Canoeing on the Blackwater River in Northwest Florida

I think we were both a little tired of the humdrum retired life!  We had built some custom cabinets for the kitchen, tiled the backsplash, and installed the finish lighting.  ML had really made the yard look great - not much thanks to me on that one.

But it was time for a trip.  A couple of years ago, we had read an article in the local paper about canoeing on the Blackwater River in northwest Florida.  I called Paul at Blackwater Canoe Rental.  He said call him a day ahead and he'd rent a canoe and take us up to the "3 day" launch, and then pick us up and take us back to our car - all for $90.  It was a deal.

Now that's what I would call a red clay road.

We packed some stuff in the car, including our bikes, and headed off for the 7 hour drive.  The camping gear seemed to explode out of the car, but we got it ironed out to some degree.

Watch your hats and sunglasses!  After a ride in the back of the truck with the canoe behind, the launch site beckons.

Are we going to get all that stuff in the canoe?

Sure!

In fact, it looks pretty good.  I just hope we have all of the important stuff like matches and toilet paper.

On the eastern end of the Central Time Zone, it was going to get dark pretty fast. We pushed off about 2:45 p.m. in bright sunshine.  But it wasn't long before the light started to fade.

But it wasn't long before the light started to fade.

Make sure you see the moon in this picture.  We felt like we were paddling to the moon.

The river is known for its quartz white sandbars that have washed out from the Appalachians over the years.

It was so nice and clean that it made squishy grindy noises every step we took on it. 

This sandbar made a great first campsite and we stopped early enough to get the borrowed tent up.  One year I nearly froze my youknowwhat off with a borrowed tent when it was snowing like hell.

I love the sky. 

As you "winter" campers know, it's a long time from 5:30 p.m. when it gets dark to the next morning at 6 a.m. - or later and longer in higher latitudes.

I liked this photo of ML reading with her headlamp in front of the fire.

I'm very atavistic about fires, and really enjoy a cold night with a good fire.