Down Upon the Suwannee with Kayla Smith (age 10)

A Journal by Kayla Smith, age 10

Paddle Florida, Day #1, October 15th, 2009, Thursday
We haven’t started canoeing yet. We are just settling in at Spirit of Suwannee Campground. I have seen lots of awesome things already. There was a bat house but it didn’t seem to be full of bats. There was also an old dirt bag house. It was small for a house but it was cool. It was made of bags of dirt, then mud, dirt and clay was spread on that. There were some wacky parrots. They weren’t really parrots, they were macaws. We also went to an old barn Tom B. use to own. It had all sorts of farming materials. It had planters, seeders, hoppers, mowers, plowers, generators, wagons, buggies and many other items that we did not know what they were. We pitched our tent before doing all that. There is going to be a Willie Nelson concert here but we are going to be gone. We had a big delicious country fried steak. It tasted like fried chicken. The restaurant was called SOS Café. There are 55 people doing the Paddle Florida.

Day 2, October 16, Friday
This morning we had to pack up in the rain. It wasn’t too bad but it was raining pretty hard. There was a big truck that had to carry our luggage to the other campground. We rode in a trailer that a truck pulled to the boat launch. There are only 2 canoes and the rest are kayaks. One canoe is ours. There was a buffet for breakfast. I ate pancakes, biscuit, and bacon. I had some orange juice with it. We left at 8:30 in the morning for the 20 miles we had to paddle. It took 7 hours to complete the 20 miles. I am the only kid in Paddle Florida. We stopped 3 times before completing the 20 miles. We stopped for lunch at 10:30. There were lots of cool rock formations on the river bank. We finally reached the campground. The supper was delicious. My favorite part of supper was the strawberry shortcake. We had a lot of fun today, me and Grammy did. We are tired and worn out. It was very exciting. We passed by 50 docks, 2 bridges and 10 rope swings. After supper someone played a guitar with her buddies and sang.

Day 3, October 17, Saturday
There were lots of springs and rapids we passed through today. It was pretty chilly too. My hands almost turned numb. I used socks for gloves. It is supposed to get down in the low 40s tonight. While we were passing through we saw 4 turtles, 96 docks, 6 bridges and 17 rope swings. Me and Grammy also passed by Great Grandma Trotter’s place today but she was not there. The rapids were very fun and very fast. We are usually very slow. The springs were beautiful. There were 4 rapids and several springs. The people here are very nice. There was 25 miles to paddle this time, but it took 7 hours to paddle it though. The lunch was yummy. We had P, B and J sandwiches, sausages and a banana. We stopped 2 times not counting lunch. We almost came in last, only 8 kayakers were behind us, not counting the sweep. Chuck is the sweep. We got to our campground at about 3:40. The campground has a beautiful spring right next to our tent. When Grammy was younger, she went swimming in it. There is a tunnel under the rock platform. After supper there is a wonderful sounding woman singing with her guitar. It was a bundle of fun.


Day 4, October 18, Sunday
My feet were freezing last night. It was 47 degrees, so it was pretty cold. We headed off into the water before the lead boat was in the water, the river was warm. They said Art, (Arthur) was the lead boat for right now. We were one of the first people to get in the water. I’m in front, Grammy is in back. We passed by 111 docks, 15 turtles, 2 bridges, 19 rope swings. One of the bridges was a rotating bridge, it was cool. There were several beautiful springs. We also rode through a couple of rapids. They made us go fast. We stopped at lunch at about 10:45. We were one of the first ones to get in the river from that too. One place we went by, the person owned a lot of land and a big spring to go along with it. It was very unique. There was not far to go today, only about 13 miles to paddle. We got to the campsite quite early. It was about 1:00. There was a beautiful spring called Convict Spring. I went swimming in it, it was very cold, so cold that I could hardly breathe. There are 2 people that are artists. Eleanor is one of them. I got to watch her paint. At first I couldn’t tell what she was painting, but it turned out very well and beautiful. The supper was a delight. We had tacos. I had a soft shell but I didn’t eat the shell. I also had an ice cream sundae on a brownie. The entertainment wasn’t very enjoyable, but she did well at the guitar. I also got sun burned on my hands and face. The fire was warm and the playground was fun. I climbed on the tires, and Grammy pushed me on the tire swing. We also had a chance to roast marshmallows but I was still full. It was a wonderful day. It was fun swimming and exploring.

