Saturday, July 25, 2020, Becky Holbrook hooked us up. She was incredible, despite our only contacting her the previous afternoon right before we arrived in Florence. She (and Ollie, their youngest) took us in the morning to the sand dunes with their sandboards. It's an incredible place. The only downside was the wind. Becky said it is very often windy in Florence, unfortunately. If it weren't for the wind, Jim was about ready to move there.
After the dunes, Becky dropped us and some of their kayaks where we could kayak up the Siuslaw River. Ever wanted to paddle her own kayak. Wren rode in a kayak tethered to mine, and Tiny rode in a kayak tethered to Jim's. It was really lovely.
I enjoyed a little stretch of houseboats where you turn from the open harbor up the river.
Wrenzy really got relaxed behind me.
Ever liked to get adventurous and go around or through obstacles.
Tiny was so tired when we stepped out to go over a dam that she appeared liable to fall asleep on her feet.
I think we turned around about halfway up. I wished we could explore farther, but we were going so slow that we didn't really have time. Plus the kids were beat.
Tiny took a page from Wren's playbook and tried to take a nap in her kayak (behind Jim).
Big purple flowers were spotted, and Wrenzy wanted them. Ever paddled over and picked some.
Tiny again, fully prostrate:
Given the wind, I was concerned about how we'd get back to the harbor once we rounded the corner out of the protection of the river. I was ahead of Jim at that point, and I took a "save yourself" approach. I just paddled and went for it. I looked back and saw Ever struggling and Jim with her. I didn't think there would be anything I could do for them, though, so I just kept going. It became clear that Jim needed help with Ever. Becky arrived to pick us up, and as I wavered on the shore wondering what to do, she ran into the water with a kayak and was off. She tethered her kayak to Ever's and pulled her the last of the way in. Jim was very unhappy with me for ditching them and said I could at least have helped attach Ever's kayak to his. Whoops. I just thought Wrenzy and I might get blown out to sea and didn't think I could do anything besides try to survive. Jim pulling into shore:
Becky told us about a time when she and her brother, Zach, went kayaking out there and the wind was so crazy that they were just getting blown out. Separately, they were making mental plans to just give up and allow themselves to be carried away and hope they made it. I didn't know until that experience why lakes are scary.
We drove to Coos Bay and stayed at a humble but fine Motel 6 that night. Jim was curious to see Coos Bay, but from what we could see, there wasn't really anything there worth seeing.
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