his car back to Klondike to start our paddle.
We took “the Beast”, our aluminum C4 canoe. This boat is wonderful for small groups. Its size makes it comfortable for 4 people and very stable making people that are less familiar with the water more comfortable. We mostly floated our way down the river.
Speaking of a stable boat, I was able to stand up for this photo.
It didn’t take long before we found the sandbar we were looking for. With the boat pulled up safely on the sand, it was time to explore and relax.
While it may be a double date, sometimes you just need alone time with your bride!
Danelle and Kelly testing how deep the river is here!
Its a big lonely island.
Danelle and Kelly were best of friends before Jeff and I were in the picture. Makes sense they would spend time together.
Snack time!
This is the most dirty I’ve ever seen Kelly. We all took turns sinking into the sand here.
Eventually we returned to the boat and floated to Weldon Springs. After packing up the boat, we drove back to Klondike and picked up their car. This all happened to be on our way to Montelle winery. It was a fairly busy Sunday. Danelle pressured me to drive up to the upper parking lot with a trailer in tow. Kelly had no issue parking their car, but there wasn’t a great place for me. I dropped Danelle off and went back to the lower lot were I could park correctly. From there I walked up an extremely steep paved path and had to walk through the winery looking for my people. There inside were the three of them still figuring out what wine and food to purchase.
The girls of course had to sample some wine to figure out which bottle(s) to purchase.
Jeff and I settled for a pizza and the finest bottled water.
We enjoyed the patio seating, and were able to talk together around a table. It was nearly perfect with the high view. The only drawback of the day was the very loud band playing, I would have preferred the sound of nature!
It was a decent view.
A perfect day for a double date!
Hogan Haake