A Weekend Adventure with Friends

When was the last time you did something adventurous?  How often do you spend a weekend away with friends?  It’s something that requires planning and you must recruit the help of others when it comes to childcare, dog boarding, and making sure the animals and gardens will survive while you are away from the homestead, but the overall experience is rewarding. 

If you follow my blog you know that we took the kids camping 2 weeks ago and floated the Illinois River for a fun filled weekend…”forced family fun”!  We had so much fun that we decided to go again this weekend but this time the grandparents kept the kids and we went with 2 couples from church.  We had such a great trip!  Three and a half hours of driving one way gave us plenty of time to visit and laugh and sing along to songs that took us back to different points in life that made us realize how much time has passed since we were young people and not young parents. 

The best part as far as I am concerned was getting to share my love of camping and the great outdoors with my friends.  One couple had never camped and the other hadn’t camped since their youth.  Neither couple had floated the river.  One person in particular claimed “I’m not outdoorsy!”  However, I don’t believe she can claim that anymore.  I’d say there were many “firsts” this weekend from sleeping in a tent, floating on the river, to skipping rocks and swimming with fish.  I’m proud of my friends for toughing it out and learning to appreciate these things that I hope they will in turn share with their kids or other friends.

We rented a raft and 2 kayaks for our adventure on the river.  It was an 8-mile trip that took about 5 hours to complete.  We took turns kayaking and stopped along the way to take a dunk in the river and cool off.  There were a few places where the river narrowed and the current rushed us along but most of it was still and required us to paddle to ensure we got to the end before the last bus left for camp.  There were tremendously deep sections where the guys tried as hard as they could to touch the bottom yet failed and there were a few places too shallow to float across with us on the raft which required us get out and pull it a little.   

The kayaks offered much less resistance and would speed across the water with little effort paddling.  (Next time we will all be kayaking…it was so much fun!)  However, there is a bit more risk in a kayak as they can turn over and dump you out easily.  

My friend that I will refer to as “Mrs. Not-Outdoorsy” experienced the thrill (and fear!) of tipping over a couple of times which thankfully did not cause injury other than some scrapes from the rocks.  The raft, on the other hand, got caught in some trees that were positioned right in the middle of the strong current which took a lot of effort and teamwork push back against the current and get around.  The difference in the raft and kayak getting into this predicament is that the raft doesn’t flip over.   

Once Mrs. Not-Outdoorsy found herself at the mercy of the current taking her through a couple of downed trees and ended up in the water fighting to stay afloat and keep possession of the oar and kayak and somehow didn’t lose her towel in the process.  Those of us in the raft came to her rescue (or at least attempted to help) and fought some challenges of our own but all were okay.  Sadly Mrs. Not-Outdoorsy lost her Garmin watch/step tracker in the process (but the husband scored some brownie points and ordered her a new Garmin before we left the next day during one of the few times that we had cell phone reception.)

Rivers are dangerous and you must respect the power of the water.  It is imperative that you anticipate incidents like these and respond quickly.  That being said, we still had an amazing time making memories to last a lifetime.

My Take-Aways:

1. There is risk in adventure.  Some would say they love thrill-seeking, but many of us have to step out of our comfort zone to experience it.  There is danger involved but in the end the adventure outweighs the risk and you walk away with a smile and a little pride for accomplishing more than you thought you were capable.
2. A weekend with friends is a good vacation from the norm.  I believe everybody wins in a situation like this.  The kids had a fun-filled weekend with their grandparents going to the Science Museum and eating lots of fun snacks and we broadened our relationship with friends.  Friends help see you through troubled times and are there to help celebrate the good.  They are like-minded and can encourage you when you need it most.  Take time to develop friendships.  They are a blessing.
3. Get out and enjoy nature.  We live in a world so much bigger than us.  God created everything from the little insects to the great and powerful river for us.  The trees and the bluffs that encapsulate the river are breathtakingly beautiful and sitting around a campfire after dark, listening to the frogs and cicadas is relaxing.  (I had to be forgiving and make an exception for the cows that were mooing in the middle of the night on the other side of the river but they are part of God’s creation too.)  Get outside and enjoy nature.  It will make you appreciate our great big world and stand in awe of our Creator.