Almost every time Sara and I visit Valdosta (which is where we are right now), we take the trip down to Lake City, FL to go tubing down the Ichetucknee River. Ichetuknee is Seminole for “Dang this water’s cold!” Once Sara and I knew we’d be in town this summer, we made plans for a float down the river. This summer, Titus has gone down the San Marcos three times, so we figured that this would be a great opportunity to introduce him to one of our favorites. Unfortunately, Titus was sick and spent 6 hours at the medical clinic with Sara and my mom (that’s another story), so the rest of the family drove down to Lake City.

Before leaving Valdosta, we checked the weather. As expected for Florida in the summer, afternoon storms were likely to move in at 4:00. We left in time to get our tubes, float down the river and be out before the storms moved in. When we got the the tube rental places, we learned that two of the longer drop in points were closed. That means our float would only last 45 minutes. If we didn’t get enough, we were free to do it again.

As we got to the park and walked our tubes to the drop in point, we looked at each other as we heard a distant rumble of thunder. “It’s only a 45 minute float and it’s only 2:30″ we reasoned. So, in we went! Ten minutes into the trip, we we laughing, splashing and enjoying ourselves. Then the rain came. When I say rain… I mean torrential downpour. There was little to do but laugh. This was ridiculous. Then the thunder and lightening came. Not really that funny.

I remember learning when I was a kid that the formula for determining how far the lightening was away was to start counting as soon as you saw the flash and continue counting until you heard the thunder. I don’t really remember how many seconds equaled a mile. That didn’t really matter in our case as the thunder came nearly instantaneous with the lightening. That meant the lightening was right on top of us. There wasn’t anything we could do. We were in the middle of a swampy/wetland forest floating down a river. There were lots of places where we could get out, but it was in the middle of a forest and they say one of the worst places to be was near tall trees. The other option was to continue floating down the river. There’s a reason they make you get out of the pool in a storm. Being confronted with two really bad options, we all elected to just continue down the river. With only 30 more minutes until the end, we figured that the sooner we could get down the river, the sooner we’d be out of immediate danger, right?

Well, it was an adventure. Everyone was a little unnerved, but again, there was nothing we could do but just let the current take us downstream. Ultimately, I’m just glad that Sara and Titus missed out on this little adventure. It’s a trip we’ll never forget and we’ve all decided that next time we float the Ichetucknee, we’ll make sure there’s a zero percent chance of storms.

Enjoy the video I made after our safe return!

Sounds like the the sequel to the Gunfight at OK Corral, huh? For Christmas I got a book on hikes around Austin and this was the first hike we chose.

Rimrock  Loop is part of the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge northwest of Austin. Technically, it’s a little over 26 miles west of Cedar Park. It’s definitely off the beaten path. When we arrived, there were two other cars in the small parking lot and on the trail we only ran into one other couple. Although we took this hike in late February/early March, it just didn’t seem to be a well known hiking spot. Fortunately for us, it was a great find. It’s a light to moderate hike, only three miles or so. There was a little bit of elevation change as the hike took you up a ridge (maybe 200-300 feet), which will bring any flat-lander to some heavy breathing and pain in the legs (especially if you’ve got a 30 pound kid on your back).

Supposedly, this area is home to the golden cheek warbler, which is one of the reasons this entire area is protected. Either they weren’t around or I didn’t know what I was looking for. Regardless, it was a great hike for this little family of three. Titus did okay, as long as we kept him occupied with munching on peanuts and raisins or gave him a stick to hold (as long as he didn’t hit his dad in the head with it).

I can’t really judge as I haven’t been on too many hikes in the Austin area, but from what I can assume, this is a great little hike. I highly recommend getting out to hit the Rimrock. You’ll have some nice views and the hike feels substantial for what low-landers are used too.

I really like to hike. I like it a lot. Being that I grew up in the flat swampy region of South Georgia, I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to really hike. When I was 18, I trained for and climbed to the top of Pikes Peak and I was hooked. Unfortunately, I still live in the flat lands. The good thing though about where I live in Texas is that there are some hills to explore, some beautiful outlooks and great water features. It’s better than nothing, right?

So, I got this book and I’m excited to knock some of these hikes off the list (becasue that’s the way I am). Already, Sara and I (and Titus too) have done two hikes and we’re looking forward to getting more under our belt. Now that it’s summer, we’ll either have to do early morning hikes or pick back up on the hiking in the Fall when the weather is more agreeable. That’s okay though, we still have a couple dozen swimming holes to hit, BBQ joints to taste and burgers to try (did I not tell you about my burger list)?

Maybe one day I’ll live next to a mountain. Until then, these Texas trails will have to do.

Tonight just after bath time, Titus and I were reading his Bright Baby “Animals” book. He knows all the animals pretty well. He also knows the sounds most of them make. The ones he doesn’t know, he makes up.

Then we came across this picture.

Me: Titus, what animal is this?

Titus: Fox!

Me: That’s right. What does the fox say?

Titus: Swiper no swiping! Awwwww maaaaaaan!

It did remind me of this diagram from graphjam.com though.

At the end of our conversation she said that at some point we should invest in a king sized bed. I agree, but when it’s all said and done… this is what a king size bed will get me.

We’re probably talking another 3 or 4 inches… but that’s progress, right?