August 6th, Canoeing and Driving to St. Louis

Sunday, August 6, 2006
Day 42
Canoeing the Eleven Point River and Drive to St. Louis, MO – KOA

This morning we got up early and went canoeing on the Eleven Point River. We did the “shortest” canoe trip, and it lasted roughly two hours. That was enough for us with the children. We all fit into one canoe and I insisted on being in the back to “steer”. It was one of the easiest canoe trip as far a paddling goes, because the river really flows in places so you don’t really need to paddle much, only really to steer. We did paddle a bit, especially in the slow spots. We saw lots of turtles, ducks, herons, and other birds. We saw some squirrels, a weasel, fish jumping and baby crayfish all over the bottom where we ended.

Rod was happy because there was a lot of shade and I enjoyed the peace and quiet. There was mist rising from the water since it was still early and had been quite cool the night before. In some places it was so thick it was like a fog and you couldn’t really see. In other places it was non-existent. We brought no gear and no cameras. “We travel light.” There was one place we got stuck on a rock where I had to stick my foot out of the canoe to push us off. The river is rather shallow in many places at this time of year. There was another place where we got stuck because we thought it was the “end” and we were trying to get over to the bank, but the current was quite fast and we could not get over in time, we got turned around and stuck on a huge dead tree and some rocks. I could not get us off that rock and we were backwards in the swiftest current we had seen in the river. I really thought we were going over. I have NEVER tipped in a canoe in all the years I’ve been canoeing. But, then again, I’ve never really canoed in current either. Well, we all leaned left when I said, “lean left” because that was the only way to get off the stupid rock, and miraculously we all leaned correctly when we were suddenly freed of our entrapment and went flying out into the current. It was close, but we made it and didn’t tip. Seconds later we saw where we were supposed to go to get out.

All in all it was a beautiful canoe ride on the Eleven Point River. We only saw a few fishermen and some campers. There are no houses or building anywhere along this part of the river and it was so nice to not see any of those signs of humans. As soon as we got back to the campsite, we ate lunch, finished packing up camp and left. By noon we were “on the road again” and are now just on the western outskirts of St. Louis, MO. Tomorrow we are going into St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch and take a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi! Then we’ll be heading back east of the Mississippi once again and getting closer and closer to home.