The Adventures of Charles "Sawyer" and Jonathon "Finn"

First of all, I have to express my appreciation for having The Lord, family, and friends step in and fill in the blanks where a father should have been. I know, that I am not perfect and no matter how much I try, there is no way I, all by myself, can take the place of a father to my kids. There are so many instances where there has been someone to take my daughter to a "Father / Daughter night at church, or gone on a Father / Son camp-out. In many ways, my children have more fathers / parents than they can count! For this I am truly grateful. The following is a story of one of those moments that I am grateful for, to the point words often fail me.

My Grandpa grew up in Missouri. He talks about it often and I have a feeling, he would be there right now if he could. I love to hear the stories he tells about his childhood. I think he must have given his mother fits! But then, maybe that's where my daughter gets her impishness. Grandpa has had his share of experiences and will tell anyone about them, if they just take time to listen.

I was talking with my grandpa at work, telling him about the white water rafting trip my daughter had gone on (post to follow). Joking with him that my son was VERY upset that he didn't get to go on a river trip. I think this is what started the ball rolling. There are many rivers in Missouri and one of my fellow co-workers had recently gone on a river trip in Missouri too. He had brought in pictures of his trip, maps, and pamphlets to share with us.

Grandpa got on the computer and did a little searching and turned to me and said, "Do you think Jonathon would like to take a canoe trip down the river with me?" I thought to myself, "What a silly question because it's all he has been talking about since Emma got back from hers!" But I only said, "Absolutely! He would LOVE that!" I called Jon at home and asked him what he thought and he basically asked if he could pack right then and there! Grandpa made plans and The two of them took off on a Friday morning.

Now here the details get a little fuzzy because I did not go on this trip but here are a few tidbits I got from them. First, My grandpa is almost 83 years old! My son is 17. So this little band is a bit odd looking and very generational-ly challenged. But for some reason, they get along, and often, (had it not been for their obvious age difference) act like two brothers off on an adventure.

On the way there they stopped at Lambert's. This restaurant has been featured on Food Network. They are known for throwing rolls at their customers. According to Grandpa, Jonathon is a great catch and they don't mess around when they throw the rolls either. From this meal, the only thing I can be sure of is that Jonathon must have eaten his weight in food because I could hear him moaning in the background saying he ate too much while I talked to grandpa on the cell phone. Then they drove off to their destination.

I am not sure where they stayed. I do know it was very much like a cabin and here is a photo.

On Saturday they were driven from their truck to a place up river where they were to start. There was a twist when they got there... They were not given a canoe but rather a kayak! I know they were on the river for hours but I don't know how many. AND they were IN the river a couple of times too! The first time they tipped Jonathon, who was in front, (and if I understand correctly in charge of steering) taking pictures. He took a great picture of a tree that was in the water. Then they crashed right into it! Down into the river they went and Jonathon learned that summer sausage does NOT float. All the contents of their lunch either sank, or floated away! Grandpa swam to the bank and Jon proceeded to get the kayak, waterproof camera (yea me!), and cooler to the edge of the river. Then he swam after his flip-flops, and the paddles. (I don't know what order but got all of them).

They rested for a bit and then got back in to the kayak and continued their trip down river. I am sure they had a great time and shared many stories. I wish I could seen and heard everything that happened on that entire trip.
Later, a little farther down the river, there was a place where the water moved faster. There were people on the bank just watching. Here is why. As soon as they hit the faster water, it took the kayak right into a wall of rocks and PLOP! They were back in the river! Grandpa held onto one paddle, and was doing his best to keep his britches up. Jon, AGAIN, swam after his paddle, camera and flip-flops. The water was too fast and one of those flip-flops stayed in that Missouri river. He never got it back. I don't know if they went any farther after that or not but they surely enjoyed their adventure. They got back to the truck and changed into dry clothes. Then, rather than stay another night, they drove right back home that evening! I am sure there are other things that happened on this trip however, I won't make any changes to this entry. It feels finished and then there will always be a few details that only I know about and even more that only Charles "Sawyer" and Jonathon "Finn" actually know about!