A Great Day TO Be On The Water

 We all were up bright and early who knows, why it is vacation.  The day could not have been more beautiful.

Oh, I forgot something that happened just about every day at 11:37am...fighter jets would come screaming up the river.  They were so loud you could feel them in your chest.  We could barely make them out through the tree canopy.  You could hear them coming and then when they were right over us it sent chills all over my body.  So cool.

Pappy and his traditional every morning of the world oatmeal made in the Instant Pot with our fresh-picked raspberries.

Checking the out-ins and take-outs of the river.

Cassie through dinner in the crockpot and we were off.  All the Oakes decided to take a kayak ride down the river.

They decided to put in at the cabin.  Ellis had to use Pappy's kayak and it still wasn't long enough to accommodate those legs that go on forever.

They floated right up on a deer taking a break in the shade on the bank.

A little bit of white water...very little compared to what we have rafted on the New River before.  Ellis and Alaire went back several times for a fun ride.

Mark and I opted for chairs at the takeout with a book.  I called it 'river reading'.

And they all made it back with big smiles on their faces.

Ellis working hard to get his shot for the day.  I think he has photography in his blood.

A little back story...for three years I think it is now...Ellis has run at least a mile every single day.  Rain on shine, and even on our AT trips and vacations.  So tonight during his run he ran into Stevie the skunk.  He ran straight back to the cabin to get us.  Cassie and I went as fast as we could to see if he was telling the truth or pulling our legs.  Sure enough, there was Stevie.  I think Ellis secretly wanted to get sprayed.  YUCK!  He tried every way in the world to intimidate him but no luck thank heavens.

We saw lots of animals...cows that looked a lot like black bears, the resting deer on the river and does and babies were everywhere, Rickie the raccoon by the backdoor, Stevie, lots of rabbits, and fawns in a front yard playing with cement deer, tons of cats and opossums all eating on a house porch, fox, turkey flying over the front of the truck, Indigo bunting, crawdads, minnows and horses wading in the river.  It was a natural wild kingdom out there.