Camping on the Rio

A new day dawns on the Rio. Such a beautiful sunrise and I would post a picture if I hadn't left my camera in Carl's truck. Fox and I were out before dawn for his early morning breaking of water. Back to the Casita for my coffee and a maxalt for my migraine. A great combo to start your day. Thankfully, the maxalt worked and left my head without the axe in it. Lovely breakfast of eggs and precooked bacon for my protein load. Topped it off with a breakfast bar an hour later. Our plan was to be off for the river by 10 and spend three hours kayaking. Of course, that meant I would miss lunch so had a piece of cheese and a sloppy Joe just in case any trace of hunger should appear before the next planned meal. I am really good at keeping my weight up. You never know when you may need a couple of extra lbs.
Marilyn and I took the dogs for a long walk to tire them out before we left. We loaded up and drove up stream for 7 miles then found a place to put in. Marilyn and I were in one kayak and Carl was alone. As soon as we launched we became high centered on some rocks. Both of us got out and I promptly fell in up to my neck. How that was possible when there was no water to speak of is beyond me. But, there I was in the icy rocky mountain river water. No problem getting into the kayak after we carried it precariously over the rocks to the channel. A word of caution, under water river water are very slick, as Grandpa Bill would say "slicker than snot on a door knob." We slowly picked our way so as not to fall again. At last, we were both in the boat and headed down stream. Great fun despite problems getting in sync with the paddles. I was up front and only hit her in the head twice. I would paddle once on the right pushing the nose left and she would paddle again right pushing the nose straight into the bank then we would paddle like hell on the left. . . too far, of course, so we managed to get turned around. That was sort of the way it was. I'd say we were only high centered about four times so we were fairly fast at avoiding the rocks. The best part was going through the white water. Of course, we yelled and carried on as our 6" waves hit the boat. On a scale of 1-5 our rapids probably came in at a minus 2. Hey, we're just two old broads having a blast.
By the time we put in at the RV park I was completely exhausted and soaking wet and cold. After a change of clothes Carl and I went back for the truck. I am just leaving South Fork when I revved it up to 55 mph just in time for a cop to notice. He swung around with those little lights flashing and I pulled over. Such a nice kid. He wanted to know where we were going so Carl gave him a quick 5 minute answer. I turned over my "papers" and the cop informed me that I was going 59 mph in a 45 mph zone. (I was parked right next to the 55mph sign). I looked shocked (yes, really) and panted that I was sure it was a 55 zone. He asked me when my last ticket was and I said maybe 20 yrs ago. He said they usually don't give warnings in South Fork but since he was the boss he would give me one. Oh how we thanked him and then Carl gave him a 15 minute summary of our kayaking trip. I could tell he was ready to go but was politely listening. It truly was funny. Needless to say, we retrieved the truck and made it back to camp with no further interruptions. I tried to take a nap but didn't work out. That's another short story.
Forgot to mention that I am on nightly oxygen due to sleep apnea, maybe?? Anyway, I have a travel machine that is about the size of a large shredder. It makes a humming noise and every 5 seconds it seems to belch. As a result, I had plenty of oxygen last night but didn't sleep until I turned the damn thing off. A fair nights sleep considering I got up 5 times to use the bathroom. IEEIP*)*&^%$$!!!!!Back to my nap. Hooked up the machine again for my nap figuring I'd make up for lost oxy and listened to hum and belch for an hour. Then I gave up and Fox and I went for 2 long walks. Dinner is over and I'm going to sign off. No oxy tonight (:-)