Fitzy's First Float (and Baby Finan's, too!)

What a way to spend two of the last days of winter--floating on the Current River. I am pretty sure that, thanks to our most recent float trip, Casey and I have now been floating on the Current River in every season of the year, and we have gone every year since we first met on a float trip in 2007.

This trip was an especially big one for us because Casey and I weren't sure if we would be able to make a trip together before Bonza (formerly Bonzo, changed to Bonza for a more feminine sounding name in utero) joins our family in July. It has been one of our major goals for the spring and we have been praying that the weather would cooperate before I get too big and uncomfortable. Who knew God would answer our prayers so early? We have never been floating in March before, let alone mid-March, still in the official final days of winter.

It was amazing how different the river looked without all the leaves on the trees. We could see further back into the land around the river, and kept commenting on how hard foreign the river looked, as well on the new sights we came across, including some bluffs and cabins that have previously been hidden from sight with all the underbrush. Thankfully, spring green was beginning to peek through in the tufts of grass on the banks, and we enjoyed some splashes of purple in the blooming red buds amidst all the bare branches; that, with the beautiful blue sky and white puffy clouds, made for a glorious "winter" float trip. With all the sunshine, I even managed to burn my arms.

"Can I drive, pretty please??"

The other exciting part of this float trip was that it was Fitzy's first trip EVER with us (not to mention Baby's first trip--and her next one probably won't be for a couple of years yet). We got him last September, and the one trip that Casey had planned with his dad in October got cancelled because of the weather (we won't mention that the weather that weekend ended up being gorgeous!). I, for one, was glad that I got to go with Casey and take Fitzy on his first ever trip to the river. This dog LOVES water, even more than our last Chessie, Trek, which is saying a lot.

For hours, and hours, and hours!

When we first got to the river, I put Fitzy on a 50 ft. rope to let him swim around while Casey unloaded our gear. We weren't quite sure how Fitzy would do off-leash on the river, and after our first experience taking him to my father-in-law's lake last year, we decided to play it safe. It was the funniest thing to watch. Fitzy jumped right in and started paddling UPSTREAM. He swam upstream until he ran out of rope, then turned around and paddled right back down, continuing his lap pattern, back and forth, until we were ready to leave, probably 20 minutes or more. And then, when we pushed off, he continued to swim ahead of us. In fact, all weekend long, unless Casey forced him to get out of the river (and in some cases, that included Casey swimming out and dragging him to shore so the poor dog wouldn't drown himself), he was in the river swimming laps. We kept joking that this was the best doggie treadmill ever. As I type, Fitz is passed out on the floor at my feet, and something tells me he will be in that position for several days to recoup all the energy he spent in the 30 hours previous.

The man and his pup

The only other notable event of our trip was our first ever canoe tip. We always brag to friends when we try to convince them to come floating with us for the first time that it is really quite unusual (and sometimes downright difficult) to tip a canoe, and aside from intentional tips (specifically in the Seven Person Canoe Escapade), I've never been with anyone who has flipped a canoe on the Current. Of course, then, our first ever tip would happen on the trip where I am pregnant and being especially careful not to do anything that might put me or Bonza in danger. I'm not quite sure how it happened, but we hit a swift patch of water and weren't able to steer clear of the bank in time, and before I knew it, I was flailing in the water frantically trying to get on my feet and move out of the way of any potential hazards to my belly (I had fallen out back first, so I was face up and thankful that I didn't fall on anything but water). Aside from some wet clothes, we didn't suffer any damage. The canoe filled up with water, but nothing floated away and our water bags served their purpose. All important items (FOOD!) were kept securely dry---even our lantern, which was sitting in a crate, still worked after we let it dry out for a few hours.

Now we are home, spring break could not have had a better beginning, and all is well in the Finan household. Good times.