Two-bing

Two speeding tickets, two rainstorms, and two hours longer than usual on the river... and we had a great time. Like they say, even bad tubing is still pretty good... or is that something else.



Notes to Jon:

• Bring a mini-squeegee for the lens on Darren's waterproof (but clearly not fog proof) camera.
  
  
• Watch out for the Rappahannock County "toll booth" on Rt. 211 between Warrenton and Sperryville. It's generally hidden behind a hill just inside the county line. 66% of our caravan paid a visit. At least Mary and I have the same court date if we decide to make a day out of it. Happy Fourth of July officer...
  
  
• When sunglasses get sacrificed to the river (as they have on at least four of our trips), immediately look at the banks to get a bearing of where they were dropped. With your face close to the river you can see the bottom so if you note the general area you'll be able to get them back. I didn't do that this time and hence my once flawless record of sunglasses recovery has now dropped to 2-2. I did however recover two pairs of sunglasses that previous tubers had dropped, so overall we have dropped 4 pairs and recovered 4 pairs. Which leads me to...
  
  
• Sunglasses that have been in the river for a little while really smell like fish... and it's entirely possible that disturbing their sacrifices angers the river gods enough for them to call down their rainstorm wrath.
  
  
• It took the rainstorm about 10 seconds to move across the river, so we had plenty of time after hearing the screams of the first victims on the far bank to watch the rain splashes make their way inexorably toward us.
  
  
• Don't tie all 11 tubes together to float down the river unless you don't care that it will take six hours (at normal water height).
  
  
• This year the trip was from mile marker 16 to 19. A little way after marker 17 is a rope swing and "rapids". The river was slowest between marker 17 and 18, and fairly fast (maybe 45 minutes) between 18 and 19.
  
  
• We met at 7:30 and were on the road with the coolers arranged and packed with ice shortly after 8, but due to an extra pickup at the Vienna metro our car wasn't back on 66 until 8:50... and we managed to pull into Shenandoah River Outfitters at 10:31 (despite about a 5 minute stop at the "toll booth"). On the way home we left about 6 and got back to Arlington at 8:10, which gave us just enough time to shower and bike down to Iwo Jima to see the fireworks. Of course we had a much more luxurious view this year thanks to Kristin's parents roof deck (thank you!)