Last weekend we loaded up a bunch of firewood, our camping gear, two kayaks and hit the road!

The paddling club we are members of hosted Chattooga Fest so we joined up with about 75 other paddlers to enjoy a great weekend of camping and kayaking.  We stayed at the Chattooga River Resort and Campground and I would highly recommend their campground.

After setting up camp on Friday, Stephen went with a few others for a quick paddle down section 3.5.  Meanwhile, Henry and I explored the campground and then I loaded him into our backpack carrier and we did a little hiking.On Saturday Stephen decided to take on section 4.  It is the most challenging section of river he has ever done and he was a little nervous.

 Henry and I went to the put in with the group and got to see them all run “the bull”.  Here is Stephen going down the single drop.  He had gone down the double drop (the other side of that rock in the middle) the day before.

Henry and I then went down the beach below the bull to watch Stephen float by.  In the end, Stephen did just fine on the river.  He went down “corkscrew” backwards and had to swim but he really enjoyed his day!

Later that afternoon Henry and I returned to the beach to play.

He was so focused on grabbing fistfuls of sand, dumping them into his cups and then poring the sand out of the cups that I couldn’t get him to look up at the camera.

Look at those chubby little hands. He he!

The water was very cold so we didn’t venture in very far but Henry did enjoy splashing around by the edge of the river.

On Sunday a friend who was at the Chattooga Fest graciously offered to watch Henry so Stephen and I could both paddle!  Since I am not as advanced as Stephen we did the very easy section 2.  I have paddled recreational and touring kayaks in the past but this was my first time in a white water boat.  The little boat was much easier to turn than the bigger boats I’m used to.  So…..I spent most of the time spinning my boat in circles and struggled to keep it going straight.  Guess I need some more practice!

So what did Henry think of his first camping trip?  He LOVED it!!  Despite never taking a nap and having a new tooth pop through he was as happy as a lark!  He was too distracted to eat real food so he snacked all weekend.  He rolled all over the place while sleeping in the tent so we kept having to move him back on his mat during the night.  And he ran all around the group campsite jabbering at everyone.  

Everything was new….everything was exciting….everything must be explored….

We really couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.  The weather was perfect and there weren’t any pesky insects!  I’m looking forward to more trips like this in the future!

Let’s get together!