Day 5, October 19, Monday
I slept very well, in fact I felt so good and cozy in my sleeping bag that I could hardly get up without dragging it out. When I got out of the tent, to use the ladies room, I wanted to head back to my sleeping bag, it was so cold. We brushed our teeth and got dressed quite quickly. There was a wonderful breakfast today. I had hash browns, scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuit. I did have butter on my biscuit but it wouldn’t melt. It was frozen and stiff. I didn’t dare eat it. We left and headed out at 8:45, we are supposed to be gone by 9:00 so the sweep man Chuck won’t catch up. We pushed our paddles hard trying not to be the last ones but we ended up being the caboose. While going along, we saw 106 docks, 1 bridge, 19 turtles and 17 rope swings. Most of the turtles were very small, about the size of an apple. There were many springs. We passed by Troy Springs, it has a sunken ship at the bottom. We stopped for lunch at 12:50. I had a P, B and J, soup and a rice crispy treat. We got a picture of John and Stu swimming in the spring at our lunch stop. On the way Grammy spotted a gator. A man said it was a crocodile, but it wasn’t. We were done with our 15 miles in 5 hours, so it was about 2:00. It was still chilly at the campground so we rented a motel room. It feels good. While waiting for supper, we watched Mrs. Eleanor paint. It turns out that I have a famous artist for a friend. I might even get to paint. The supper was good. I had chili, salad and ice cream. I drank tea too. There was a boring meeting at 7:00 about river water and unhealthy water. I think I will sleep good tonight.




Day 6, October 20, 2009, Tuesday
The bed felt good and I was right, I slept very well. It felt like I was in my bed at home. The motel was great. There was a small bathroom and 2 beds so I got a bed to myself. We were heading toward the river at about 7:30, so we got a head start. Once again we were of the first ones in the water. Before we headed to the river, we stopped at Nell’s restaurant. There was a buffet of food set out for the customers. I ate sausage, bacon French toast, eggs and drank hot chocolate. I also grabbed a banana to go. While on the river, we passed by 346 docks, 72 turtles, went under a bridge and passed 49 rope swings. There were lots of beautiful springs. Most of them were just little ones. They were under logs and in the mud. We also went into Rock Bluff Springs. It was right before Rock Bluff Bridge. We also passed by Great Grandma Smith’s place. We had to paddle 23 miles today and it took 8 hours and 30 minutes. We stopped for lunch at 12:30 and also had some Halloween candy. We had to paddle up the Santa Fe to get to lunch. We paddled against the wind and the current when going up the Santa Fe. Stu stopped at a water park and jumped off the rope and slid down the slide. It was funny. We got to the campground at 4:00. It was Goronto Springs. When we got there, we were interviewed by the Times Newspaper so Grammy and I are going to be in the newspaper. I had meatloaf, mac and cheese and banana pudding for supper. I also got to paint a picture with water paint with Mrs. Eleanor. It was fun. We saw a gator today too, our 3rd gator, we also saw one yesterday. It was very interesting. There was a great bluegrass band for out entertainment and it was very entertaining. They were very good at what they did. There were men playing the guitar, the base, the banjo, the mandolin and a woman playing a ukulele. The songs they played sounded very difficult to play. It was fantastic.

Day 7, October 21, Wednesday
I slept good, I only woke up 2 times last night. The first time I woke up because my feet were cold, the 2nd time I woke because I heard Grammy get up to go to the bathroom. We got up to get ready at about 6:50, we tidied up everything and were on the water at about 8:00. We had to paddle 20 miles this time. Once again we were one of the first ones to get into the water. Today we saw 2 bridges, 274 docks, 24 rope swings, and 86 turtles. We also saw 1 gator and 3 old refrigerators washed up on the shore. We ate lunch at Hart Springs. I ate a sandwich, and rice crispy treat. We got to Fanning Springs at about 4:10. I won an award for being the youngest one on the trip. It turns out I am the youngest one to complete the trip ever! That was exciting. A man named Willie played the blues. It sounded great!

Day 8, October 22, Thursday
Today is our last day. I had lots of fun on this trip. I met a lot of new people. They were all nice too. Today we had to go 10 and a half miles because we stop at Manatee Springs which is 9 miles from Fanning, then we paddle to Grammy’s dock which is one and a half miles from Manatee. It was a short day today. We saw 3 gators, 196 docks, 64 turtles and 13 rope swings. We got to Manatee Springs at about 11:30. For lunch we had hamburgers, chips and cookies. We got to Grammy’s house at about 1:20. The most interesting person I met was Mrs. Eleanor. She is a famous artist. We have her card too. I was also thinking about swimming. This was a trip of a life time.
P.S. I hope I get to do this again. It was fun. The End, Kayla Smith