Day Seven: April 27 Kayak Tuckaseegee River

Sleep was good at the musty motel in Bryson City - even if my gear smelled of old cigarette smoke. Soundtrack for the day - Jack Johnson's latest - In Between Dreams. We admittedly looked and felt like a band of kayaking gypsies with all our bags, gear, & food strewn across a parking lot and two motel rooms. A futile attempt at drying wet paddling gear was made, a rushed breakfast and quickly packed lunch, a prayer, and then we were off to the mighty but mild Tuckasqeegee (my affectionate nickname).

Outdoor Recreation Gypsies

We found the put-in, unloaded our plastic boats, and started eating our lunches while Michael & Bruce worked out shuttle math. I had a good conversation with a prof from a local outdoors-oriented school - Brevard College who also was helping lead a group of outdoor-ed type students open-boat the Tuck.

After M & B got back (around 11:30) we drifted through the riffles, navigated the submerged rock outcrops, and paddled our way through a maze of available lines through some class one & two moving water. The river admittedly was a tad on the dull side for where I am at now but the highlights included revisiting The Fugitive movie set complete with the train/bus crash site along the river, a short surf or two on a few waves but nothing really epic.

It was however an excellent day to build the confidence of LDP still getting a handle on this whitewater kayaking thing. Most of my time was spent coaching Kelly, Emily & Cristin though the paces of paddling and reading whitewater. There comfort levels increased exponentially every rapid. I used the classing rating scale of comfort to gauge where everyone was at: 1=scary & sucks to 10=it's a beautiful day!

I am missing Wen & the girls much these days and wish I had them down here with me. I am looking forward to future family adventures and getting my daughters into whitewater paddling and mountain biking! I love teaching in the outdoors and it has been cool to see the many God-inspired connections I have made through Medeba's Leadership Development Program over the years. I have made good friends through many of the different LDP years that have happened. Jodi and Mandy have been probably the most frequent in their visits with us, but it has been great to connect with Ben & Reesa, Bean, Becky, Tif, Tania and many others who we have become friends with over the years. I am really impressed with the potential leadership capability of this year's LDP and am guessing I will have more chances to connect with them.

G