Day 10

It feels very strange to be typing this blog in the comfort of an actual bed!

This morning we knew that we had a decision to make- whether to split up the remaining miles into 2 days, or do it all in 1 day.  We slept in anyways and got up around 9, took our usual 2 hours to get packed and left around 11.  We were still pondering the idea of splitting up the remaining distance for two days until we saw one of the mile markers on the side of the river.  It said 20.3, meaning we had 20.3 miles until we reached Apalachicola.  Once we saw that sign, each mile marker that we saw became a sign that also seemed to say "X miles until real food, X miles until a hot shower, X miles until dry, clean clothes" and that was plenty of motivation to keep paddling.   Don't get me wrong, we have had a great time and those inconveniences were easily dealt with on the river, but we were not opposed to sleeping in a warm bed with real sheets!

We ended up paddling a rough 24 miles today. We saw plenty of wildlife again, such as bald eagles and tarpon.  It was very difficult to film/ photograph some of these things because all of our cameras have to be in waterproof cases, so they are hard to get out quickly.  We arrived at around 5:30 and were met by our overly excited parents at the marina.  More importantly, we had a great filling dinner at Boss Oysters. What a great way to spend my birthday!

Tomorrow we were supposed to still be paddling. However, we have decided to spend the day exploring the area around Apalachicola both in kayaks (they will finally be light and easy to paddle without all of our gear) and by car.  Also we will have time to review some of the footage and see what other shots we made need to get while we are here.