Woodson Bridge to Capay Kayak

Approaching "rapids" on the Sacramento river doesnt faze Jillbug.  Shane finally had to convince her that she had to get IN the boat during this part of the float.

As much as we are loving getting away every weekend, it does take a toll on us in a few ways.  Number One, it isnt free, food cost isnt really the issue, but gas to get places and the cost of a campground (backpacking was free) does add up.  I was telling a friend of mine that we were going to take a weekend off and stay around town and maybe just float down the river instead and she offered her family's cabin for us to make a night of it.  Their place is right along the Sacramento River so we could put in at Woodson Bridge, kayak for a few hours and then stay the night at their place.  I was open to the idea of it, but my one hesitation...our (crazy) girls in someone else's home....I dont want the place destroyed!!

Second reason why going away has been a little challenging is because we cant get anything done around the house.  I have laundry to do and cleaning and gardening.  So, it was nice to have a Saturday morning around the house. We werent in a huge hurry to get out on the river.  By 11 we started the car shuttling process with the help of my dad and by 12:30 we were floating down the river.  It was a gorgeous day.  Our kayaking weather is slowly waning, so it was a great way to take advantage of this end of the season warmth...close to 94 degrees.  But on the river it feels amazing.

We kayaked for a little over and hour and then stopped for lunch and playtime.  Our girls ability to play anywhere and everywhere is always a joy for us.  Two hours later, after reading a book, taking a nap (only Shane, HA!!) and dunking in the freezing water, the girls still wanted to play and lucky for them, Shane and I are not gonna complain about more time to sit and relax together...

We still had about 90 minutes of paddling left so we did eventually have to leave and what is the fastest way to get to any destination?  Let the kids do the grunt work of course!!  They do love to paddle, but after 60 seconds they hand the paddles back.  Alli does know how to keep a straight line, but Jill tends to do circles and it takes a lot of strength to paddle a straight line in a rushing river.

River Otter

The remainder of our paddle was filled with lots of excitement.  The river was pretty packed with boats since the salmon are jumping everywhere and the girls LOVE the wake created by the boats going by.  Unfortunately (not really) most boaters are very respectful of kayaks and would slow to a crawl when they approached us so the girls would yell at them..."Turn on your engine......go faster...."  Until the one time this fishing guide decided he didnt want to wait for us to go through a smaller canal so he jetted ahead at full speed using us almost like bouys.   This guy was probably going 30 mph and only 10 feet from Shane and Jill in the kayak.  We didnt flip, but the wake created was a little scarier than the previous slower boats.  Unbelievable!!

We had a mellow rest of the float where we saw the river otter plus hundreds of jumping salmon.  We passed one boat with two guys on it who managed to both catch salmon at the same time, reel them in and net them by themselves all while not losing their cigarettes out of their mouth.   I think the girls heard more foul words in those three minutes then they had ever heard in their life.

We finally made it to our friend's boat dock and unloaded and only minutes later a huge beaver swam right underneath us.  The girls wanted Shane to fish right away since they were jumping everywhere.  Shane said he thought it was hard to have 10 pound trout jumping all around him and not catching anything, but the 30 pound salmon jumping every 10 seconds all around him was beyond frustrating.  Not even one little nibble, but he did admit that he had no clue what he was doing.

The next day we could have headed home early, but there was no reason to.  The girls were enjoying the 100's of new books in our friend's bedroom, we were enjoying quiet, calm and beautiful relaxation on the deck.  But at some point we have to get back to real life and work and school the next day so we hung out until 4 and then drove the 25 minutes home.  What an amazing weekend.  Thank you to our friends for sharing your cabin with us.  It is so appreciated!!!