Back on the river with Pocket
last update: 07/28 @ 20:22

Pocket was good, she asked “When should I meet you to go to the river?” Not “Should I meet you?”

(Actually, that’s how it was relayed to me. Pocket said she was less forward when talking to SZap.)

It was hot but not horribly humid.

And certainly cooler on the water.

We paddled up from Angler’s Inn to Rocky Island — I don’t recall doing that when there was so little current in the gorge. It really is pretty low.

But there are smiles on everyone’s face.

Angler’s Inn
last update: 07/07 @ 21:30

Another hot day on the river.

The level continues to drop a bit as we’ve not had much rain.

But we’re still taking advantage of the river in our backyard.

We heard that yesterday the river (at least the parking log) was pretty full.

Today, parking was easy.

We did see a few other folks out on the river.

But not very many.

On theory: all the Fourth of July visitors were on their way home.

We did see a couple of these guys.

I believe that’s a northern water snake or banded water snake.

Nonpoisonous but, we’ve been told, bitey.

It was hot enough that they were stretched on the rocks just under the water.

When it’s cooler, they sun themselves on rocks (sometimes).

Lower water…
last update: 06/29 @ 22:24

… Still plenty of fun

Sarah and I made it back to Angler’s Inn this morning. It was hot but not nearly as hot as last weekend. And while the river was a bit lower, it was still very nice to be out.

This evening, we were able to watch the Seattle Cascades win their Ultimate game which sets them up for the post season.

We got to paddle with Pocket!
last update: 08/14 @ 19:35

Pocket said she’d like to join us on the river this summer. It’s taken until now for both Sarah and I to feel healthy — pesky summer cold.

So we paddled up to my new favorite selfie spot — but that rock ledge needs to be more level…

Our heron was further downstream for this trip.

Playing in Angler’s Inn
last update: 08/14 @ 19:34

David and his canoe running the Maryland chute (photo by SZap).

It was pretty low, about 2.9, making it pretty much perfect to introduce Pocket to this part of the Potomac.

She’s done a lot of flat water boating (she joined us in storming the castle a while back) and expressed an interest in getting more comfortable in rapids.

Sarah opted for her paddle board for this trip.

Fortunately, the electric pump she picked up a couple years ago continues to serve us well.

It would have been hot work to pump up both inflatables in the 90 degree heat.

Fortunately, the water was still cool and the sky a perfect blue!

Keen eyed observers will note that Sarah’s and Pocket’s runs are both the Virginia chute.

We pulled the boats over the rocks to paddle up to the gorge, came back down and they ran the Virginia chute an extra time before we headed back to the Maryland side for one more run (after a brief portage).

Both of us on the river!
last update: 06/12 @ 22:19

No, that’s not us under the overhang…

Sarah has a busy start to summer: She was down in Decatur last week. Home for a few days around the weekend. And is off in Seattle this week.

All good travel: she was able to help out the newest additions to the Williams clan, Margot and Billie Mae. That gave Sarah a chance to hang out with really little babies (weeks old) and gave their parents and grandparents a little bit of a break.

And now she’s getting to see Robert’s new summer dorm (having just missed helping him move — up 5 flights of stairs — by about 48 hours).

We took advantage of those couple days she was in Alexandria, with very nice weather, to get out on the river. Where we saw those two climbers in the gorge. New to me, they weren’t going up or down the wall, they were crossing horizontally.

We saw our favorite heron and a few ducks and a lot of fishing cormorants.

Another beautiful day
last update: 08/08 @ 22:53

Sarah and I got back to Angler’s Inn this afternoon. Robert is getting over a summer cold and napped most of the afternoon away. We’ll get him back out before schoot starts.

Nice day on the river
last update: 07/25 @ 22:25

The traditional trip to the Lego store followed by Sushi-go-round was yesterday.

Robert spent most of the afternoon and evening building the Mustang set. Pictures to come of that.

And we watched some Olympics yesterday.

And again this morning.

But it was time to get out of the house by this afternoon.

Robert met up at a volleyball court for some outdoor volleyball (and injured his knee a bit).

Sarah and I headed to Angler’s Inn and paddled up the gorge.

It was a perfect day for it.

The occasional slip off the board or attempt to roll the canoe were felt great. And the threat of rain held off (we did hear some distant thunder).

For the record, it looks easier to roll a canoe on Youtube than I found it to be. That is still a work in progress.

Still getting used to it…
last update: 07/19 @ 17:52

Robert had to work yesterday afternoon. Sarah and I did some errands in the morning and then headed to the river in the afternoon.

While it’s low, it’s still a lot of fun.

And very pretty to be on the Potomac by Angler’s Inn. I’m sorry Robert missed it; maybe next time.

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