Day 5 reflection

Reflection day 5

Day 5 is over, and I cannot be happier to say it.  For the second day in a row, we thought we were in for an easy paddle but that changed as soon I got a voicemail late this morning.  The caller was informing us that nobody was working the Jim Woodruff Dam at the bottom of lake Seminole that day, so the only way we could get over the dam would be to get there by 3 in the afternoon where the caller would personally let us through.   We had a full hour less time than we thought we had, and our arms paid the price. We ended up paddling 7 miles on the lake, most of the miles being on open water.  Unfortunately, the wind had been mild every day until today.  After about 3 hours of plowing through whitecaps, we had both filled our kayaks up with water. Usually we would stop and bail them out, but every time that we stopped to rest we would drift backwards. We  ended up getting to the dam just in time.

After we got through the lock, we noticed that there was a small town by the river with FOOD!  I stayed to watch over the kayaks while Ben walked into town. He came back with 4 burgers, two fries and a drink which we demolished.  While he was gone, I talked with a family who went to the river to test out their new boat.  For 30 minutes they asked me about our trip, stating countless times just how much they wanted to come with us.  The two older boys gave me tips on how to fish the next couple miles down the river, tips I plan to use to catch dinner tomorrow. 

We are settled in at camp by the side of the Apalachicola river. In the 6 or so miles we have paddled we have already seen a couple gators, two pigs and a bald eagle. I look forward to a much more relaxed day tomorrow. 

Here is a picture of Ben paddling as we made the final push to our campsite tonight.