The following weekend I was signed up for yet another paddling trip, leaving Saturday at 8 AM and returning Sunday evening. Since I had no class on Friday, I spent the day in Jacksonville with my family. As I was driving back, Mike texted me to hang out and we ended up staying out until past 3 AM. Suffice to say, neither one of us made it for the 8 AM departure time. We decided to meet up at the Gear Shed at 11, grab a canoe, and catch up with the crowd. When we arrived at the Gear Shed however, we were both too exhausted to even fathom paddling. So, we each returned to our respective homes and wasted the day away.
I decided to go to Lake Wauburg to meet up with my friend Angela, who I hadn't seen since the previous April. We sat on the shore, talking and soaking up the sun for a few hours. Then, I went swimming at Lake Wauburg for the first time ever. Well, the first time ever intentionally, since I have fallen off of countless sailboats. The water was warm and murky but I didn't care. I was grateful that my day hadn't gone entirely to waste. Around 4:30 or so, I received a text from Mike about the paddling trip. He knew some coordinates for a put in on the Ocklawaha River, so we could try going upstream and intercepting them. I promptly left Wauburg and headed home to pack, with no idea what I was getting in to.
Events occurred: September 7, 2013
Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swimming. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
The Return to Bob's
As I've mentioned numerous times before, Bob's River Place on the Suwannee is a magical place. When my friend Chris returned home from MIT for the summer, he brought back two friends, Adam and Leslie. Neither of them had experienced Florida before so Chris set out to show them the best of Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. Obviously, this meant a trip to Bob's. Since there were six of us (me, Chris, Leslie, Adam, Lloyd, and Ryan), we piled into my mother's mini van and headed west.
We arrived at Bob's and immediately headed for the rope swings. The slides were also open this time, unlike the first time I went to Bob's when most everything was closed down. I finally faced my fears and attempted to jump off of Demon, the highest rope swing. Luckily, it was a total success. Everyone shouted for me to jump at the perfect moment, when he swing reached its peak and, despite my intense fear, I let go and dropped into the water. The water rushed up so quickly, pulling my hair towards the surface. I emerged and started swimming as quickly as possible toward the shore, since the current was swift and I saw the kid behind me in line getting ready to jump. I also braved the slides for the first time. The taller one was actually less intense because the end of it was about a foot or so off the water. Therefore, you just slide right off the end and into the water. The other one, however, ended in the water because the water levels on the river were so high. Thus, as I was sliding down, gaining speed, I just abruptly stopped while still on the slide. Not the most comfortable...
While at Bob's, we also played beach volleyball. The court had been filled with water and we were all terrible. I had difficulty playing because of my past shoulder injury but that was mostly just an excuse; None of us could really play. We cheered at the thought of keeping the ball in the air for multiple passes and eventually gave up. At some point, Cameron met up with us from Orlando and we all took turns trying to cross Bob's log roll and battling each other. We also partook in karaoke, joined by a random little girl who was at Bob's with her family and really liked to sing Taylor Swift. We stayed at Bob's until he closed down at six and then we headed to get dinner. While driving home, Chris and I noticed that the van was shaking a bit more than normal but I knew that it shook at higher speeds so I ignored it. I discovered the next morning, when my mom drove it and realized something was wrong, that one of the tires had separated and we almost lost a tire on the highway. I have since learned to pay more attention to cars.
We arrived at Bob's and immediately headed for the rope swings. The slides were also open this time, unlike the first time I went to Bob's when most everything was closed down. I finally faced my fears and attempted to jump off of Demon, the highest rope swing. Luckily, it was a total success. Everyone shouted for me to jump at the perfect moment, when he swing reached its peak and, despite my intense fear, I let go and dropped into the water. The water rushed up so quickly, pulling my hair towards the surface. I emerged and started swimming as quickly as possible toward the shore, since the current was swift and I saw the kid behind me in line getting ready to jump. I also braved the slides for the first time. The taller one was actually less intense because the end of it was about a foot or so off the water. Therefore, you just slide right off the end and into the water. The other one, however, ended in the water because the water levels on the river were so high. Thus, as I was sliding down, gaining speed, I just abruptly stopped while still on the slide. Not the most comfortable...
While at Bob's, we also played beach volleyball. The court had been filled with water and we were all terrible. I had difficulty playing because of my past shoulder injury but that was mostly just an excuse; None of us could really play. We cheered at the thought of keeping the ball in the air for multiple passes and eventually gave up. At some point, Cameron met up with us from Orlando and we all took turns trying to cross Bob's log roll and battling each other. We also partook in karaoke, joined by a random little girl who was at Bob's with her family and really liked to sing Taylor Swift. We stayed at Bob's until he closed down at six and then we headed to get dinner. While driving home, Chris and I noticed that the van was shaking a bit more than normal but I knew that it shook at higher speeds so I ignored it. I discovered the next morning, when my mom drove it and realized something was wrong, that one of the tires had separated and we almost lost a tire on the highway. I have since learned to pay more attention to cars.
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