Each summer we go tubing on the Iowa River in Eldora, Iowa. When I say "we" I mean a whole slew of people: me, Graden, Gretchen, Trista & Family, Jennifer ... just to name a few.
This year was a little different because Graden didn't go (he wanted to fish in a tournament) and instead I let Hunter go with us. I say "let" because things get a little wild on the Iowa River. Lots of drinking + young college kids (not implying this is us - we are no longer 'young') = bad choices and occasional nudity. But, I figure he is 14 and not as sheltered as I'd like to think. So ... he went with tubing with me.
The day started out by us arriving at Trista's camp site about 10:00 in the morning and setting up our coolers and blowing up our tubes. A lot of planning goes into these trips! We made our lunches, made our beverages and then loaded up the trucks and headed to the river! The float is about 4 miles and usually takes about 4 hours, but because of all the flooding over the summer the water was higher and quicker than usual (this turned out to be a factor in some upcoming excitement on the trip). We got in the water about 11 and headed on down the river, ready for some rest, relaxation and some sunshine! All was perfect (although the water could have been about 10 degrees warmer!) ... for now.
Because Hunter was with me, I made a conscious effort to monitor my alcoholic intake (a decision that would later prove to be wise). I also had to be on the lookout for any inappropriate "displays of affection" among other tubers, any flashers or inappropriate discussions I may have needed to intervene. It was a lot of work just keeping him innocent on the trip! He had a lot of fun though, so I am glad he came along.
About two-thirds into our trip we decided we'd enjoy a sandwich so there we were: Gretchen, me and Hunter all interlocked with each other in our tubes, along with two additional tubes with our coolers in them - - so a total of 5 tubes and 3 people all intertwined. A decision that would prove to be a bad one in about 5 minutes .... because about 5 minutes after we started enjoying our sammiches we came around a bend in the river (which all of the sudden was raging!?!??!) and even more threatening was a bunch of tree branches hanging low and part way into the river. We no more than looked up from adoring our sammiches to see we were headed right for the tree branches and we knew we were screwed. Let me correct that - - we were SCREWED!!! I tried to duck to avoid getting my eyes poked out (and eating the tree) and in doing so, tipped out of my tube and got swept away down the raging river. About 25 feet down river I finally got my footing (luckily the river is not deep), but it was all I could do to just stay standing, let along head back up stream to help Hunter and Gretchen, who were literally stuck in the trees - still attached to their tubes. At first I was laughing, but then when I didn't see Gretchen and Hunter come floating down I started to worry because I couldn't even see them. Remember when I said I was glad I monitored my alcoholic intake - this is why. If I was in my usual 'tubing' state, I would have been even more worthless.
Luckily there were three guys with us who were in canoes who were able to easily move up stream and get out of their canoes, and cross over to help get Hunter and Gretchen out of the branches. It was a mess because of all the twine we had used to tie us to each other and the cooler tubes to us. It took about 15 minutes to get them out and get us back on track. All the while, our coolers had tipped over so our drinks and food was all floating - I mean RAGING! - by me.
After all was said and done, we laughed about it but also realized it was pretty scary. But not scary enough to stop us from going tubing again that day! Since the float went by so fast we decided to drive back to the drop off point at the river and go one more time!
We got out of the river (the 2nd and final time) about 7 and then headed back to the campsite, ready for some R&R and dinner! Well, Mother Nature had different plans. As you may recall it had been a rough summer on Iowa from a weather perspective and that day was no different. It started to pour down rain and then ... the tornado sirens went off. Can't we Iowans catch a break already!?!?
Fortunately, the sirens were short lived but the rain was not so we spent the evening cooped up in the Benham camper and just sat around and chatted. That was nice, though! : ) Any time spent with my friends is a good time for me!
Sorry I don't have any pictures of the tubing trip ... but even if I had brought my camera it'd be at the bottom of the river so I guess it's best I didn't bring my camera. You all will have to rely on your imagination for what that scene must have looked like!
Can't wait for next summer's tubing trip!!
