Let me just precede this story with an apology for not having a picture. During the mishap I am about to explain, the camera was out of commission, which will probably spare me some embarassment, but would have also made you laugh a little harder. Bob's birthday was October 20 and he had been sick for a while, so at his request we were just going to lay low for his birthday and he was going to decide that day what he felt like doing. Very difficult for someone like me who wants someone's birthday to be extra special. Anyway, it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day, and being that we had just purchased our canoe, we decided to take it out for a spin. Little did we know what a spin we were in for.
First of all, we live on the second story. And our stairs turn in the middle. Meaning a 14 foot canoe absolutely cannot fit down them. Meaning that we had to find a way to get the canoe over the ledge in order to get to the ground. My brilliant idea, which surprisingly turned out to be the one that we used, was to tie a rope around a pillar and to the front of the canoe and lower it down. It went better than expected. Bob and I each grabbed a side of the canoe and walked it down to the river. He was very patient as I had to stop about every 30 seconds to adjust my hand or take a break.
We both decided to wear jeans and tennis shoes, since the day was a little cool, but beautiful nonetheless. We were excited when we got into the water and the sun was shining on us. We relaxed, Bob fished, and I took pictures with the spare camera (the one Bob dropped a couple years ago and we only take on yucky trips in case something happens to it). We paddled upstream and came to a point where the water was flowing a little harder. To save us from embarassment, I would like to label it some sort of class rapid, but it was not. Bob and I tried multiple times to paddle up it to no avail. Looking at it you would think it were simple to get up if you just paddled hard enough. That was our first mistake. We decided to take one last stab at it before giving up. I mean really, how hard could it be. So I, sitting up front, dug my paddle in as hard as I possibly could and was paddling with my might. Bob in the back was doing the same, or so I thought. This is the part where the story gets fuzzy and might be told a little differently from each of our perspectives, but since I am the one telling it, this is the way it goes. I am leaning a little to the right to really dig the paddle in because Bob keeps saying, "Paddle harder Jamie", to which I reply, "This is as hard as I can." (As a side note, I never understand why guys say things like that in these sorts of situations. As if it is not obvious enough that I need to paddle with as much might as I can muster. Like I didn't understand that before and I needed him to say that to give me the extra umph.)
Well, apparently while I am using every ounce of strength I have to paddle up this little stream, Bob decides we are pulling out and sticks his paddle in to turn us around. This immediately takes the canoe for a spin, jutting the boat sideways and we both spill out. When we emerge from the chilly water, I cannot stop laughing and Bob is heavy breathing, yelling at his phone to turn off. Then he freaks out that our boat is going to sink because a lot of water has gotten into it, but we are standing in the water. A funny sight indeed, water up to our chests, guiding our canoe back to the shore. I looked around to see if anyone had seen, hoping really, because it was too funny a sight to be missed. Apparently it was just a moment to be enjoyed by the two of us. By the time we got to the shore even Bob was laughing and we giggled all the way home in our sopping jeans and tennis shoes. The bad camera and Bob's cell phone both stopped working, but I think it was worth it for the funny birthday memories. Happy birthday Bob!
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