Floating

Day 121, July 31, 2011, Floating

Route from Floating on the Apple River from River’s Edge to Dairy Queen

4 miles, averaging 1.3 mph

Worst Moment – This humidity makes things seem really hot.  The a/c in Ruby can’t keep up because of the power capabilities of the RV park.

Best Moment – The rapids!

Today was a rest day and it was wonderful to be able to sleep in and not have to go anywhere.  It was amazing to see how fast the once filled campground emptied out.  By the time I walked Duncan around 6, people were already pulling up stakes and moving out.  The kids across from us left before that.  Late in the day we had the place nearly to ourselves.

Neita fixed a great breakfast with biscuits and bacon and eggs and we headed for the river around noon.  What a kick.  We got tubes to float on the Apple River as part of the camping fee.  An extra tube to hold the cooler was an additional charge.   With the tube, one can take the three-hour ride on the river as often as they would like during the day. There’s a shuttle that picks you up at the Dairy Queen and takes you back to the River’s Edge. (The river opens at 9 and closes at 5 – the last shuttle is at 8 pm.)

Since it was Sunday, the river was pretty quiet.  This was a huge contrast to what we saw when we scouted things out yesterday.  None of the crazies today – just a relaxing ride on the cool river.  At the very end of the ride, there was a short section of rapids – almost white water.  It was tempting to portage the tubes out and run the rapids again – just the rapids.  

Tomorrow I go into Minnesota and the start of the fourth month of the Big Ride!  We get to see Chris & Casey toward the end of August.  We can hardly wait.

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.