Her Side

I thought I had a great little idea for a family adventure...canoeing. I enjoy canoeing quite a bit, although I rarely actually do it. My first trip was when I was a kid, floating the Buffalo River in Arkansas with my parents and brother. In college a canoeing course filled the square for my physical education requirement. Since then I've been in a canoe only a handful of times, but I've always enjoyed it.

Recently I suggested to Ted that we take the kids canoeing on the Concord River. He had taken a group of men from the church on a canoe trip last fall, and I thought it might be fun for us, too.

It took a while for me to convince him that I was serious. It wasn't until neighbors of ours spent one Sunday afternoon going canoeing, that I finally said, "See! I'm not crazy! Other people do this, too!" And so, yesterday, we headed out in the afternoon for a canoe trip with our two youngest kids. I packed a few snacks and drinks, verified the boat house location with our neighbors and Ted came home from work an hour early so we could canoe.

We arrived at the South Bridge Boat House in Concord. It was about 4:30, maybe a little after. We signed in and got our gear and canoe. As we pushed off Ted asked which way to the North Bridge. The boat guy pointed us in the direction and said it's about an hour and a half trip. Ted asked when they close. 6:00. It seemed obvious to me that we wouldn't be doing that.

Now, it was at about this point that the experience suddenly changed:

I was on a canoe...with snacks and a peaceful river. I had visions of a leisurely float, watching the turtles, taking in the beautiful scenery.

Ted, on the other hand, was on a canoe with a mission--The Old North Bridge was that way, it's about a 1 and 1/2 hour round trip, and we had just over an hour. Time to paddle.

I ask, "Are we going to the North Bridge?" Ted said, "Of course we are." This wasn't quite what I had in mind.

We made it to the Bridge and back just in time--the boy and lady were definitely closing up shop behind us. And we pretty much paddled the entire time!!! But it was still a lot of fun, and I think we'll do it again--maybe next time I'll do a better job of verbalizing my expectations, though.