The day was not as hot as
the previous day and there were some clouds in the sky, but the two
RV Gypsies were surprised that while they were on the bus to be dropped
off by the river, it rained hard. But it stopped raining by the time
they were dropped off at the Meramec River. They were glad they were
on the bus when it rained because people that were already on tubes
and in canoes on the river told them that they got hailed on.
Anyway, the ramp to the river was steep, muddy, and slippery, and
as the two RV Gypsies tried to get into their canoe, Lee Duquette fell
in the mud but he did NOT get hurt. He got a muddy butt and then sat
in the water to wash the mud off his bathing suit. All was well! |
Despite the day being a cloudy
day, all was okay until the two RV Gypsies came to rapids. A tree on
the left bank blocked part of the way, so they knew that they had to
paddle towards the right side of the river. The canoe in front of them
stopped sideways because their two very big dogs were trying to jump
out of their canoe, and the two RV Gypsies could not get around them.
The two RV Gypsies started back-paddling, but the current was too strong
and pulled them into the tree. Karen Duquette yelled, “We
are going over.” And sure enough they were in the water.
But Karen Duquette was caught underneath the upside-down
canoe. She swam and swam but could not get out from under the canoe.
Maybe she was swimming against the current, but did not realize it at
the time. She grabbed onto the upside down canoe several times and tried
to push herself out from under the canoe but could not. For an instant,
she thought she might drown. There was NOT any air pocket. The canoe
was stuck on some tree branches so it was not going anyplace.
Karen told herself to just hold her breath and keep fighting to get
out from under the canoe. She fought and fought because she did not
want to drown. After three tries, Lee managed to upright the canoe to
free Karen, and as Karen popped up out of the water into the fresh air,
the current slammed Karen into the tree.
Realizing she was out from under the canoe and could breathe in air
again, she yelled, “HELP ME” because she was too
weak to swim anymore, and lots of people came to her aid. They even
rescued all belongings that floated away, including Karen's water shoes.
They saved everything except a towel and a pair of sunglasses. Of course
Karen's camera was ruined too, but luckily she had brought an old camera
and not her best camera. And most importantly, they were both alive
and OK.
Anyway, after Karen yelled for help, she saw a man with a life jacket
on his arm swimming towards her and she also saw the canoe right-side
up in the water, but filled with water. She did not see Lee anywhere.
The man yelled to Karen to grab a life jacket out of the canoe, and
she tried, but could not. That is all Karen remembered until she was
on shore and the man told someone to put a life jacket on the rocky
shoreline for her to sit on. (Note: A life jacket probably would not
have helped Karen while she was under the canoe anyway).
Once on shore, Karen was relieved to see that Lee was there and okay.
After resting a bit, the two RV Gypsies paddled the canoe back to where
the bus was waiting to take them to the campground. Later, Lee asked
Karen how she got into the canoe that was filled with water, and she
told him that she did not even realize that she had been in the canoe
once it was filled with water. Guess she must have blacked out.
Tomorrow is not promised to any of us not even the rest of today really.
So we must all count our blessings and be glad for today.
If the two RV Gypsies ever come here again, they will canoe with Caveman
Canoe Rentals and stick to the part of the Meramec River that they canoed
on the previous day. None of this would have happened if the canoe with
the two big dogs were not sideways across the river and blocking the
passageway. Why would two big people take two big dogs in a canoe anyway.
|
And
now for the scary experience:
AFTER
you have seen all four (4) sites above, please continue on
