This is the day leading up to the sinkhole. 

What a pleasant surprise, I have planned an epic day, apparently. I tend to only book reservations for camping and ferries but today, I found some reservations already paid for from January, the entire family canoeing down a New Brunswick River. Then to cap it off, after a full day of adventure we will camp right on the ocean staring out at the wildlife and sunsets. A master plan if I do say so myself. The main issue is that we have been getting weather constantly alternating between unpredictable storms and absolutely beautiful full sun. There is no warning of when it will change. With the recent storms I wonder if the river will even be safe to go on. On the drive to the canoeing outfit we notice every river around us, even the massively wide ones, are rushing fast, have high water, and unavoidable sections of white water. Not what we signed up for, and certainly a concern. We get to our meeting spot early and notice the sun is on full blast, we have learned that tells you nothing about the weather even five minutes from now but we are happy with a fresh start. The operator looks at us and says how lucky we are because there is no rain scheduled for today, we will get the most beautiful weather of the year thus far, perfect. The river sitting in front of us looks unforgiving so when I asked if this was safe, I received a small chuckle and reassurance our river is perfectly safe and I discern we must be heading to a different river. 

The trip was exactly what I must have been picturing whenever I booked this. The thick forests look untouched and small waterfalls bring water from streams to the river. The water levels are fast and will make our trip about half the length I had originally planned but it’s fun cruising without too much work. We found some big rocks for lunch and photosynthesized in the Sun. At times the wind would spin us around and the currents would dictate where we would go. We found one set of rapids with Everest screaming to avoid them and Fitz pointing with encouragement, begging for the waves. Lucky for them they were in different boats so  Fitz got down on his knees and with a big smile started crashing through the rapids, the boat rocking back and forth. I looked back to see Everest paddling as hard as he can with Amy to get to the far left side to calmer waters. Everyone got their wish and the ride was a big hit, which is important. While on the water I remembered the other reason I planned this, it’s a test run. At the end of summer I have a four day canoe trip planned in the deep wilderness of Nova Scotia and as often as we get on the water, it’s never in a canoe. This was a test to make sure everyone will enjoy the trip later. Certainly if we can’t enjoy a three hour trip as a family and learn to work together then my later plans are irresponsible. Luckily again, everyone loved the mini adventure, responded well to challenges, and are in big spirits for the final trip. I can only imagine if the weather or water had been slightly imperfect that maybe the crew would have mutinied against my crazy plans. At the very end of the trip we struggled  trying to reach our exit point and I was sure we were getting swept past, another river came to a T with our river and the current pushed us far away from shore no matter how hard we paddled, It was like a canoe treadmill. My muscles were about to quit when Amy ran out into the river and grabbed onto my canoe and together we made it to shore. We need to practice reading the water better and rethinking the safety of how we pulled it off. But we made it, happy and dry. 

Now we get to go camp directly on the ocean, with no one between us. Like living on the ocean, if only for one night. I love finding spots like this and everyone is going to be praising Dad when they see where we are sleeping tonight. Falling asleep to the rush of the waves and the calls of the Loon. Nothing could ever possibly stop the perfect vibes.