Dueling Paddles

Ask anyone who went on the trip with us, there was a kid at the campground that had to have come from the same gene pool as the banjo kid in Deliverance. Even so, we all survived the trip down the Kaweah River and there are pictures to prove it.

Linda added several from the river trip, and I added some labels for those who need a program. And for the sake of Andy's ego, he chose to swim here, he wasn't knocked overboard. And for the sake of everyone's lunch, I cropped off the eight pairs of legs in tight neoprene wetsuits in that last photo.

Spring Break in Three Rivers

This year, we shared Spring Break with a camping trip with several of our friends (Back: Robert, Jana, Wendy, Ed & Andy. Front: Paul, Linda & Sherry). We left after Easter for the town of Three Rivers, along the Kaweah River, in the foothills below Sequoia National Park.

Our campsite was a private campground filled with full-timers and river guides. We could have stayed inside the park, but this was the closest full-hookup site, and for easy meals, we really wanted to be able to plug in the crock-pot while we were out playing. It was probably a little too much like camping in someone's back yard, but the Kaweah River was a short walk from the campsite, and the price was right. Next time, we'd probably stay at the Kaweah Park Resort.

The winter snow pack was quite deep, but we made it up to Wuksachi Lodge on Tuesday for lunch and some snow play. It was incredibly beautiful up there, but nice to be camping out of the snow.

Andy and his pseudo-sister Wendy were having a killer snow-ball fight across several acres. We warmed up after dinner under blankets for warm cobbler and movies projected onto a sheet on the side of Paul and Linda's trailer.

On Wednesday, we all had a blast doing some Class III+ rapids on the Kaweah River. If you look closely between those gray beams in the raft, you can see one of the dogs that went rafting with us. We did rapids with names like Tuber's Religion and Devil's Eyeball.

Thursday was a bit of everything with Robert, Jana and Wendy going back up to the snow for snowshoeing; Linda and Sherry shopping; Paul fishing; I went for a hike along the Kaweah; and Andy caught up on his sleep and X-Box.

Friday morning it was time to pack up and head for home with the obligatory stop at the Outlet Center. I've posted all of the photos at this web page.