man what a trip!

[ricksconnected]

ok hackman and i wanted to go do some kayaking on easter.
we wanted to start at about 9AM and get a good day in on the river.
we wanted to relax and chill allowing the river to carry us to the end.
what we got might have been a little different in some folks eyes.

ok heres what we got.
it was hackman, his 2 boys brad and travis, travis's girlfriend KC,
kirsten and myself.
we meet up at my place at around 1PM
( i did mention we wanted to get started by 9AM didnt i )
so after some last minute BS we are off to the launch site.

ok we get there and there are signs saying boat trailer parking only
everywhere.
dangitt man, thats where we wanted to put in and we were already
behind on time. screw it, its easter and whos gonna be out
pressing the issue right?
so we park and unload kayaks. screw it, we're having fun.
the fun comes to a complete stand still when hackman realizes
that he paid for two bags of ice and only got one, and i remember
my tackle box still setting on the kitchen table.

back to the house as fast as my camery would carry me.
(um my pedal was stuck officer, as he pulls me over on holcomb bridge
for doing 90. didnt happen but it was the excuse i was gonna give if he did lol)

ok im back at the launch in 25min after getting my tackle box and the forgotten bag of ice. ok the day is back on course even though we are hours behind, but dangitt, we are gonna have some fun.
brad, travis, kc and myself are in the water and headed down stream when i hear hackman call out. wouldnt ya know it, easter happened for everybody except these two park rangers standing on the bank.

i yell to hackman "whats the problem now" he replied "parking".
i yell back "throw them a picnic basket yogi and run".
ok so now yogi and boo-boo (kirsten and hackman) have to go park the cars up the road and walk back to where we are.
another 1/2 hour behind.
i wont tell who got a ride back to the boat ramp and who actually had to walk back. i'll let that one go.

so we are ALL finally on the water and smiling.
what a beautiful day to be out on the water.
everybody had smiles and laughing about something
or somebody whichever the case may be.
i start to lag behind the group catching fish as fast as i can reel them in.
im not sure i can keep this up for 12 miles.....yeah of course i can lol.
i finally catch up to my new fishin buddy travis, who hasnt caught the first fish yet.
ok look, hes 16 and i have yrs of experience over him
and hes pretty new to fishing yet.
it was fun to watch the faces as we came upon shoals after shoals, each one a little different than the last, and pretty fun in a kayak to ride through.

man that water was cold. the hooch runs about 47 to 50 deg yr around
on this section and today it was right on point as usual. COLD.
it was great to see everybody having a good time.
the hackman crew arent use to doing much kayaking
and it was good to see everybody having a good time doing what i sometimes take for granted.
we had KC in a raft leashed up to brads kayak.
it was funny cause he would paddle and splash her with the cold water.
every so often you would hear her bash him or threaten him lol.
gotta love her, she gave him hell in good spirit the whole way.
man time sure passes when your having fun. dont believe me, try
kayaking.

it was nice to set back in the pack and watch everybody.
hackman finally got to relax after 2 weeks in the sand.
kirsten finally got to get back in her kayak after a long cold winter.
brad had his girlfriend with him out on the water, and ole travis was still fishless and wondering how the hell rick can make it look so easy.
me, i had the battleship back on duty after a winter of no fishing.
life is good right now for everybody.
man if it werent for the houses you would have thought
we were out in the middle of nowhere, far away from a city as big as atlanta. just peaceful and relaxing.

it wasnt long before our late start got the best of us and the sky started to dim and we knew the day must come to a close.
the goal was to stop and grill out some barts on a island i like and do some bank fishing. wasnt gonna happen this trip.
we started late and we needed to have the cars out of the park we started off in by dark or they lock the gates.

the last 2 miles we did in a hurry as dark was upon us.
we got to a part of the river i know pretty good and it can cause a problem if your not careful.
it goes shallow and deep rather quickly and rocks everywhere. the river can flow pretty fast through here and if something can go wrong, it will.
after getting stuck a few times we all made it through the worst part.

theres new trees down on the river since i was in this part last.
i knew naving through them with the battleship was gonna be tricky.
almost out of the shoals for this section i got to comfortable.
the bow got hung up on a rock and started my rear to swing towards
the down side of the river.
got caught sideways on a tree and the battleship got flipped and out went my rod and reel.
i dive in after it catching it in the last split second. as i jumped out my
kayak flipped over on its side to be swept up against the log jam.
i lost my footing and down under the kayak one leg went and
sunk up to my knee with the other in the black sand the hooch is famous for. not a good situation.
its stupid little situations like this that get dozens of kayakers killed every yr.dont panic. i was able to lean forward far enough to still be able to hold my rod with one hand, hold up my kayak with the other, brace myself good enough to pull my leg free.

ok all is good and back on course we were at the last 1/2 mile of our adventure. its almost dark and the mad dash for the take out has started.
with kayaks littering the bank like a tornado had been through, kirsten, brad and hackman head off to get the cars back at the putin.
KC, travis and i stayed with the boats AND THE FOOD.

in all, we had a great time. everybody had a ball and it was written
all over their faces. cant wait to be able to do it again, NEXT WEEKEND maybe, lol. we will get a earlier start and plan it a little differently.

total for the day:
15 fish caught. (yes all mine) sorry travis
12 miles paddled.
6 smilling faces
4 wet people
3 bladders about to burst
2 dang late of a start
and lastly
1 **** good time.
yep, we are gonna do it again asap.

[JennM]

Sounds like fun!

We went fishing around lunchtime (no bites), and gold panning in the afternoon.

Might go paddling today - got a few things to do first.

Jenn

[elFloyd]

woo hoo.... Spring has sprung. Sounds like ya'll had a good time!!!!!

[ricksconnected]

go do it jenn. its already a beautiful day.

[musicalocean]

Now that sounds like a good day for sure!!

[gnashty]

Nice narrative....sounds like a fun day on the hooch!

[ricksconnected]

man, it sure was a fun day. im looking at the sky now. i want to go again today.

[HoneyB627]

Sounds like you all had a great Easter
Couldn't have asked for a more absolutely beautiful and perfect weekend to spend it outdoors... My only complaint is the same one I have every weekend... If only it could have lasted longer!

[downtime89]

Sounds like you had a fun easter!

[porpoiseaquatics]

way to go Rick (and company)!!! Glad you guys had a good day of it even with the late start. You know what they say about best laid plans!

[ricksconnected]

jenn

did you guys get out today?
man it was a beautiful day.
wish i had went again.
if i can get my tank plumbing
started, im going again next weekend.
thinking lake burton up in helen.

[JennM]

Nope - didn't get a chance....

:(

Jenn